A Decade In Design
As we approach a new decade in design, themes of renewal underscore a resurgence of enthusiasm for responsible design practices.
At Mohawk Group, our rich, woven heritage serves to guide us as we look to the future. Our 2020 Design Vision CEU, Return to Humanity, is both a movement forward in a digital era and a vision culminated by a company ethos that has spent the past decade and more investing in people.
As an industry leader, we are committed to the cultivation of a company culture that leaves positive handprints in the communities where we live, work, and play. It’s more than a strategy, it’s a blueprint for upcoming generations – leaving a beneficial impact from which to glean.
“Handprinting has broadened our view, taking us out of the manufacturing facility and into the community to establish partnerships with social and environmental entities. It has focused us on wellness—the wellness of the families who use our products, the wellness of the employees who make our products, and the wellness of the communities where our products are made.”
Mohawk CSO George Bandy Jr.
Pioneering A Net-Positive Product Portfolio
We are immensely proud to be the pioneer for what has become an ever-growing portfolio of net-positive products – like our acclaimed Lichen collection.
Lichen, Mohawk Group’s first Living Product
Designed by Jason F. McLennan in collaboration with Mohawk Group, Lichen continues on its path to give more resources back to the environment than it uses during its entire life cycle – just as lichens play a regenerative role in their natural ecosystem. The development of Lichen also made us the first flooring manufacturer to introduce a floorcovering that achieved Living Product Challenge Petal Certification.
Most recently, we collaborated with renowned Fractals Research and 13&9 to develop a flooring system using a stress-reductive approach to design. Our Relaxing Floors collection continues to collect awards in innovation for its truly unique concept.
The collection is the culmination of art, science and human-centered design based on fractal patterns. Fractals, the building block of many of nature’s patterns, have been scientifically proven to reduce stress – and so provide benefits to physical health. Utilizing fractals in flooring design gives our eyes a break from the digital world and delivers the essence of nature to the contract built environment.
Relaxing Floors collaborators, left to right: Richard Taylor, Fractals Research; Jackie Dettmar, Mohawk Group; Anastasija and Martin Lesjak, 13&9
Cultivating Sustainable Workplace Communities
When it came time to create a new home for our talented design team, we restored a mid-century modern building with the help of students from Savannah College of Art and Design – a process dedicated to salvaging and repurposing original building materials. Fun fact: the majority of wood in the space came from tufting creels used in another Mohawk facility.
Panoramic views from our Light Lab Design Center
Our Light Lab Design Center was the first Living Building Challenge Petal Certified project in the state of Georgia and the first restoration project of its kind in the entire Southeastern U.S. Bonus: it now hosts a community garden to promote employee wellness.
Mohawk Group community garden at our Light Lab Design Center
Following in the sustainable footsteps of our Light Lab Design Center, our flagship NYC showroom officially met the requirements for WELL Building Standard Platinum and LEED v4 Gold certification. Designed by Gensler, the 13,000-square-foot Chelsea retail space is one of the few projects in the world to be certified under both programs.
Mohawk Group’s Flagship NYC Showroom
Leaving A Legacy of Positive Handprints
It’s been said that where we’ve been informs where we’re going – and it’s why we believe design can inspire and motivate positive change.
Our partnership with Groundswell is installing smartflower solar technology energy systems to produce clean, renewable energy for schools in underserved communities.
Students watch as a newly installed smartflower opens to harness solar energy
Our Glasgow, VA manufacturing facility was dedicated as a National Wildlife Federation Certified Wildlife Habitat as we expand efforts surrounding the protection and proliferation of pollinators.
Beehives at our Glasgow, VA “Living Site”
We’ve had the wonderful opportunity to provide the flooring for countless spaces designed to create a positive impact on the people who dwell in them – from children’s hospitals to camps for underserved communities.
We even had a few celebrity encounters – like when our Structure Revival Definity broadloom was specified for multiplatinum-selling global superstar Carrie Underwood’s exclusive album listening event. Post event, smaller bound area rugs were made from the large carpets and auctioned off at a special event to raise funds for the Lifecycle Building Center in Atlanta.
photo c/o Chris Hollo and UMG Nashville
And in the past 10 years we’ve contributed toward a total of 6.1 million dollars to Susan G. Komen as we support their efforts to bring awareness to and fund research to find a cure for breast cancer.
Our design director shares her personal journey with breast cancer and why our Specify for a Cure program holds a special meaning for her.
It’s a legacy that we’re proud to reflect on.
It has been an honor to forge a path forward over the past decade, creating a positive handprint as an industry leader.
2020 does not mark the end of an era for us, but a continued commitment to human-centered design that contributes to an ecologically restorative future.
