Flooring Suppliers You Should Know

According to Angela Schaschen, managing director of Deutsche Messe Dubai, organiser of Domotex Middle East, the trade fair for carpets and floor coverings, sustainability is still the number one trend shaping the flooring industry.

When it comes to buying patterns in this part of the world, wooden flooring has become more and more prevalent in recent years, but there is still high demand for wall-to-wall carpeting, Schaschen pointed out. This market also has a penchant for ‘luxurious’ products, she noted.

The current economic climate is having an undeniable but not entirely negative impact on the flooring industry, Schaschen admitted. For property owners looking to add value to their investment in a highly competitive marketplace, flooring is an obvious place to start. “There are so many empty properties around right now. Owners trying to add value to these properties will start with flooring; it’s the most obvious thing you can do,” she said.

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Moving forward, the flooring industry is likely to be revolutionised by nanotechnology, predicted John Alexander Smith, professor and Emeritus chairman of the department of interior design at the American University in Dubai.

“If we apply nanotechnology to flooring finishes, there are unlimited potential benefits. Floors could be self cleaning. They could have thermo-insulation, UV and solar protection, fire proofing, anti-grafitti, anti bacterial, scratch proof, and even anti-fingerprint properties,” Smith said.

“We are at the outset of a new era. As an architect or a designer, what you will basically do is write the specification of the material that you want. So let’s say you wanted it to absorb solar radiation during the day and, at night, emit energy as light. Instead of working with what already exists, you are starting with a clean, blank piece of paper.”