kohlhaas Exhibition stand construction, Hannover

Office space in a historic fire station: PURLINE combines the building’s original charm with a modern ambience.

Sometimes, when you look at structures for long enough, they take on an astonishing life of their own: they come to life and create surprising accents. This was the experience of Florian Dorsch, architect and managing director of exhibition stand specialist Kohlhaas, when he discovered wineo’s ‘Floating Wood’ organic flooring. For his company’s premises in Hanover, housed in a fire station dating from the Wilhelminian era, he had been searching for a floor covering with a suitable design. The aim was to use the visual aesthetic to bridge the gap between the historic building and the design-conscious company. After all, even following the refurbishment, the building’s historic character needed to be respected.

The ‘Floating Wood’ flooring from the wineo 1500 series was just what he needed: “The flooring conveys our design ethos wonderfully,” enthuses the architect. At first glance, the surface looks like wood, revealing its grain. On closer inspection, the patterns begin to dissolve as if on the surface of water. The combination of the floating quality of water and the warm feel of wood particularly fascinates Dorsch from a design perspective.

“It’s a design that is unobtrusive and allows the architecture of the space to take centre stage,” he explains, justifying his choice. “A floor covering like this makes life easy for clients and designers.” Dorsch took advantage of the fact that the design is available in two different colour schemes to create distinct zones. ‘Floating Wood Snow’, which resembles white-stained wood, defines the creative department area, home to many young, design-conscious staff members. Functional zones such as the kitchenette, secretarial office and administration, which are also frequented by production staff wearing safety footwear, are finished in an oak tone (Floating Wood Sand).

These high-traffic meeting areas benefit particularly from the robustness of the resilient polyurethane flooring. Not only is it easy to clean, but it also contributes to a healthy indoor climate. The basis is the high-performance composite material ecuran, which is produced primarily from vegetable oils such as rapeseed or castor oil and mineral components such as chalk – and thus requires no added chlorine, plasticisers or solvents. Its safety and sustainability are attested to by environmental labels and certifications such as the Blue Angel and the Cradle to Cradle Silver certificate.

“With a project like this, you only get one chance to make something beautiful. Because it’ll stay that way for the next ten to 15 years,” says Florian Dorsch. His personal conclusion: “In my career, I’ve seen about ten floors that are truly special. ‘Floating Wood’ is one of them.”