The Swedish flooring company Bolon was founded in 1949. The family firm is owned and run by Annica and Marie Eklund, the third generation of Eklunds to own the company. From its origins as a traditional manufacturer of woven flooring, the company has developed into an internationally successful design company with a focus on superior quality innovative flooring. Bolon was the first company in the world to produce woven vinyl floor coverings and has always designed all of its floors itself. The highly unique way in which the flooring is produced together with its range of design options have created tremendous international interest in the product. It looks like a textile floor covering yet has all the practical advantages of vinyl flooring, particularly when it comes to long-life, appearance retention and maintenance.

The products are sold in more than 30 countries today and Bolon’s customers include well-known companies such as Armani, Dolce & Gabbana, Lacoste, Sheraton and high-profile architects and designers such as Tom Dixon, Jean Nouvel and Renzo Piano. All Bolon floors are produced for public environments with a focus on hotels, shops and offices. They meet all the stringent standards for fire safety, wear and durability, sound insulation, etc.

Bolon has been implementing a progressive and inclusive environmental improvement programme in all areas of its operations for many years. Bolon works continuously to update its products to meet the stringent environmental requirements of the market. Bolon has been certified to the ISO 14001 Environmental Management Systems since 1999.

For more information, please see www.bolon.com

Floor coverings, carpet tiles and rugs by Maltzahn are the products of design skill and German technical engineering know-how. With modern carpet finishing processes such as chromojet technology, vat piece dyeing and various coating processes, a sustained emphasis is placed on aesthetics, innovation and long life in the development and production of custom carpets.

In the design department, CAD printouts are translated in the laboratory from the virtual world into a concrete colour formulation and tested on a chromo-jet laboratory system before final production. When the print-head of the chromojet printing system slides back and forth, a sharp, colour design with up to eight colours is created in seconds on a pure white tufting carpeting; the fibres are dyed down to the backing which achieves the optimum depth effect and clarity of design. With this specialist jet printing technology almost any pattern can be realised from as small a production quantity as 100 m².

These precise printing techniques have been developed by Maltzahn since 1974. Nevertheless, even if large parts of carpet production occur fully automatically, at source it is always a craft and it is this combination of German technical excellence and experienced craftsman that signifies the individuality and diversity in Maltzahn and has thereby ushered in a renaissance in carpet design.