GO BEYOND IMITATION: QUICK STEP EXPANDS LIMITS AND FLOORS Quick-Step is really going for it this autumn, with the launch of a brand-new parquet collection as well as an upgrade to the laminate and vinyl floors. The flooring brand has a surprise up its sleeve in the form of lots of innovations, décors and a touch of extra luxury. The basis for all this is a unique design process. Are you curious about the flooring of 2018?
For years, flooring brand Quick-Step has been bringing to the market floors that combine the best of both worlds: aesthetic gems that are also highly functional. In other words, floors that can take a knock without compromising on beauty. But how does Quick-Step continue to innovate, improve and find inspiration for new collections? FROM INSPIRATION TO INNOVATION The answer is simple and complex at the same time: everything starts with a small spark, a snapshot that inspires the designers. This can be anything from the latest socio-economic developments to trends in fashion, architecture and design. As soon as the designers have an idea in mind, it all comes down to finding the perfect original: a piece of wood or (natural) stone that serves as a basis for the Quick-Step plank or tile. What follows is a unique design process. The originals are worked on by hand to achieve the envisaged design. For vinyl and laminate, the processed originals are scanned in and then perfected digitally to obtain the ideal balance in structure and colour. Details such as grains or bark are either removed or duplicated. In short: an initial idea comes to life step-by-step and develops to become a detailed design and eventually a floor. A huge amount of research, technical analysis and creative brainstorming has also gone into the new collections for this autumn.
LUXURIOUS LOOK AND FEEL Quick-Step s design team closely follows the trends of the moment and one development they noticed was a recurring love of luxury. Today, we are more-and-more attracted to luxury, high-quality and valuable materials like marble, gold and velvet combined with pure craftsmanship. But how do you implement this glamorous look in your home? By starting at the very beginning: the floor. It s not for nothing that this is the foundation of your interior. Inspired by this trend for luxury, Quick-Step is introducing a number of eye-catching designs. INTENSE INTERIOR Nothing brings as much natural charm and luxury to your home as wood. That s why this authentic feeling is central to the brand-new Intenso parquet collection. Intenso is based on the Hungarian point design, a pattern that once graced the most beautiful palaces and manor houses and is coming back into fashion today. Just like in the Variano collection, different planks with various widths, finishes and structures are carefully selected by hand, to be brought together in a beautiful, balanced whole. The timeless look that this creates brings class and elegance to your home, but works just as well in a contemporary setting. Intenso is made up of four different colours, from a soft desert shade to a dark, intense colour. As the various strips of wood have already been combined in one plank and are installed using Uniclic, the unique Quick-Step installation system, the floor is also much easier and quicker to install than a classic Hungarian point floor.
UNIQUE EYE-CATCHER The Palazzo collection, with its long, wide planks, also has a fantastic addition in the form of dark-brown Midnight Oak. This parquet floor is inspired by swamp oak, a rare type of wood that has a natural process to thank for its unusual look. Depending on how long the oak lies in the swamp (sometimes thousands of years), the tannins in the wood react with the iron and minerals in the swamp. The result is a deep, dark colour with a wide range of vibrant colour variations. To make this luxurious look accessible, the designers set out to find the perfect original swamp oak. They then developed an artisan process to achieve a parquet floor that is as close as possible to that original. The rustic-looking planks were therefore brushed and processed to create a vibrant variation in colour and structure.
SUBTLE VINYL Previous collections have shown that vinyl no longer lacks style. So the association with a plastic look is gone. Ambient Click is a collection of vinyl tiles with fascinating, realistic colour variations. This autumn, no fewer than six new décors will be introduced to the range. The Carrara marble, based on a piece of marble that the designer selected from the marble quarry at Carrara in Italy, is a real eyecatcher. In contrast to the real, fragile and very expensive material, the vinyl tiles are resistant to scratching or splashing. They re real eye-catchers in your home, which are not only beautiful but practical too. Another interesting newcomer, in addition to the concrete look and natural stone, is terrazzo. DID YOU KNOW THAT the updated Ambient vinyl collection also works perfectly as a wall tile? A great alternative for the bathroom and shower, for example. You create a seamless whole and give the room a sleek, clean look.
BATHROOM AND KITCHEN-RESISTANT Durable, versatile, easy to maintain and very affordable: it s no surprise that a laminate floor is a popular choice in interiors today. With good reason: while a real wooden floor isn t ideal for a bathroom or damp room, a non-slip and water-resistant laminate floor is. A few years ago, Quick-Step launched the Impressive collection: these laminate floors have an exceptionally natural look and feel, and a unique water-resistant coating, which means they are perfectly suited for installation in damp rooms. The water-resistant technology is based on three pillars: pressing of the joint during production, application of a water-repellent layer in the joint and use of a pre-stressed click system. This made the planks the most waterresistant laminate ever produced, without compromising on the typical, authentic wood look. Now the designer floor brand is going a step further: the water-resistant technology can now be applied to a plank floor without joins. So the Eligna collection is the next Quick-Step laminate collection that can be installed in damp rooms such as the kitchen and bathroom. An absolute eye-catcher within this updated collection is the Eligna Metallic cérusé oak gold. A TOUCH OF GOLD A gold floor at home? Not many people would go for it but, because of the luxury trend, I wanted to do something with a touch of gold, explains Quick-Step s Design Director Oke Nollet. We chose a design with a warm brown colour and added some subtle gold details to the grain just enough to fit in with the trend, but still stylish and timeless enough to work in any interior. Quick-Step s new additions go beyond imitation more than ever before. The originals are copied with unsurpassed accuracy and literally become better than an imitation: the planks or tiles all stand out in terms of aesthetics and functionality. About Quick-Step Quick-Step is a quality flooring brand produced by Mohawk Ind. On-going research and innovation along with a strong focus on quality have made Quick-Step one of the top players in the flooring industry. The brand, known for its patented glueless Uniclic installation system, has evolved from being an affordable alternative to wood to a category in its own right, bringing a wide variety of design floors that are swift and easy to install and maintain in every situation. Today, Quick-Step is a global engineered wood, laminate and luxury vinyl flooring brand active in over 100 countries. A true leader in design, innovation and quality. RECOMMENDED RETAIL PRICES (including 21% VAT) Eligna laminate: 19.99/m² Impressive laminate: 22.99/m² Ambiant click vinyl: 31.99/m² Palazzo parquet: from 54.99/m² Intenso parquet: from 54.99/m² SELECT FIRST LIMITED MYLES HAZEBROEK myles@selectfirst.com + 44 1892 45 93 31 http://media.quick-step.com