Hospitality Design (HD) Expo is the largest hospitality focused trade show in the world, with more than 12,500 industry professionals from 40 countries in attendance. At last week’s 2019 HD Expo, we not only exhibited, but walked the show floor to see what would be driving upcoming commercial design trends.
Wellness was an over-arching theme of the show. According to HD Expo, between 2015 and 2017 wellness tourism grew more than twice as fast as tourism overall. Bringing outdoor elements to indoor spaces establishes a connection with nature and instantly evokes a sense of calm and relaxation – an element essential to any hospitality setting. We observed greenery and living walls, organic materials and the use of light neutral tones throughout many booths on the show floor. There was even a “wellness pavilion” at the show where exhibitors and attendees could attend sessions to learn specifically about integrating wellness into hospitality design.
Living wall by Gold Leaf Design Group, Keven Barry Fine Art living art frame
While wellness focuses on humans’ connection with nature, our next trend - sustainability- focuses on preserving it. As Buildings magazine phrases it, “green building has gone from an ambition to a standard” and nowadays designers and specifiers put the environmental properties and certifications of a product before aesthetics and other practical benefits. At the show, NEWH hosted a series of “Green Voice Conversations” with sustainability experts; and the ASID DESIGN IMPACT Awards, new this year, awarded products that put people and the environment at the center of design intent.
Art Select Vintage Hickory, LooseLay Longboard Urban Fabric Oak
We are proud to say that Karndean Designflooring picked up two DESIGN IMPACT Awards at the show: one for our Art Select Reclaimed Hickory design and the other for our LooseLay Longboard Fabric Oak design. All our products feature environmental attributes and carry a variety of certifications. Learn more about the environmental qualities of our products.
Along with our latest award-winners, in the Karndean Designflooring booth we showcased how we see and design flooring differently from anyone else in the industry - specifically in the way we develop our original product designs. We focused on the development story of our Reclaimed Hickory design by displaying the original pieces of wood our team recovered from a Midwest lumber yard alongside our finished luxury vinyl product so that visitors could easily see the detailing and realism of our design.
The three Reclaimed Hickory colors were just a few of 45 new spring 2019 introductions, which span gluedown, loose lay and rigid core constructions. Visitors to our booth saw firsthand with our in-booth waterfall how our waterproof rigid core floors will not swell, crack or warp when wet. For projects with a tight turnaround time, we have options that can install directly over concrete and VCT. In addition, our products offer a more durable alternative to porcelain tile and are easy to maintain – perfect for pet-friendly settings! No matter what type of hospitality project you may be working on, we have a luxury vinyl option to suit your needs.
Thank you to everyone who visited us in our booth to see our latest products and to learn more about the environmental attributes and proven performance of our products. We look forward to seeing how these themes are showcased next month at NeoCon!
