100% Design London - ArmourFX

Here's a sneak peek at our ArmourFX presentation at 100% Design.  The custom stencil design for the show is finished in an urban concrete effect.  The stand (E151 Eco Design & Build) will be stunning.

What happened in Vegas...

The Armourcoat booth at Hospitality Design Expo in Las Vegas last week, created a flood of interest and colour!

The booth had a central focus of a 12' Sculptural 'Flow Wave' panel stunningly lit with Jesco RGB colour wall-washers.  This was a real eye-catcher for passing designers, architects and hotel owners.

Left to Right: ASF inc. COO Shawn Tweedy, with Sales Manager Karl Lennon and Business Development Manager Thomas Laughlin

Moscow TV 'Repair School'

Russia, February 2012

Andrey Lytnev of Studio A Dekor, Armourcoat agent for Russia, recently appeared in the popular ‘Repair School’ programme on Moscow TV’s TNT channel.  Similar to the UK’s ‘DIY SOS’ or the US ‘This Old House’, the show transforms rooms ranging from urban apartments, country cottages, offices and children's homes in just 72 hours.

Local interior designer Alice Shabelnikova worked with Studio A Dekor to feature a Armourcoat Sculptural ‘Flow Wave’ wall within the two-bed apartment – located in Troparevo-Nikulino, a south west suburb of Moscow.

Alice commented on the design inspiration, “Comfortable furniture, warm colours and wavy lines envelop a sense of tranquillity and harmony. Unusual lamps and lighting reminiscent of stars evoke dreams, and – inspired by the book ‘The Little Prince’ - transform a bedroom into a magical dimension.”

Mosbuild 2012

With our exhibition season in full swing, we're heading to Russia next week for Mosbuild - the largest building and interiors trade exhibition in Russia and the CIS.

With a new venue and date format for 2012, Mosbuild will be held at Moscow's historic Expocentre over a two week period in April.  Week One (2nd - 5th April) will host a number of events that are broadly focused on design and décor, whilst Week Two (10th - 13th April) will focus on building and architecture.  Last year MosBuild featured 2,472 exhibitors from 49 countries, and welcomed over 104,000 visitors.

We're delighted to work in conjunction with local agent Studio A Dekor to again participate in this important trade event for the region.  Visit us during Week 1 Design and Décor 'paints & coatings', hall 2, pavillion 7, stand N209.

Ecobuild prep

We're getting ready for Ecobuild (#S751, ExCeL London, 20-22 March) with some stunning original polished plaster designs.

The two below use vinyl stencils to create a recessed effect, the vinyl is removed to reveal the background finish.  The concrete grey tree form is a brand new design for the show, the pink and white free-form design is based on a finish created for 'Chop Wok'.  Both finishes are created from polished plaster, which incorporate 40% recycled marble.  Armourcoat products are made in the UK.

Aqata

Our Sculptural wall finish features in the 2012 brochure for Aqata - UK manufacturers of luxury shower enclosures and bathroom products.  The catalogue illustrates the 'Leaves' design as part of a room set in the 'Exclusive Solutions' shower enclosure range (see below).

new Sculptural® designs

We're introducing two great new Sculptural® designs in March at Ecobuild; 'Elm' and 'Barcode'.

'Elm' has a tree-form repeating design in relief, 'Barcode' is a clean contemporary series of raised horizontal bars.

Sculptural® offers a range of seamless contoured wall surfaces with impactful designs and cast relief. The designs are created from cast GRG (Glass Reinforced Gypsum) panels, CAD generated to enable a continuous pattern or unique decorative effect.

India advertising

Great to see continued support for the Armourcoat brand in India - from our local agent in Bangalore.  A new ad campaign in 'InsideOutside' magazine commenced in January, the current ad can be seen below.

Marble Lite

Armourcoat is included in the product development pages of US magazine Architectural Products (Jan/Feb 2012) - featuring Severn Trent Water’s new £60m operations centre in Coventry, UK.

The building - which aims to set new industry standards with one of the lowest carbon footprints for any UK office building - incorporates equally eco-friendly Armourcoat polished plaster.  Designed by Birmingham-based Webb Gray Architects, and built by BAM Construction, this highly-sophisticated energy efficient building features the latest eco-tec - and achieved a BREEAM ‘excellent’ rating.

Armourcoat was used within the reception and main atrium space, to create a stunning and original design statement.  Totaling nearly four hundred square metres of hand-applied decorative plaster, Webb Gray specified colourfade artwork for feature panels and curved walls using Armourcoat Spatulata.  For the 30-metre high atrium panels, artisan plasterers blended over seventy colours of paste to achieve the seamless finish.

Scoop Australia

The Polished Plaster Company - Armourcoat's agent for Western Australia - will feature in Scoop's 2012 Best Commercial Building & Design magazine.

The magazine showcases inspirational designs from leading architects, builders and designers in WA.  One of four titles that make up the Scoop Building & Renovation series, the magazine has become an essential guide for corporate WA looking to build or refit their commercial space, and a major reference guide for more than 800 architecture, building and design firms in WA.

Hotel ABBA Bratislava

Stunning installation at the Hotel ABBA in Slovakia - 80m2 of Sculptural Jet Stream in the reception and lobby.   Expertly installed by local agent Karki, with great attention to detail.

Mixology 2012 - sold out

Delighted to see Mixology (20th June, Old Billingsgate, London) has sold out - again!  The prestigious Mix Interiors Awards are handed to the ground breakers and boundary pushers of the commercial interiors sector recognising the most influential people and companies.

Mixology is a must attend industry award event held by Mix Interiors - the leading magazine for the UK office interiors market.  Launched early in 2000, Mix Interiors has carved out an enviable niche in the architectural, design and facilities market by focusing consistently on the real world of commercial interiors.

Armourcoat have created the unique Mixology awards every year - and our custom polished plaster finish graces the backdrop for the 2012 website.  Hope to see you there!

Going ECO

Armourcoat will be exhibiting at Ecobuild in March (stand S571, ExCeL London, 20-22 March) the world’s biggest event for sustainable design, construction and the built environment.

As an industry leader, Armourcoat recognizes its obligation to manufacture green products. Core product lines are made from natural minerals, predominately pre-consumer recycled marble which can account for up to 40% of the product recipe.  Reduction of the company’s carbon footprint has been realized in 2012 with the introduction of region specific pre-cast manufacturing in the USA, Middle East and Far East.

Last year Armourcoat introduced Ductal® from Lafarge - a revolutionary ultra-high performance cement composite material with outstanding characteristics that are unique in the world of mineral building materials.  Ductal® will be presented at the show, alongside the stunning range of decorative surface solutions from Armourcoat.

New Year advertising - USA

Our 2012 advertising campaign kicks off next month in Architectural Record with a great shot of Armourcoat Sculptural 'Flow' in the Gourmet Burger Kitchen restaurant.  The same shot is used on the Contract design website as a banner ad.

Hotel and Retail Focus articles

Articles in Hotel and Retail Focus for February 2012 - spot the difference!;

Exhibitions 2012

The Armourcoat events schedule is already pretty comprehensive for next year!  These are the confirmed dates and exhibitions to December - more to advise shortly;

• EcoBuild, United Kingdom (20-22 March)
• MosBuild, Russia (2-5 April)
• Hospitality Design, USA (15-17 May)
• 100% Design, United Kingdom (20-23 September)
• Index, Dubai (24-27 September)
• NeoCon East, USA (November)

Global Specifications

Armourcoat’s success with international clients – notably within the hospitality and retail sectors – is underpinned by the ability to recreate specific wall finishes in colours and finishes which strictly align with brand guidelines anywhere in the world.  With a noticeable shift to internationally generated specifications, it has never been more important to deliver global solutions for worldwide brands.  The company works with a network of forty agents and trained applicators around the world, overseeing quality installation and client servicing.

Highlighting the global nature of the business, Armourcoat has also completed an ambitious growth programme to ensure speed and efficiencies within local markets in recent years.  In 2009, a subsidiary business was established in North America for national distribution with precast panel production capabilities.  This year, new facilities have been established in the Middle East and China to cope with the increasing demand – giving new resonance to the expression ‘thinking globally, acting locally’.