Design-led zoning and wayfinding

Ease of navigation is increasingly becoming a focus for supporting inclusive and positive environments, and LVT flooring can make a real difference!

In all sectors and industries, improving a building’s wayfinding helps facilitate positive feelings and experiences for occupants of a space, including neurodiverse individuals. And visual zoning using colour is an effective way for people to quickly identify different areas. This can be easily achieved with LVT flooring, whether adding a perimeter plank border, bespoke number design to denote each floor, or opting for contrasting planks and tiles in different areas. It’s also possible to create subtle visual zoning too, by layering LVT designs in woods and stones.

However, there’s more to LVT flooring than colours and decors. Amtico’s Signature flooring, for example, can be specified and laid in a multitude of zone-friendly patterns. For example, our Basket Weave laying pattern was chosen for the multi-use amenity spaces at The Headline build-to-rent development in Leeds. Leading interior design and architecture practice 74 specified an innovative combination of Signature colours and woods to make the spaces functional and visually appealing for the residents. While the different colours and subtle cues made it clear which zones were for entertaining, relaxing and working.

Zoning is also an important consideration for the latest design trends, such as ‘resimercial’, where specific departments, including meeting/‘town hall’ areas or quiet workspaces, can be easily identified. This approach highlights that companies recognise their employees’ need for personal space, while safeguarding the familiar office culture which encourages collaboration, productivity and creativity.?

In addition, key areas can be defined more subtlety using material and texture combinations, such as LVT in terrazzo or aged oak designs. This provides pattern and detail, as opposed to relying on abstract shapes and strong contrasts of colour to outline a zone.

Ultimately, it’s vital to create the right experience for a building’s occupants – and LVT makes this simple and seamless.