Tag Archives: Blog

Biophilic Design

Connect with Nature through Biophilic Design.

Biophilic design continues to be a hot trend that more and more designers are tapping into by using Ulster’s Design Portal.

With an increased focus on the environment, biophilic design seeks to combine the modern built environment with our fundamental need to connect with nature.

Examples of biophilic carpets designs from Ulster Carpets Design Portal

This concept was the inspiration behind Natura, Ulster’s latest Contract Stock range, and is being increasingly used for carpet designs in hotels, casinos and cruise ships.

Design Portal features over 10,000 designs. To find the latest Biophilic designs, simply use the keyword search by typing in Biophilic or Biophilia, or you can click on Collections to view our curated Biophilic Collection.

Ulster Carpets Natura Nahla range. Biophilic carpet designs.

 

All the designs can be recoloured to suit the project you are working on. Our virtual tuft box has both standard and neutral options, meaning you can recolour a design from a choice of over 650 colours.

When the world’s leading interior designers say #inspireme Design Portal is the perfect place to start.

Log in to our Design Portal now or, if you haven’t registered yet, e-mail sue.farnell@ulstercarpets.com

Ulster Carpets are made from quality wool from sheep in the UK, Ireland and New Zealand.

Marine Sustainability

Sustainable Sailing

Across the hospitality industry, sustainability has quite rightly become a hugely important topic and nowhere is that more evident than in marine projects.

At Ulster Carpets, we are committed to building a sustainable future by manufacturing in an ethical manner that reduces our impact on the environment.

We have already demonstrated this commitment with significant investment in our state-of-the-art Dyehouse and Energy Centre and the creation of our own recycling hub to convert waste carpet into luxury underlay.

Bespoke Ulster carpet on Tui Cruises Mein Schiff Herz.

We are set to take this even further with the introduction of new technology which will ultimately make our patented weaving process more energy efficient.

Unlike other manufacturers who outsource various elements, we spin and dye all our own yarn as well as design and weave every carpet. Having this level of control gives us the freedom to develop greener manufacturing processes.

This is mirrored by the end product – a wool-rich carpet for your cruise ship.

Sustainable carpet

Whether your choice is a bespoke design or from the contract stock range, the journey to your luxury carpet starts with selecting the right wool. We use high quality wool shorn from sheep across Great Britain, Ireland and New Zealand that produce the strongest and highest grade of fleece.

This rapidly renewable material is regrown in 12 months, providing Ulster with a sustainable supply of high-quality raw material. Our carpets are a blend of 80% wool and 20% nylon – a combination that offers optimal performance and longevity under intense usage in marine environments.

That balance is also factored into our preferred backing option for cruise ships that includes a green poly backing with a minimum of 50% recycled content.

All our environmental commitments are backed by our various ISO and IMO certifications as well as to the Green Label Plus program.

These are just some of the steps that we are taking to improve our sustainability. Looking ahead, across all aspects of the company, we continue to research new alternatives to increase this even further.

Find out more about how we meet our environmental and sustainability responsibilities here.

Maison & Objet

“UNPRECEDENTED TIMES CALL FOR UNPRECEDENTED MEASURES”

Due to the ongoing global pandemic Maison & Objet took their extremely popular design exhibition to the digital realms during Paris Design Week 2020.

We have pulled together three of the most popular design trends and the four most influential colours and combined them with options from our own online archive, Design Portal, as well as current stock collections.

As you can see, thanks to our design expertise, we are able to connect with any trend. You can also connect to any of these trends by using Design Portal to inspire your own design choices.

 

Design Trends from Maison & Objet | Paris Design Week

Living with earth

“Interiors are all about surrounding ourselves with the things we love. Today, everyone’s striving to tune into the beauty of the earth. Wind, light, water, wood, stone and fire. Sometimes through technology, sometimes through the fusion of craft and design, reflecting a shift in attitudes towards the earth and how we all live.”

 

Wonder

Wonder is a manifestation of the clash between the ever-changing awareness of our past, present, and future. In an attempt of hacked escapism, we find comfort in creating an incomprehensible world, one that ironically comes to mimic the things that we once found solace in. Thanks to innovations of AI and VR designers are playing with warped yet conforming shapes, design looks both familiar and completely novel — it’s a sensationalized concoction of rendered dimensions.

 

Retro Revival

A return to the “Golden Age of Design” when craftsmanship was at its peak – brands are looking towards fundamental shapes, materials and details of the 1950s-60s to revamp into the modern stylings of today. Consumers are feeling the weight of over consumption, thus craving items that hold substance and feel good. They are slowing down, off the wave of technology overkill, and seeking to find inspiration in the heirlooms. We are also seeing that due to having so much access online, consumers have a desire to share their own personality in the home, thus bringing in their own heritage and roots – items that play to their childhood memories for a mix and match approach to styling motifs.

Colour Trends from Maison & Objet | Paris Design Week

A green infusion

Long ignored throughout history, green is now rising from the ashes to become an ultra-trendy color for the world of decor. In terms of furniture and objects, solid or plain green is the thing, in minimal shapes. For interiors, go green on walls and floors, in rather soft, natural, and muted tones.

 

Pantone Classic Blue

Elegant, unchanging, and timeless, Pantone 19-4052 Classic Blue is the color of the year to embrace today. Inspiring serenity, confidence, and commonality, this shade of dark blue reminds us of the twilight sky and fosters concentration, a color to take refuge in.

 

Earth Tones

Organic shapes and natural materials, all in a kaleidoscope of clay-based colours…it’s a major trend these days. Whether its hand-whipped concrete walls, inspired ceramics, delicate wood, or tanned leather, let’s discover a visible (and visual) sampling of this style.

Brown is the new black

Long shunned, brown is making a comeback in design and decor. Its range of shades, deep and easy to match with, can be readily substituted for black, while adding a touch of difference, warmth, and velvety softness.

 

Now that you’re suitably inspired, now is the time to move onto Design Portal. Packed full of over 9,000 designs, our online archive is easy to use and is a great way to get those creative juices flowing.

You can get a sense of what is currently on-trend by taking a look at some of the most recent designs from our creative teams based across the world.

Design Portal is also fully searchable using key words or by design numbers while you can also create your own favourites to keep for future reference.

Once you’ve found the design you want, you can even recolour it to suit the project you’re working on. If we have created a custom design for you, then these can also be uploaded into your individual collection. You can then use our standard or neutral tuft boxes to choose from over 650 colours and recolour to your heart’s content!

In terms of designs and colours, Design Portal offers an abundance of choice and a plethora of inspiration, however where a project does not require a bespoke product, our variety of stock ranges offer an attractive alternative, with the added advantages of readily available samples, matching batches, quick turnaround times and no minimum order quantities.

If you wish to discuss your project or view Ulster’s collections our Paris Office is open and our experienced team are available to help develop ideas or answer questions.

Rez de Chaussee | 59 Rue Du Faubourg |Saint Antoine | 75011 | Paris | T: +33 (1) 70 22 48 04 | E: uceurope@ulstercarpets.com

 

For more information on Design Portal or our large stock offering please get in touch by emailing marketing@ulstercarpets.com