8 min read
July 3, 2024
In our many years of experience in the carpet retail business, we know that everyone wants and needs something different. Even in domestic settings the requirements of comfort in a bedroom and hard-wearing robustness for the stairs require different solutions.
When it comes to commercial floorspaces, the requirements tend to be more specific, but also come with some very clear demands. The carpets must be neat and smart, to avoid giving a poor impression both to those who work there and to visitors, which may range from clients and potential clients through to interviewees and, occasionally, VIPs.
Since commercial floor spaces tend to be quite large, it makes no sense to splash out on new carpets that will not be hard-wearing and require replacing all too soon. What you need is something that lasts despite the heavy footfall it receives in certain areas, can cope with having heavy objects and furniture placed on it, and yet remains stylish.
These are all reasons for us to stock Gradus carpet tiles, as they really are one of the best in the business.
The History Of Gradus
Gradus began in 1966 as a specialist flooring accessories business, which gave it a very solid grounding in the area of commercial interiors and ensured it developed a very strong understanding of the specific requirements of workplace flooring.
With over 300 employees, it now offers a comprehensive array of interior solutions, of which flooring is just a part. It serves the commercial, medical and educational sectors and has long since become a global distributor of flooring and interior products, with bases in the UK, Dubai and Singapore.
The firm, which is based in the town of Macclesfield in Cheshire, describes its culture as being “built on problem solving, service and customer support,” all of which are values that chime with us at CVT Direct.
Problem-solving is not just about tackling something that has suddenly and dramatically gone wrong, or a product has a specific issue with it. Rather, many commercial office managers will be faced with a longer-term problem of how to deal with carpeting that has worn in places of heavy use, has a poor visual impact or is difficult to keep clean.
The answer in such cases is not simply to replace it, but to make sure the choice of new carpeting is a wise one. Gradus products are all geared to this need, but that does not prevent them from offering a range of choices to help meet specific requirements as well as providing various options of taste and style.
The 21 Varieties Of Gradus
Gradus offers both vinyl flooring and carpet tiles, but it is in the latter category that we stock Gradus products, with no fewer than 21 options available on our website.
A common feature is that these are nylon carpets, made from recycled materials in line with the firm’s environmental commitments. The backing is usually bitumen, of which 75 per cent is recycled.
These measures enable the carpets to gain high environmental rankings, in some cases scoring an A or A+ BREEAM rating. On this point, Gradus really does get top grades.
Being green would not, however, be much use if the products did not meet the requirements of modern busy buildings that see a lot of footfall, and are both workplaces that some people come to every day while others visit.
Therefore, the firm has worked hard on providing a series of high-quality designs with the purpose of meeting multiple needs in buildings.
Choices For Every Need
For example, suppose what you need most is carpeting for your corridors. The Gradus Bodega carpet is just the thing for that. Coming in a choice of six shades, the tiles come with invisible joins that give the impression of a single, smart-looking carpet that covers the full length of the corridor.
That is the ideal product for someone who does not want to make the carpet the centre of attention, but in some parts of an office, you may have different plans. This is where a product like the Gradus Brickwork carpet tiles comes into its own.
Not only do these offer multi-tone shades of grey, but they come with yellow borders that can be straight or curved according to the shape of the walls, pillars or other physical borders of the room. As such, they make a colourful and attractive statement that will have a positive impact on the workplace and all who enter it.
The Gradus Cityscene is similar to the Gradus Brickwork but, as you might expect, greyer. Both are 5.8 mm thick and made from a nylon tufted loop pile.
Such products have a more uniform look so that the entire carpet appears as one single entity in the same shade and pattern, helping to conceal the tiling. However, you might want to make a statement with an attractive pattern. That is where a product like the Lafite Connect carpet enables you to make a statement.
This offers a fusion of three different designs, called Stripes, Plains, and Space. These combine to offer a floor-wide pattern that varies depending on where on the floor you stand, offering a stylish floor covering instead of one single design.
Alternatively, you can get an entire floorspace covered with just one of these four designs instead of the three-part combination. The Plains version comes with 12 choices of colour, the Space comes with six and the Stripes with eight. One option with the Plains is to have 250mm by 1,000mm planks, rather than the usual 500mm x 500mm tiles.
For something in a truly novel multi-tone pattern, the Gradus Latour2 offers a Plains and Stripes version, with each providing multi-tone squares in colours of different intensity and darkness that range from grey to blue.
A Carpet That Is Out of This World
The Lunar Carpet tile offers something else again. It has a visual effect that resembles the surface of the moon (although there are no actual craters). This mottled grey effect comes with different shades to represent the various marks and ‘seas’ of the Moon, with eight different possible shades.
Made from the same recycled nylon in a tufted loop pile, this is slightly thicker than some of the other carpets in the Gradus range, at 6 mm.
It may fairly be said that entering a room with this carpet in really is one small step for a man, but a giant leap in carpet design, giving a grey carpet something that offers a remarkable contrast to the plain or regular patterns of other carpets. It may also be ideal for educational settings, especially when teaching science in general and astronomy in particular.
The Predator carpet tile is another name to reckon with, but fear not – it doesn’t look like the killer alien from the films of that name. Instead, it is a fairly plain grey, but tough carpet with 6.5 mm of thickness, designed for education and healthcare settings and achieving BREEAM A+ status for both.
If you want individual patterned carpet tiles, the SqMile Exec could be the ideal thing, as each one comes with a pattern of multiple strips of varying hues and thickness, creating a mosaic of interesting patterns across the floor.
As the name suggests, this is the kind of stand-out design that would fit the executive areas of the building where senior management would reside, adding an extra bit of style and visual quality to impress all who set foot on it.
At 8.7 mm, it is notably thicker than almost all the other carpets in the Gradus range, offering the comfort you would expect from an executive setting. The Gradus Times Square is just behind at 8.6 mm, featuring striped patterns that include hints of pale yellow and pale blue.
Other carpets that are thicker than average, include the Stratus, at 6.8 mm. This is not made for executive settings, instead being rated BREEAM A+ for education, healthcare and retail alike, with a choice of 12 colour designs.
The Streetwise range is also 6.8 mm thick, with this coming in a mix of very light and very dark. Rather than alternating or providing patterns, this simply divides a floor into two parts, one with the light tiles and one with the darker ones. This could simply be a design feature or used to help divide a room into zones.
Streetwise carpet tiles come in the Originals and Brights versions, with various grey, black and blue varieties available.
On the other hand, if you do want to mix up the Streetwise range tiles, the Flair or Trend styles are the ones to go for.
Finally, for a plank effect with multiple pastel tones, the Urban Myth offers two versions with several combination choices.
Top Quality Guaranteed
Gradus carpets are all hard-wearing and high quality, with warranties of between ten and 12 years for wear depending on the product, while most come with a ten-year warranty for static. These lengthy warranties testify to their quality and toughness.
With such a wide range to choose from, you could find just what you need for every different room on the premises, from corridors to executive offices to large open-plan areas. With Gradus, you are getting A-grade carpets in every sense.
