Swiss RE London headquarters
Hardwearing heavy contract quality carpet tiles from Tessera have been installed at Swiss Re’s iconic London headquarters, now affectionately known to many as ‘The Gherkin’ due to its distinctive shape and uncompromising modern design. The Lancashire based manufacturer has supplied bespoke and stock carpet tile ranges for four floors of the building at 30 St Mary Axe, working closely with Loughton Contract Carpets of Essex, one of the UK’s leading flooring contractors.
The Executive Suites on floors 10,11 and 12 of this unique, aerodynamically shaped building feature a customised 80/20 wool blend cut pile carpet tile created using solid velour and stippled high twist friezé yarns. The tile has been designed to deliver a seamless broadloom appearance and superior underfoot comfort, making it the ideal choice for boardrooms and executive areas.
Bennett Interior Design, responsible for the interior fit out of the building worked with Tessera to create a new bespoke grey colourway for the project, and in order to provide further cushioning and improved acoustic and thermal insulation for the client, also specified the use of SOFTbac® secondary backing on the carpet tiles.
For the Marketing Suite on the 17th floor, used to promote the higher storeys of the building to prospective commercial tenants, Optimum Create textured loop pile tiles in Ore were installed. Optimum is Tessera’s composite carpet tile collection, bringing together textured loops, patterned and overtufted cut pile tiles and a core colour bank of 80 plain cut pile tiles.
The Swiss Re building is London’s first ‘environmental skyscraper’ incorporating progressive sustainable design features. Swiss Re’s design brief included a strong desire for sustainable solutions across all areas of the building, and the criteria for the floorcoverings were no exception.Tessera’s clear Environmental Policy helped to persuade Bennett Interior Design to specify the company’s tiles. The use of sustainable materials such as wool, and the use of 100% recycled materials in SOFTbac® secondary backing were important factors in the decision.
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