Healthcare Design - April 2019 - 30

A B OV E : Orcutt|Winslow
used neutral flooring to
delineate spaces around
the nurses' desk at Banner Behavioral Health
Hospital in Scottsdale,
Ariz. B E L OW: For the
operating rooms at Bone
& Joint Institute at Hartford Hospital in Hartford,
Conn., designers at HDR
chose rubber flooring to
improve the environment
for staff, who are often
on their feet for hours at
a time.

EVOLVING AESTHETICS

New material preferences aren't the only shift
in hard surface healthcare flooring; many designers and facilities are also updating their aesthetic preferences, stepping away from naturallooking materials, such as woods and stone, to
more neutral options. "We've tried to move away
from incorporating wood-look floors throughout a project when we can because there are so
many other items that end up having a woodlook finish, like the cabinetry and casework ... it
ends up being too much wood," Kenson says.
Instead, she tries to steer clients toward something that's more timeless, such as rubber or
linoleum options, rather than something stylistic, especially in more clinical spaces such as the
emergency department. Spellman agrees, saying
his firm prefers to keep the flooring more neutral.
"We'd rather see the color in the walls and the artwork," he says. "We keep the flooring fairly nondescript."
In addition to neutral colors, designers are
also moving away from a lot of patterning,
which was more prominent in the past. "I see
designs for floors are more simplistic," Lemons
says. "We now have more products that are visually pleasing."
When it comes to finding the perfect hard
surface flooring for a healthcare interior, the
main concern still comes down to budget. But
with a wide variety of options available today
that are easily cleaned and found in both neutrals and patterns, it's easier for designers to
find products that will fulfill all of a facility's
needs. 
Kadie Yale is a freelance writer based in Iowa
City, Iowa. She can be reached at K A D I E YA L E @
GMAIL.COM.

APRIL 2019

HCDMAGAZINE.COM

STEFAN YARISH FROM CAPSFOTO INTERNATIONAL (BANNER); HALKIN MASON PHOTOGRAPHY (HARTFORD)

While sheet vinyl was the go-to for hospital floors for years, tiled products
like luxury vinyl tile (LVT) and rubber flooring are becoming more popular
within the healthcare sector, providing a low-maintenance, durable flooring option for healthcare interiors that's available in a variety of styles, finishes, and colors. "The surfaces for LVT have improved the product a lot
in terms of scratch resistance," says Stan Spellman, senior vice president,
Spellman Brady & Co. (St. Louis). "The wear surface is much better. It tends
to not leave marks and it doesn't telescope imperfections the same way
sheet products do."
Additionally, the thicker composition of LVT compared to sheet flooring helps it withstand the weight of carts and gurneys while providing a
bit of cushion for the staff whose feet and legs experience fatigue on hard
surfaces-a balancing act that's important to achieve. "We need softer
floors for nurses, but we have to have harder floors for equipment and patients to be able to roll over," Lemons says. "Softer floors and equipment
don't usually jibe."
She notes that several flooring companies are trying to find a solution
to soft flooring that's comfortable for staff while providing the sturdiness
and abrasiveness needed to withstand equipment loads. In the meantime, she's found a solution in rubber flooring tiles, which can also help
facilities meet in-house environmental design goals. Rubber flooring,
most of which is made from recycled rubber, is a more sustainable product option than traditional sheet vinyl.
Jean Hansen, sustainable principal at HDR (San Francisco), says that sustainability is becoming a bigger issue for clients as they become more aware
of the environmental impact of their design choices. There's also a growing

list of available certifications in addition to the
U.S. Green Building Council's LEED program
that are affecting the industry, such as the Health
Product Declaration (HPD) Collaborative's HPD
Open Standard, which reports product content
and associated health information, and the International Living Future Institute's Declare
transparency platform and product database. In
2018, Health Care Without Harm announced its
Healthy Flooring Initiative, which defines environmental attributes for healthy resilient flooring in healthcare. "We explain to our clients why
[these initiatives] were developed, why they're
critical to consider for human and environmental health, and why we recommend we use that
same guidance," Hansen says.

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Healthcare Design - April 2019

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