The collection captures the richness of materials like wood, stone, concrete, cement, terrazzo, and, giving designers the ability to tailor interiors that reflect their unique vision. Whether the brief calls for timeless elegance, contemporary edge, or organic warmth, Expona Flow provides the freedom to realise every concept with confidence.

The wood-inspired designs bring natural warmth and authenticity to interiors, with intricate grains and tonal variation that replicate real timber. Perfect for delivering the inviting comfort of wood without the maintenance challenges.

For more industrial or architectural schemes, the concrete and cement effects offer refined minimalism. Their subtle textural layers create a grounding presence ideal for urban-inspired interiors, retail spaces, or contemporary healthcare settings. Meanwhile, terrazzo designs introduce a touch of luxury and playfulness, a nod to classic craftsmanship, modernised with a soft palette and intricate detailing. Cosmos and other abstract visuals evoke a sense of movement and depth, ideal for feature areas, foyers, or creative zones that call for visual energy and distinction.

A true highlight of Expona Flow lies in its pattern-led series, including Herringbone, Basket Weave, Chevron, and Infinity. These designs reinterpret traditional parquetry and geometric motifs in a modern sheet format, combining pattern precision with seamless practicality. The ability to achieve zoning, wayfinding, and visual rhythm within one continuous floor surface allows designers to create layered, purposeful spaces without installation complexity or material transitions.

Beyond its aesthetic versatility, Expona Flow performs on every practical level. Using advanced printing technology, each design captures the authentic texture of the material it represents, from the grain of oak to the coolness of concrete. The result is a floor that looks and feels natural, yet is resilient, hygienic, and easy to maintain.

Sustainability and long-term performance are at the heart of the collection. Expona Flow features low VOC emissions, recyclable content, and a high-performance PUR coating that eliminates the need for regular polishing or sealing. This ensures long-lasting beauty while supporting sustainable, low-maintenance environments.

With Expona Flow, creativity and performance coexist effortlessly. It’s a designer’s canvas that invites experimentation, from subtle textures to bold statements, while providing the durability, hygiene, and practicality demanded by commercial spaces.

Expona Flow by Polyflor redefines what’s possible in modern flooring, offering a seamless blend of style, strength, and sustainability that moves effortlessly with the rhythm of contemporary life.

Experience a tantalizing menu at XinGu Restaurant, where exotic flavours and delightful dishes await, promising a culinary journey like no other. Polyflor’s Expona Commercial 4117 Cottage Oak Prisma was installed in the exquisite and unique restaurant situated in a sky-high haven. This provides a welcoming space for people to relax and enjoy the perfect blend of delicious Chinese cuisine and the breathtaking city view.

Discover a tantalizing menu at XinGu Restaurant, where exotic flavours and delightful dishes promise a culinary journey like no other. Located in the sky-high haven of Ascott Embassy Sathorn, Bangkok, this unique restaurant features Polyflor’s Expona Commercial 4117 Cottage Oak Prisma flooring. This choice creates a welcoming space where guests can unwind and enjoy the perfect blend of exquisite Chinese cuisine and breathtaking city views.

XinGu Restaurant masterfully combines Eastern cultural elements with contemporary Western design. Situated on the 37th floor of the Ascott Embassy Sathorn in Bangkok's central commercial district, it offers guests panoramic city views and a dining experience enriched by high-quality ingredients and refined Chinese food.

Creating a functional yet inviting environment that respects Eastern aesthetic values is crucial. The design ensures diners can relax, enjoy the ambiance and views, while staff can move effortlessly throughout the space. The menu reflects this fusion, offering a diverse range beyond traditional Chinese flavours, resulting in a cohesive and inventive dining experience.

Flooring plays a crucial role in the hospitality environment, from entrances and waiting areas to dining zones, bars, kitchens, and restrooms. It must balance aesthetics with safety, cost-effectiveness, low maintenance, and stock availability while complementing the restaurant's modern yet culturally rich atmosphere. The right flooring enhances the interior design, shaping the mood and contributing to an unforgettable dining experience.

The Expona Commercial collection features luxury vinyl tiles with a balanced palette of wood, stone, and industrial materials, ideal for heavy commercial use. Polyflor’s Luxury Wood Collection, including the 4117 Cottage Oak Prisma, replicates the beauty of natural timber with extensive design options, offering durability and style. This flooring is scratch and scuff-resistant, meeting rigorous environmental standards and supporting sustainability with its 100% recyclability within the ResiLoop scheme and 40% recycled content.

The inclusion of Polyflor’s Expona Commercial 4117 Cottage Oak Prisma has elevated XinGu Restaurant's interior, creating a visually engaging floor that complements the blend of functional design and Eastern aesthetics. This unique flooring choice enhances the restaurant's ambiance, creating a warm and appealing environment for an exceptional dining experience.

Project Name : Udders Ice Cream
Location : Jakarta, Indonesia

Product : XL PU, Classic Mystique

Project Name : Sky Awani 3 Residence 
Location : Setapak, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

High Rise Residential 

• Facility Area (for Kids)

Product : Polysafe Verona PUR - PURE COLOURS - Monsoon / Glacier / Cappuccino / Lemon Drizzle/ Rock Salt / Mocha 

Because of its ease of cleaning, maintenance and dirt-resistant nature, PVC or vinyl flooring is the product of choice for modern healthcare interiors such as hospitals, nursing homes, clinics, pharmacies, and medical centres.

Hospitals for instance, are exposed to high traffic 24 hours a day, which requires the floor to be capable of withstanding heavy foot traffic and wheel loads. Vinyl flooring can easily handle this task as it is very durable, resilient, and provides comfort underfoot for patients and staff to walk on a daily basis.

However, due to the complexity of healthcare establishments, different operational areas need to have different healthcare performance and requirements. In today’s article, we will talk about what other advantages and qualities vinyl flooring has that make it stand out from other healthcare flooring solutions.

1.Anti-static

To reduce the risks of static occurring and potential harm to the patients and staff, anti-static floorings are required in certain healthcare environments such as x-ray suites, scanner rooms and operating theatres where electro-static discharges (ESD) can easily occur.

Vinyl flooring is widely used in the healthcare sector among the anti-static flooring solutions because of its great anti-static performance and physical features.

Palettone SD (static dissipative) collection from the Polyflor ESD family is designed to meet specific electro-static resistance requirements and is categorized to ensure that the same terminology is used by all parties (EN14041). This collection is an ideal choice to help reduce possible electrostatic discharge, creating a safer healthcare environment for patients.

Recommended product: Palettone SD

Use areas: telecommunications installations, electronics manufacturing, computer rooms and healthcare facilities, such as scanner rooms, X-ray suites and operating theatres.

2. Hygienic & Improved infection prevention

Good hygiene is a top priority when it comes to hospital flooring, as it is continuously in contact with doctors, nurses, visitors, and patients. A hygienic floorcovering can not only prevent patients from catching infections and diseases but also stop bacteria and germs from spreading to the outside of the hospital.

One of the reasons vinyl flooring is more hygienic than other floorcoverings is because it features an impervious layer. This makes bacteria and germs have nowhere to hide.

On top of that, vinyl floorcoverings like Forest fx feature a polyurethane reinforcement (PUR) for improved cleaning and maintenance, providing a continuous, impervious, and hygienic flooring solution which can be safely used in many healthcare facilities.

Recommended product: Forest fx PUR

Use Areas: receptions, hospital wards, corridors, circulation areas, therapy rooms, shops, cafes, lifts

3. Sustainable slip resistance

Part of the reasons why vinyl is the most common material used in flooring is because it is designed to be slip-resistant. This makes vinyl flooring the ideal floor for busy and heavy traffic spaces like hospitals, where there are risks of water spillage and other contaminants. To set vinyl flooring apart from other floorcoverings, some of the specially designed safety vinyl floorings provide sustainable slip resistance throughout the guaranteed life of the product.

Taking Polysafe Standard PUR as a good example. Similar with the rest of the Polysafe products, Polysafe Standard PUR achieved a high level of wet slip resistance in Pendulum test, Ramp test and met the EN 13845 standard on abrasion test​, providing sustainable slip resistance and continued underfoot protection.

Featuring a Polysafe PUR maintenance enhancement for improved cleanability, this safety vinyl range provides constant safety underfoot for the patients while improving the cleaning regime within the hospital.

Recommended product: Polysafe Standard PUR

Use Areas: washrooms, toilet areas, storage and utility areas, kitchens, food and drinks preparation areas, laundry and sluice rooms, laboratories

4. More design options

Hospital design is about the creation of safe and clean surroundings and an uplifting environment can inspire confidence and a sense of wellbeing amongst patients, staff, and visitors alike. The choice of floorcovering can have a major impact on the ‘feel’ of a hospital interior.

Vinyl flooring is well-known for its wide variety of design options. It comes in a range of colours, patterns, and imitation of natural materials such as wood and stone, offering more design opportunities for hospital interiors.

Polysafe Stone fx is a distinctive safety flooring collection developed to capture the beauty and authenticity of material surfaces with the built-in reassurance of sustainable wet slip resistance. 

The collection features 22 commercial floor designs with high clarity stone and concrete effects and has been designed to work alongside our classic Polysafe Wood fx collection. Together they present endless design possibilities for hospitals, helping to build healing and welcoming environments for patient’s faster recovery.

Recommended product: Polysafe Stone fx PUR & Polysafe Wood fx PUR

Use areas: receptions, hospital wards, corridors, circulation areas, therapy rooms, shops, cafes, lifts, offices

5. Dementia-friendly designs

Choosing the right flooring is key in promoting a more positive and inclusive environment to those living with dementia. Designs that promote harmony and wellbeing through the creation of a sense of calm are important to resident comfort and welfare.

As mentioned before, vinyl flooring has its advantage of offering a variety of looks and colours to suit the needs of different healthcare settings. You can find some ideal vinyl flooring options to create your dementia-friendly interiors.

For example, Polysafe Verona PURE COLOURS is one of the safety flooring collections from Polyflor that is developed with the requirements of those living with dementia firmly in mind. This vinyl range features a tonal colour bank and matt surface finish, optimised to provide a decoration suitable for specification in dementia-friendly environments.

Recommended product: Polysafe Verona PUR

Use areas: operating theatres, offices, waiting rooms, circulation areas& stairs, receptions, toilets, patient wards, cafeterias, pharmacies.

To put it into a nutshell, vinyl flooring is ideally used in healthcare settings for its durability, strong chemical and dirt resistance, anti-static, ease of cleaning and maintenance, slip resistance and more…

If you're interested to learn more about how Polyflor flooring can assist in creating healthcare environments, please contact us here

You can also discover more about healthcare flooring, along with some Polyflor Case Studies on our Healthcare Brochure

Pantone Colour of the Year 2021 - How to apply it to your floor?

Globally recognized colour expert, Pantone Color Institute, unveils its 2021 Colour of the year: Illuminating (PANTONE® 13-0647) and Ultimate Gray (PANTONE® 17-5104).

Rock-solid and practical but at the same time optimistic and welcoming, the combination of these two hues symbolizes strength and positivity, giving us warmth and hope.

Illuminating is a vibrant and cheerful yellow sparkling with life, a warming yellow shade inspired by sunlight.

For commercial spaces like retail shops, cafes and offices, the Lemon Punch shade from our BLOC collection is an ideal choice if you want to choose yellow flooring for your interior. BLOC not only features fully pigmented solid colour sheet vinyl but also provides polyurethane (PUR) surface treatment to assist ongoing maintenance, helping you to create an uplifting and bold interior. Find more about this shade by clicking the button below:

Ultimate Gray is a timeless hue that never goes out of style in any modern interior.

The mid-grey shade of Studio Grey and the dark grey shade of Urban Chic from BLOC collection are great options if you aim to create a sense of calm and serenity in your interior.

You can also combine the light grey tone of Rock Salt with the darker tone of Urban Chic for a classic, corporate finish. View these shades in detail by clicking the button below:

▼Similar Articles▼

4 Workplace trends for the future office | Silentflor

Case Study: Live Sport & Palettone PUR

Case Study: Klook Head Office

When it comes to creating daycare or childcare spaces, people commonly think it is not much different from other typical child environment spaces. However, many studies have shown how effective a well-designed play space can stimulate healthy brain development for children.

Besides hygienic toys and colourful yet small furniture, safety design and floor planning should also be taken into consideration.

Here are some tips to help you create a well-developed daycare and childcare centre that promotes safety, comfort and well-being whilst encouraging a childs’ early development.

Create learning and playing spaces for multi-age groups

Daycare and child care centres are not only for babies and toddlers who have just started exploring the world but also for preschoolers who are looking for opportunities to practice their language and to improve their social skills.

Thus, it remains important to continually take account of the children’s developmental stages, personalities, skills and interests when designing daycare or childcare interiors.

Examples are avoiding items like scissors and ropes in the baby and toddler-centred areas, setting up painting and reading spots for preschoolers who prefer quieter activities, choosing simple toys like farm animals, blocks, musical instruments to provide “no rules for use” experiences for the kids with different interests from different age groups.

Use an open plan to create a safe daycare environment

Supervisors and teachers should be able to look after and retain the kids at all times, especially if a kid is hurt, unwell or in even more extremely urgent situations.

Open floor design can help educators scan the room, do a headcount quickly, ensuring each kid is learning and playing safely in the room.

Daycare design should be educational and encourage creativity.

Besides having enough toys and learning materials that promote different areas of intelligence, daycare or childcare interior is also playing an important role in early childhood development. As children learn through play, a daycare or childcare space should be both educational and playful.

For example, apply different shapes, forms and colours on the floor and walls to create an intriguing environment for the kids, cultivating their abilities to imagine and be creative with the objects and features.

Colours and shapes can also be used for wayfinding or create a focal point for the education itself.

Create safe and clean daycares for children to play and learn

Nobody can deny the importance of safety and cleanliness in a daycare or childcare environment. In fact, safety and cleanliness have become the new norm for all organizations since the pandemic.

Here are 5 tips to help you create a safe and clean environment in daycare or childcare:

1. Avoid using soft or sponge-like toys, which can be easily chewed or choked on by babies and toddlers.
2. Choose common babyproofing or toddler proofing products like baby playpens, doorknob covers, baby monitors to enhance safety.
3. Store all the things in an organized way.
4. Recruit staff with early childhood education and offer them safety training regularly.
5. Pick a durable, easy to clean and maintain flooring with different design options to inspire kids whilst keeping them healthy and safe.

Our Palettone PUR is a homogeneous flooring collection made by Polyflor in the UK that is typified by its excellent durability, reliability, ease of maintenance and design opportunities.

Featuring a solid colour base with complementary toned highlights in a palette of 50 shades. This product range is perfectly suited for those who are looking for creating a daycare or childcare space that nurtures childs' creativity and promotes early childhood development.

Similar to many Polyflor commercial sheet vinyl ranges, Palettone PUR offers a slip-resistance, hygienic and low-maintenance flooring solution with assured for at least 10 years in recommended use areas. Providing improved cleaning benefits and underfoot safety for both kids and staff.

Why Polyflor vinyl flooring is one of the best options for babies, toddlers and preschoolers?

The vinyl ranges including Palettone PUR from Polyflor are easy to clean and maintain, highly resistant to scratch, temporary water and dirt, softer and more comfortable for kids to sit and play than some other options like tile flooring. This is a very important factor to consider as hard flooring can be dangerous for babies and toddlers, who can easily fall and hurt themselves.

If you're interested to learn more about how Polyflor flooring can assist in creating safe and creative daycare environments, please contact us here.
You may also discover more about education flooring, along with some Polyflor Case Studies on our Education Brochure.

For kid, For choice, Think Palettone.

What is Dementia?

There is a common misconception that dementia is a normal part of ageing and that is all about loss of memory - not so!

Dementia is the umbrella term describing the symptoms that occur when the brain is affected by certain diseases or conditions. There are many different types of dementia, in fact over 100, although some are more common than others such as alzheimers, vascular, lewy body and frontotemporal dementias. Dementia involves the ongoing and irreversible death of brain cells, as such it is not a normal part of ageing and it is a terminal illness which gradually gets worse. The condition often affects memory, language, understanding, thinking, and the ability for daily activities to be carried out.

The goal is to be able to ‘live well with dementia’ such that quality of life is maintained and even improved for the person with dementia but also for their family, friends and carers. All too often, dementia is seen as leading to inactivity and immobility coupled with loss of both independence and social interaction, yet good care, complemented with good design of the physical environment can make an important and critical contribution towards living well with the condition.

We can all contribute towards making a positive difference for those affected by dementia – the person themselves, their family, friends, and carers. Polyflor is pleased to have worked with the School of the Built Environment at the University of Salford to develop their key principles for dementia-friendly flooring that meet the general guidelines set down in the 2015 Health Building Note issued by the Department of Health.

Dementia-friendly flooring is appropriate for a range of diverse settings including our own home, sheltered/extra care housing, dementia hubs and respite care, day centres, hospital/hospice environments, rehabilitation, and intermediate care facilities as well as residential care/nursing home environments. As such, the Salford Institute for Dementia at the University of Salford, in conjunction with Polyflor Ltd has developed the principles overleaf to support the implementation of the Department of Health HBN 08-02 (2015), the British Standard PAS 1365: 2015, and the British Standard 8300 (2009) + A1 (2010). The newly developed principles cross-reference back to these documents where appropriate. These principles are aimed at designers and specifiers of flooring to assist with the implementation of dementia-friendly environments.

10 PRINCIPLES FOR DEMENTIA-FRIENDLY FLOORING

1: Develop one continuous flooring surface

Tonal contrast of flooring is important and is more than just the colour (hue) of the product. Ideally, the floor needs to be both seen and experienced as one continuous surface. Choosing flooring products in adjacent areas with similar tones and light reflectance values (LRV) that are close to each other is therefore important.

A large tonal contrast between two adjacent floor surfaces could be perceived as a step and cause confusion for those living with dementia. Threshold strips between two floor surfaces should match the tones of both surfaces. Similarly, barrier matting should blend tonally with adjacent flooring. [Meets Design Principles 1, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 9 in DH HBN 08-02]

2: Careful use of tonal contrast

If there are changes in flooring between areas used by people with dementia and those that are staff only areas, a large tonal contrast may be beneficial in providing a visual barrier. Similarly, the flooring can be used to highlight main features of a room by having a good tonal contrast with walls and skirting, fixed and loose furniture and sanitaryware.

As a rule of thumb, the light reflectance value (LRV) should be 30 points difference between surfaces in order to get good tonal contrast (BS 8300 S 9.1.1). Additionally, being consistent in the use of materials, finishes and colours to differentiate room and space function is an important consideration. [Meets Design Principles 1, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 9 in DH HBN 08-02]

3: Reduce impact sound

The acoustics of environments used by people with dementia should strike a careful balance between the environment being over stimulating with unwanted noise and being too sound-absorbent that the space in monotonous. Choosing flooring products with acoustic absorption properties can help soften hard and noisy environments and reduce impact sound levels between rooms.
[Meets Design Principles 2 and 4 in DH HBN 08-02]

4: Accentuate colours to give depth

Using strong hues / colours will give more depth to a room than paler shades and this can help in the perception of the size and shape of rooms to aid wayfinding. People with dementia can find that rooms appear two dimensional if the colours are subdued, particularly if their vision is compromised. Avoid very dark colours as these may be perceived by the person with dementia as holes to fall into, or the dark colours may trigger emotions of imprisonment.
[Meets Design Principles 2, 4, 6 and 9 DH HBN 08-02]

5: Avoid sensory overload and false steps

Using flooring products without too many differing colours and patterns in the design or textures on the floor is important. Similarly, avoid inlaid logos and bands, as well as strong and contrasting grout lines in the flooring finish. Flooring which contributes to sensory overload can confuse the eye and cause a person with dementia to perceive a false step, an obstacle, a hole, or to see the pattern as something it is not (for example, blue swirls as a pattern in a floor may be interpreted as water). This can deter people with dementia from walking across the floor safely without getting distracted, causing disorientation and putting them off balance.
[Meets Design Principles 1, 3 and 9 in DH HBN 08-02]

6: Reduce sparkle

Using flooring products without any sparkle or shimmer effect in their design is important as these may be perceived by a person with dementia as being a wet floor surface, which can affect their gait and provide a slip risk. [Meets Design Principles 1 and 3 in DH HBN 08-02]

7: Promote the use of a matt floor finish

A matt appearance to flooring, rather than shiny, will reduce problems of glare, or creating pools of reflected light from the overhead light fittings. Glossy surfaces may be perceived by a person with dementia as slippery or wet and this can lead to confusion and anxiety.
[Meets Design Principles 1 and 3 in DH HBN 08-02]

8: Blend flecks with the tone of the main floor surface

Where speckles or secondary flecks are being used in the floor material then avoid those with a high tonal contrast between the secondary flecks and the main floor tone. People with dementia may interpret the flecks as pieces on the floor surface and try to pick them up to throw away. Solid colour, or flooring with subtle tonal secondary flecks is preferable.
[Meets Design Principles 1 and 2 in DH HBN 08-02]

9: Avoid unpleasant smells and odours

Consideration should be given to smells that might build up through the spillage of foods/liquids and incontinence onto floor surfaces. People with dementia may have a strong emotional reaction to particular smells and odours which can lead to confusion and stress. Choosing the right flooring product along with an appropriate cleaning regime is important. Products provided with built-in maintenance enhancements to facilitate easier cleaning are preferable.
[Meets Design Principles 1, 2 and 4 in DH HBN 08-02]

10: Provide good transition between differing floor finishes

Sudden changes of flooring material type, low to high friction or soft to hard, may cause confusion for people with dementia and may present a fall hazard. Transition between differing flooring should be as smooth as possible and pronounced changes in surface finish should be avoided. Where flooring with a raised emboss is used, ensure that its use is limited to areas where additional safety flooring is required, such as wet rooms and barefoot areas.
[Meets Design Principles 1, 7 and 11 in DH HBN 08-02]

If you're interested to learn more about how Polyflor flooring can assist in creating dementia-friendly environments, please contact us here.
You may also discover more about dementia-friendly flooring, along with some Polyflor Case Studies on our Specialist Care Brochure.

Bean Buro took on the design of the expanded headquarters for the reputable travel technology company KLOOK in Hong Kong. The company is located in an office tower in the Central district and was undergoing rapid expansion to acquire more floor space for the growing team of employees. The expanded area is a whole floor and would house a new reception, a boardroom, a set of meeting rooms, a CEO room, collaboration spaces, phone booths, and working neighbourhoods for 70+ employees.

Upon arrival, visitors are now greeted by the horizontal side of the ‘plane’ structure. The solid timber structure houses the reception, waiting area, pantry, and a set of meeting rooms, with aeroplane-like windows offering glimpses of the activities taking place inside.

By connecting Klook’s brand identity, the designers specified Silentflor PUR with shade Burnt Orange (9981), with complementary elements such as warm concrete (Silentflor PUR shade 9967) and oak (Forest fx PUR shade 2990).

The designers also drew references to the artist Olafur Eliasson’s works in terms of colours and light, particularly his work Your Rainbow Panorama, a multicoloured, panoramic glass walkway on the rooftop of ARoS Museum in Denmark. They wanted dichroic glass to be a key feature in the central space and to evoke a sunset over an airport, forming a strong identity for the workspace that feels artistic and engaging rather than corporate or cold.

Images / Courtesy of Bean Buro