Should Carpet Have Cushion in the Workspace?

Designing a commercial interior space is typically about productivity, longevity, and efficiency. What if comfort adds to higher productivity, adds years to the lifespan of the product, and creates a more efficient workspace? Workplace design has started looking different in the last 4 years, but one thing that has always remained the same is, that if your employees enjoy their workspace, productivity increases!

Performance
How does cushion improve the performance of a carpet tile in an office environment? As you walk on carpet tile, your feet are impacting the softest surface of the product. In a hardback carpet tile, the surface fibers take the brunt of the shoe, flattening the fibers between the two hard surfaces.

Now think about walking across the surface fibers with a more flexible cushion under the surface. As you walk across, although you are putting direct pressure on the fibers, the cushion flexes under the weight, which allows less pressure on the fibers. This keeps the surface fibers from flattening and looking older than they are.

​Wellness
Taking employee wellness into account is one of the most positive changes that 2020 has brought into the workplace. Cushioned surfaces have been proven to support feet, legs, and backs more, especially in working areas where standing is promoted.

With sit-to-stand desks being a popular feature in today’s workspace, choosing a cushioned back carpet tile will provide more support to employees while standing at their desks.

Acoustics
Carpet tile in general compared to hard surfaces provides better sound absorption by preventing sounds from bouncing around a room, but cushioned carpet tile can increase that performance by up to 50%. With an office space with fewer noise distractions, productivity will also naturally increase!

Cushioned carpet tile used to be a custom item that cost hours in design time and large fees in overages and minimums. Today there are standard designs that provide designs for several options!

*References include white pages from Milliken Commercial Carpet and Mohawk Group.