Urban Styles

What will the homes, workplaces, and our lives of tomorrow look like?

How will we live?

This is the question that designers at global surfacing giant Schattdecor have been urgently asking.

As a result, the company has re-evaluated its “Urban Styles: Places of tomorrow” trend concept in terms of new trends and influences. From the viewpoint of “adapting to a new normality”, it has compiled new selections based on the latest trend research and internal developments.

“What we have discovered is that creative people are in demand like never before, especially in the areas of living, work and life,” it said.

“It’s time to develop décors and products that meet these new requirements that will be used in an expanded field of applications.

“Living in small spaces is becoming more and more popular. In space-saving living concepts such as the Skinny House, space solutions are needed that allow pragmatic minimalism, but also individual living with maximum usability.”

Stone décors such as Kalahari, for example, can be used as eye-catchers to create a visual highlight and at the same time offer a practical, spatial benefit.

How is our workspace changing?

Partition walls and other spatial dividers create a private, individual work situation.

Additionally, they can fulfil the necessary conditions that allow for exchange in larger groups.

The Golden Veins décor, with its fine gold joints, has a particularly exciting effect over a large area due to its graphic details.

How will we spend our leisure time?

In public spaces, woodgrains or printed textile décors can be used as an alternative to fabric or other real textile materials, and they also score points due to their usability and durability.

Newport Maple is designed as a perfect fit as it is a maple décor with an exciting colour gradient that radiates intensity and versatility.

In modern bars and restaurants new island surface top solutions will be in demand. The Noce Tortona décor is a versatile all-rounder and could also be used in other areas of public life such as retail shops and can be combined with a variety of materials in the most diverse areas.

“Our Décor Selection 2020 décors can be wonderfully combined with each other and offers a wide range of styles from modern to rustic,” said Claudia Küchen, Schattdecor’s chief creative officer.

“Our aim was to put together a harmonious overall package in line with the demands of the times, which meets the requirements of new concepts and solutions for home, work, and life in general.”

Schattdecor says no one could have predicted how quickly the future would materialise and “Places of Tomorrow” would be so pertinent – a new normality it has to respond to as a strong network.

“Our message is: Together into a future that we don’t know anything about – but we’ll shape it together.”

As mentioned in a surfacing update last year in WBPI, Schattdecor has also been switching people on to its Smartflex Nature collection from its Finishflex product line, which is designed as a tailor-made answer to the demand for thermoplastic surfaces in the furniture and interior design industry.

The elastic surface combines the low-maintenance of a plastic foil with a décor-synchronous look and matt finish with real wood character. It is particularly recommended for use in kitchens and wet rooms. Due to its flexibility and formability, the product is also very suitable for wrapping.

Aside from its new décors, Schattdecor also made moves at the end of 2020 to better position itself in its various global markets.

Schattdecor Group facilities, Vasatech and US Coating, officially started bearing the company name Schattdecor from January 1 this year.

Until now, the acquisitions from 2019 included the addition “Member of Schattdecor-Group”. Vasatech will undergo a change of name in the future.

US Coating in Lexington, South Carolina, will merge with the Schattdecor site in Maryland Heights, MO. The companies will merge to form Schattdecor Inc.

The group is also expanding its impregnation capacities in Brazil.

Schattdecor is investing in two additional impregnation channels at the São José dos Pinhais site. The surface specialist will further expand its on-site impregnation capacities to five machines.

One channel is currently under construction, after being delayed due to the pandemic. When it is commissioned, the channel’s production will be 9ft wide.

The company expects completion of the installation to take place in the first quarter of this year.

Due to the promising potential in the market, another channel is to follow.

“A fifth impregnation channel has already been ordered and is expected to be ready for production in the first quarter of 2022,” said Roland Heeger, chief technology officer.

“The additional machine is also a 9ft channel. In this way we are increasing our impregnation capacities on site, adapting to the market’s needs.”

“We currently have a production capacity of 160 million m² per year, are planning sustainable growth, and we always have best quality of service to our customers in mind,” said Flavio Lufchitz, managing director Schattdecor do Brasil.

“As part of the new investments, our production capacity will increase to more than 220 million m2 per year. With the second resin reactor, we can completely cover our melamine requirements through our own production.”

The second resin reactor was commissioned in 2020 and is to be installed before the second new impregnation channel becomes operational.