Shreekant-Abhishek Somany




"With sustainability as a backdrop, there is a significant increase in options, variety, and technological advances for flooring application including Hardwood, Carpet, Resilient, and Concrete," Shreekant Somany (CMD) & Abhishek Somany (MD), Somany Ceramics


Hardwood flooring still enjoys a legion of fans in the commercial AEC industry. We can see a lot of distressed hardwood in funky new treatments, such as layouts that contrast dark and bleached tones, or varying wood tile prints in a single strip of flooring. Reclaimed wood in a variety of species, remains popular as an attractive, sustainable option.

Concerns about scratch and moisture resistance and higher maintenance requirements can discourage commercial building owners from embracing real wood. Faux wood products, such as luxury vinyl tile (LVT), porcelain, or vinyl sheet goods laminated with wood prints, are becoming increasingly popular. Available in sheets and planks in varying widths to resemble the look of cut wood, faux wood is showing up more often in venues such as hospitals, medical office buildings, and residence halls.

In the resilient flooring category, commercial-project designers generally lean toward vinyl composition tile (VCT), LVT, linoleum, and rubber. The qualities that make resilient flooring choices stand out are the colors and textures, sustainable properties, and ease of maintenance. VCT often trumps other options. No longer limited to 12x12-inch tiles, VCT is now available in a variety of sizes and patterns. Linoleum offers renewable, natural properties and textural warmth.

Akbarally by DCA
Multiple LVT manufacturers are unveiling floating floors, which are planks or tiles that interlock and do not need to be glued to the substrate. One notable advantage of these floating floors is the option to install planks directly over existing VCT or ceramic.

Carpet tiles continue to dominate the commercial carpeting marketplace, and are estimated to account for 55 to 60% of carpeting contract sales. Tile products offer extensive design flexibility, and it's much easier to replace worn or damaged tiles than to fix a problem with broadloom carpet. Initial installation produces less waste, and some tile products no longer require adhesives. Manufacturers are creatively using post-consumer waste such as fishing nets, textiles, and fluff from the tops of old carpets and rugs.

Retail and restaurant projects are largely governed by aesthetics and branding where most popular product types are carpet tile, natural stone tile, and wood. Polished concrete, LVT, and porcelain tile can be found as well. Topping the list of go-to products for offices are carpet tiles, broadloom carpets, and no-wax vinyl resilient sheet goods and tiles.

For Hospitality and Sports venues, broadloom, carpet tile, and large-sized natural stone tiles are frequently selected. For sports facilities, dealing with heavy traffic and long-term durability are important, and designers often choose polished concrete, rubber, hardwood, and carpet tile, depending on the use of each area.

Digital Printing technology has transformed the tile industry, creating new and intriguing possibilities for industry and commercial usage too. Apart from adorning home spaces, tile manufacturers can now make tiles that so closely resemble natural materials like marble and wood.

Somany's revolutionary VeilCraft (VC) Shield technology is a high abrasion resistant glaze composition and the first ever patented technology in Indian Ceramic Industry. It shields the tile against weathering, stains and scratches, keeping it fresh and new as ever. Available in a plethora of finishes, this versatile application offers unique flexibility in terms of designing and usage. Somany DuraStone heavy duty vitrified tiles for outdoor application, have a high-load bearing capacity, abrasion resistance, and anti-skid features. They are resistant to stains, acid and alkali as per IS 15622:2006 and EN 176 requirement. These tiles are best suited for use in warehouses, where trolleys move with loads, pavements, driveways, lawn passages, staircases, kitchen, hotels, swimming pools, decks, commercial places and factory areas.

Somany Decor

Our latest Duragres Planks range of decorative faux wood tiles can complement various patterns to offer customized finishes, and are exceptionally durable and easy to install. With their porcelain wood effect these tiles will be one of the most popular trends among residential and commercial spaces being designed in 2017.

Somany Tiles
The range includes full polished tiles, natural rock, vintage wood, modern wood, etc. All the six ranges follow different patterns and motifs, and each product range mirrors a particular natural finish such as stone, marble, granite or wood. Vintage wood is making its way into home design this year, from kitchens to living rooms. Wood brings in a sense of warmth and weathered look into homes. Our Vintage Wood Collection is beautiful, functional, and can achieve the age-old wood look with the varying degree character marks such as holes, nails, and notches.

Somany Ceramics has made the tile buying experience more real, accurate and fun with the launch of its 3D Tile Visualizer, the first of its kind in the industry to tap the space of virtual reality. As a real-time room planner, it allows consumers to create a virtual layout of the entire house, with the minutest details such as dimension and scale. The real, life-like scale layout will help customers understand which tiles will suit the room best. Also available is a pre-built library of floor layouts for inspiration; a design center showing stylish interior decor options; a walk-through inside the house created; and a tile design center with a collection of floor and wall tiles by Somany Ceramics.

"'Customize It' will ease the process of ordering tiles and eliminate hesitancy since customers can actually see how the tiles will look in real life in their homes and offices before making the purchase decision," says Abhishek Somany, and informs that the 3D Tile Visualizer will be implemented in Somany Experience Centres and also made available at its franchise stores pan India.