HBOS Business Banking HQ, Citymark, Edinburgh

 

Project Manager at HBOS, Anne Mackay Reid, was involved in the specification of the carpet tiles and explained: “Underfloor comfort was of great importance to us. As Tessera was able to offer its own SOFTbac® comfort backing on whichever range we chose, this was a major factor in the decision-making.The building has a hard access floor, and we wanted to maximise noise reduction. The secondary backing has certainly made a great impact in terms of sound absorption, and you can really feel the difference when you walk across the floor”.

Five out of the six floors are dedicated to open plan offices where textured cut and loop Ethos tiles in Moonlight have been fitted, with walkways delineated by use of contrasting Optimum Chroma cut pile tiles in Heather. “We particularly liked Ethos, which is used for the majority of the floorspace”, explained Anne.“We chose it for the main office work areas for two reasons – firstly, we really liked the colours, but it was mainly for the interesting texture. We felt it important to break up what could otherwise be a plain expanse of flooring, and the cut and loop texture of Ethos does just that, giving a three-dimensional appearance which adds detail to the large open plan offices”.

On the ground floor, the reception area features Optimum Chroma tiles in Cornflower, set in a ceramic surround to give the effect of a rug centrepiece. The reception leads to the training and executive meeting rooms and suites, where corporate clients will be welcomed. Here, 1000m2 of Optimum tiles have been installed.

“Durability was also of the utmost importance”, added Anne, “and we also wanted to know that we were using a reliable company. We have worked with Tessera on many occasions in the past and have always found them to be extremely helpful, with a good supply of product always readily accessible. We’re very pleased with the end result”.

The installation was carried out by Phoenix Flooring Services of Musselburgh, part of the Sharkey Group.