Product Talk | The Future of Textiles: Why Soft is Power

How Armstrong Flooring® Kaleido™ Color Lab Is Expanding Creative Possibilities in Commercial Flooring with Oxana Dallas

In this special sponsored bonus episode of the I Hear Design podcast, host Robert Nieminen speaks with Oxana Dallas, principal designer of commercial at AHF Products [https://www.ahfproducts.com/en-us], about how Armstrong Flooring®’s Kaleido™ Color Lab is reimagining the flooring specification process as a more creative, flexible, and digitally driven design experience. Rather than treating flooring as a finish selected near the end of a project, Kaleido invites designers to become co-creators—experimenting with pattern, color and scale. Dallas explains how the platform gives designers a curated yet highly adaptable system for developing custom LVT visuals that align with a project’s brand identity, emotional tone, and performance needs. Listeners will learn how Prism™, Mosaic™, and Mirage™ patterns draw on biophilic principles without literally mimicking nature, instead translating qualities such as rhythm, complexity, order, and visual tactility into modular flooring designs. Dallas also discusses how Kaleido’s floor-to-wall capability expands the role of LVT beyond the floor, opening new possibilities for wayfinding, feature walls, patient rooms, hospitality spaces, workplace environments, and other commercial interiors. The conversation also explores how customization, speed, and sustainability can work together. With more than 500 combinations of pattern, color, and scale—as well as stocked neutral options—Kaleido is designed to help specifiers move quickly without sacrificing creativity or client confidence. Dallas highlights the platform’s made-to-order model, domestic manufacturing, accessible minimum order quantities of only 2,500 sf,  EPDs, and long-term performance attributes as part of a broader shift toward more intentional, durable, and project-specific commercial flooring solutions. For designers, architects, and specifiers looking for ways to bring more personality, purpose, and performance into commercial interiors, this episode offers insight into how digital visualization, biophilic design thinking, and resilient flooring technology are converging to create more expressive surface design systems.

ICYMI: Performance-Based Fire Modeling: Unlocking Design Freedom While Meeting Egress and Life Safety Codes

In this In Case You Missed It episode of the I Hear Design podcast, we revisit an interiors+sources article [https://www.iands.design/design-innovation/technology/article/55331697/performance-based-fire-modeling-unlocking-design-freedom-while-meeting-egress-and-life-safety-codes] exploring how performance-based fire modeling can help architects and designers resolve one of the most difficult tensions in adaptive reuse and renovation work: preserving design intent while meeting life safety and egress requirements. The article explains how prescriptive code requirements can sometimes force costly or disruptive design changes, from added exit stairs and wider corridors to reconfigured layouts that compromise the original concept. Performance-based fire and egress modeling offers another path by using data, simulations, and expert analysis to demonstrate that a building can meet or exceed the intent of life safety codes—even when it does not follow every prescriptive requirement exactly. Listeners will learn how tools such as computational fluid dynamics, fire dynamics simulation, and egress modeling help evaluate Available Safe Egress Time and Required Safe Egress Time, as well as why early collaboration with fire protection engineers and authorities having jurisdiction is critical. The episode also highlights where performance-based design can unlock flexibility for historic buildings, warehouse conversions, office-to-clinic transformations and other complex projects where code compliance and creative vision can appear to be at odds. Tune in to hear how fire modeling can become more than a technical workaround; it can be a design enabler that supports safety, flexibility, and more successful project outcomes.

Foundations of Community (Pt. 1): Affordable Multifamily Housing with Peter Bafitis and Alex Brito

Affordable multifamily housing is one of the most urgent design and development challenges in the U.S., but the reasons it remains so difficult to build go far beyond simple supply and demand. In this episode of I Hear Design, Robert Nieminen speaks with Peter Bafitis, managing principal at RKTB Architects [https://rktb.com/], and Alex Brito, principal and leader of the firm’s affordable housing studio, about the forces shaping the housing crisis today—from approvals, zoning, financing, and public-private partnerships to construction costs, sustainability mandates, and the realities of building in New York City. The conversation also explores a larger idea: affordable housing as community infrastructure, not just real estate. Peter and Alex discuss why good affordable housing should be designed with the same care and dignity as market-rate housing, how durability and timelessness matter in projects meant to serve neighborhoods for decades, where office-to-residential conversions genuinely make sense, and why smaller “missing middle” projects may be just as important as large-scale developments in addressing the shortage. This episode is the first in the two-part series Designing the Foundations of Community.

Product Talk | What Will Define Chicago Design Week 2026 with BIFMA's Steve Kooy and Anthony Serge

Today’s commercial products are being asked to do more than ever before. Joined by Steve Kooy and Anthony Serge from BIFMA, Lauren Brant explores how wellness, modularity, emotional performance, and experiential lighting are shaping Chicago Design Week 2026. Key Moments in This Episode 1:12 — Why Chicago Design Week 2026 feels different Lauren Brant introduces the major themes shaping this year’s NeoCon and Fulton Market Design Days, including wellness, adaptability, emotional comfort, and long-term product performance. 4:38 — Products are being asked to do more The conversation explores how manufacturers are positioning products as strategic tools that support flexibility, acoustics, maintenance, sustainability, and human experience—not just aesthetics. 8:57 — Emotional comfort and experiential workplaces Lauren highlights product launches from brands like Designtex, Brentano, Allsteel, and HBF that reflect a growing focus on tactility, softness, and creating spaces people actively want to inhabit. 13:41 — BIFMA on what feels different heading into 2026 Steve Kooy and Anthony Serge from BIFMA discuss how conversations around workplace products, wellness, and performance are evolving across the industry. 20:06 — Why modularity is no longer optional Lauren examines how adaptability has shifted from a premium feature to a baseline expectation across seating, acoustics, outdoor furniture, work pods, and specification technology. 24:18 — Long-term adaptability and lifecycle thinking The discussion looks at products from Silen, Emuamericas, DEDON, Turf Design, and Configura that prioritize reconfiguration, longevity, and collaborative workflows. 30:27 — Lighting takes center stage at NeoCon Lauren explores the debut of Illuminate at NeoCon and why lighting is increasingly being discussed as part of materiality, wellness, circadian health, and emotional experience. 34:44 — How lighting shapes perception and wellbeing The episode dives into experiential lighting installations and how lighting design influences texture, finish perception, mood, and spatial psychology. 39:51 — From ergonomics to movement The conversation shifts toward workplace wellness and movement-focused seating, including KI’s Cognetic Technology platform and the idea of designing environments that work with the body instead of against it. 44:32 — The future of specification and human-centered design Lauren, Steve, and Anthony reflect on how commercial interiors are becoming increasingly outcome-oriented, with designers prioritizing adaptability, transparency, wellness, and emotional experience. 48:11 — Final takeaways for NeoCon and Fulton Market attendees The episode closes with advice for designers and specifiers on how to critically evaluate products, showrooms, and innovations during Chicago Design Week 2026.

ICYMI: The Business Case for Immersive Experiences in Commercial Interiors

Immersive experiences are no longer limited to entertainment venues, museums, or high-profile attractions. In commercial interiors, designers are increasingly using experience-driven strategies to create stronger brand identity, deeper engagement, and more memorable places. In this In Case You Missed It episode of the I Hear Design podcast, we revisit “The Business Case for Immersive Experiences in Commercial Interiors [https://www.iands.design/design-innovation/technology/article/55353209/the-business-case-for-immersive-experiences-in-commercial-interiors]” by Valerie Dennis Craven. The article explores how immersive design is moving from novelty to business strategy, showing how companies are blending physical environments, digital technology, storytelling, materials, and sensory design to connect with employees, visitors, and clients. Listeners will hear examples from corporate interiors, including AllianceBernstein’s Dreamwall by Gensler [https://www.gensler.com/projects/alliancebernstein-at-hudson-yards], and learn why successful immersive environments require more than screens or spectacle. The episode also examines how authenticity, brand alignment, user experience, accessibility, budget, and long-term maintenance all play a role in determining whether an immersive interior feels meaningful—or merely distracting. Tune in to learn what designers should consider before concepting an immersive experience, why “Day 2” planning matters, and how commercial spaces can deliver value by creating moments people remember, engage with, and return to.