Patcraft Customer Story: Because Flooring Matters

C A S E S T U DY

RJE Business Interiors

Downtown Cincinnati is a scene of innovative redesign these days. Along

with new, high-rise condominium and office buildings, older structures are

being renovated to reflect modern tastes and open design concepts. Streets

are filled with passersby who live and work in the city.

The Cincinnati showroom of RJE Business Interiors, a Midwest-based office

design and Knoll Furniture dealer, reflects this blend of modern style and

industrial chic in its newly redesigned space. Open, bright and light, the

showroom’s displays are all arranged on colorful carpet tiles and sleek LVT

flooring from Patcraft.

MODERN REFLECTION

“They built high-rise, luxury condos above our Cincinnati building, so we thought it was as good a time as any to gut our showroom, redesign, and start over,” says Sarah Brunner, a designer and LEED green associate at RJE Business Interiors. The company is based in Indianapolis and also has a showroom in Ft. Wayne, Indiana. “Over time, showrooms become dated; ours included. It did not reflect Knoll’s timeless aesthetic and motto of modern always. In designing our new space, we wanted to reflect the urban growth and revival of the entire Cincinnati downtown area with new, bright, fun colors.”

RJE Business Interiors’ Cincinnati showroom showcases Knoll’s contemporary office furniture and a modular office wall system called DIRTT (Doing It Right This Time). Customers range from interior designers to staff at various types of businesses who seek to design innovative office spaces. To find the right carpet to showcase the company’s products, Brunner and a fellow designer searched for ideas at NeoCon, the huge commercial interiors trade show held each year in Chicago.

When the two designers saw Patcraft’s innovative Mixed Materials facet carpet tile and resilient system, they knew they had the right pieces to complete their design puzzle. Mixed Materials tiles come in an innovative facet format, which is intentionally designed to work with other modular sizes, including Patcraft’s standard 24" by 24" modular carpet tile. Displays showed how carpet tile and LVT could work together in a bold, exciting way, Brunner recalls.

“Seeing the carpet going into the LVT flooring, it was so new, so innovative. That’s where our inspiration started,” she says. The Patcraft Mixed Materials tiles also came in just the right shades of red and orange that Brunner sought to reflect both RJE Business Interiors’ and Knoll’s brand palettes. “This was a whole rethinking of how we were working, and the carpet fit that concept well.”

BOLD AND INNOVATIVE

In the gleaming new showroom, customers walk through office space concepts featuring sleekly geometric desks, high metal stools, or bright, chunky upholstered sofas and chairs, all arranged on the eye-catching shapes and contrasts of the Mixed Materials tiles. Rich, deep grays are interspersed with tiles in bold oranges and reds. Subtle designs create movement and depth that make work spaces attractive, inspiring environments.

“There is this texture and pattern to the carpet, like a chevron pattern, and it’s the same height as the LVT, so we were able to merge them together very well,” says Brunner. “We love it. And we have had so many compliments on the flooring because it is so cool. It is really fun to work with it.”

RJE Business Interiors began their showroom redesign in summer 2014 and completed it in February 2015. The showroom’s employees are pleased with the practicality of the Patcraft carpet tile and LVT as well as its look, says Brunner.

“It’s super comfortable. We are the base level of this building, so it is pretty much slab underneath our floor. But this feels like we are walking on it at our homes,” she says. “So far, it looks pretty clean too, and went through the winter in Cincinnati, which can get pretty rough. It held up well. There has been no pulling or tearing of the fibers.” On the LVT, scuff marks from rolling chairs on gliding casters came off easily, she notes.

Customers at the showroom, such as interior designers who specialize in corporate projects, have been intrigued by the Patcraft carpet tile and LVT. “We have even pitched this product to them to use in their own designs,” says Brunner.

“It’s interesting how something as simple as putting in new flooring around a conference table or in an office can make it look so much better. This just reflects who we are as a company.”

“In designing our new space, we wanted to reflect the urban growth and revival of the entire Cincinnati downtown area with new, bright, fun colors.”

SARAH BRUNNERDESIGNER & LEED GREEN ASSOCIATERJE BUSINESS INTERIORSCINCINNATI, OHIO

patcraft.com | 800.241.4014

C A S E S T U DY RJE Business Interiors