Mohawk Group’s Smart City collection—a 12 x 36 Living Product carpet plank system—explores a future in which the urban environment nurtures its citizens through these advancements and sustainable development.
“The best cities and urban environments are well planned and fluid, making creative use of space to maximize efficiency and growth,” said Jackie Dettmar, Mohawk Group’s vice president of design and product development. “We looked to this model to create Smart City, specifically how this vision of metropolis and community responds to the needs of all who inhabit and visit—whether through walkability, accessibility, the integration of green space or any number of factors that actively improve quality of life.”
The carpet plank collection reinterprets the transit maps of major cities and urban areas into soft surfaces for commercial interiors. The system includes Urban Model, an organic base pattern that reflects the texture and rhythm of a metropolitan mapscape, and Urban Mobility, coordinating pattern styles with linework and accent colors inspired by the subway systems of Berlin, Istanbul, London, New York, Paris and Shanghai.
Mohawk Group collaborated with Gensler, serving as product design consultant, for Smart City. Its design and development were informed by the Gensler Cities Climate Challenge (GC3) and the AIA 2030 Commitment, initiatives that call for all new buildings, developments and major renovations to be carbon neutral by 2030. The specification of net positive carbon Living Products like Smart City help support this mission.
Smart City meets the stringent requirements of Living Product Challenge Petal Certification and is domestically manufactured at Mohawk Group’s “Living Site” facility in Glasgow, Virginia. More than 300 carpet plank styles that originate at the Living Site have achieved certification because of Mohawk’s efforts to streamline operations such as decreasing water usage and focusing on special processes and community partnerships that lower environmental impact. Using the Living Product framework, Smart City has a net positive impact for people and the environment through innovations in materials, manufacturing and community involvement.
“As the maker of Living Products like Smart City, we believe better design examines both embodied carbon and materials health to produce sustainable products that help reduce the carbon footprint of our customers and lead the way in transparency,” added Dettmar.
All Living Products support and contribute to healthier commercial environments and their end users by being free of toxins and other harmful chemicals of concern, while also protecting the outside environment. Additionally, the manner of manufacturing aligns with socially responsible practices that are respectful of workers’ rights.
Red List-free Smart City styles feature Mohawk Group’s Heathered Hues yarn system. Texture and blending provide a variegated wool-like appearance, creating the manufacturer’s most natural-looking nylon yarn to date. These commercial fibers create a warm, biophilic aesthetic that is appealing to all commercial environments—especially those set in more industrialized, urban areas where nature is less evident. The yarn is dematerialized for a lower impact, and no water is used in its production. The Smart City collection comes standard with Duracolor Tricor solution-dyed nylon fiber and EcoFlex NXT tile backing. Duracolor Tricor utilizes a modified triangular-shaped core to deliver superior stain resistance, colorfastness, durability, color clarity and enhanced soil performance.