Tool & Gauge Kitchen is a café and shared kitchen facility located within the new Frome Business Park in Somerset. The collaborative technology centre has been converted from a disused warehouse to provide a unique hub space with a resimercial design for a warm friendly atmosphere.
Designing the prominent café space at the heart of the development, the team at Interaction was keen that the flooring complemented the industrial monochrome style of the centre, yet offered a practical surface with heaps of character.
Providing a down-to-earth café dishing up simple, guilt-free food and excellent coffee, Tool & Gauge Kitchen sits at the heart of the new Frome Business Park development. Benefiting from a large open plan aspect with extensive windows, the space is flooded with light and creates a connection between the interior and the local landscape.
The team at Interaction designed a contemporary social space where people can eat, drink and connect, with a modern monochrome design that respects the building’s industrial history. It was important that the flooring offered a practical surface with plenty of character and a sense of intrigue.
Above image features Montpellier and Lansdown
Three complementary monochrome designs from the Heritage Collection - Clifton, Lansdown and Montpellier – have been used to create a floor with individuality and interest. The flooring design combines the geometric patterns with borders to create zones and walkways, identifying different working areas and supporting wayfinding. Completing the look, a bespoke design on the stairs to the upper office spaces offers a quirky humorous feature.
“We’ve had a long-standing relationship with Karndean and knew we could turn to them to bring to life the flooring for Frome Business Park’s café area,” explains Zoe Parr, designer at Interaction.
She said: “With the vision to keep some of the building’s original features, whilst also instilling a modern feel, it was important to select tiling that would reflect the vision for the space.
“Karndean provides an extensive array of vinyl tiles and we knew that they would be able to realise the design we had in mind - the look of porcelain Victorian tiling but without the cost.
“The guys at Karndean were committed from the outset, providing ourselves and the client with a number of samples and moodboards to help the client envisage what the finished flooring would look like.
“As always, the products Karndean provides are of a fantastic quality and we knew we could trust them when it came to something so intricate. The finished look is amazing!”