Team Design

Fabrics and textiles for professional office furniture

4 technical criteria to qualify a textile for commercial furniture

400 qualified textile references are useless if the selection matrix does not cross-reference Martindale (NF EN ISO 12947-2), fire (EN 1021-1/2) and acoustics (αw per NF S 31-080:2006). Industry orthodoxy still treats textiles as an aesthetic finish: we treat them as a structural technical component, on a par with a raised floor or a light fixture. On a commercial project, textiles account for 8 to 12% of the furniture budget but determine the lifespan of seating, the reverberation time of open spaces and the CSR compliance of the client. Kytom draws on a materials library of 400 qualified references, with a lead time of 6 to 10 weeks on technical references.

The fabric of an operative chair undergoes around 25,000 seating cycles per year and per workstation. The NF EN ISO 12947-2 standard sets the usable Martindale thresholds:

| Use area | Minimum Martindale | Pilling (ISO 12945-2) | Lightfastness (ISO 105-B02) |
|—|—|—|—|
| Lounge, occasional | 40,000 cycles | 4 | 5 |
| Standard office | 50,000 cycles | 4-5 | 5-6 |
| Intensive open space | 100,000 cycles and above | 5 | 6 |
| Confidential meeting | 80,000 cycles | 4-5 | 5 |

Fire safety relies on the M1 fire rating or the European standards EN 1021-1 (cigarette) and EN 1021-2 (match), required by the Labour Code in ERP and ERT buildings. For categories 1 to 4, NF P 92-507 specifies the requirements applicable to fit-out materials. Acoustics are measured by the αw coefficient per ISO 354 and NF EN ISO 11654: a panel covered with an αw 0.85 textile absorbs 85% of the incident sound energy, whereas a standard non-qualified covering absorbs only a marginal fraction.

Our reading differs from industry practice on one specific point. Many fit-out specialists over-specify the Martindale (150,000 cycles everywhere) thinking they are securing the project. In practice, on our recent projects, aiming for 100,000 cycles in the intensive open space and 50,000 cycles in the meeting areas is enough: beyond that, the textile premium (15 to 25%) is not paid back before the end of an average commercial lease.

What Martindale threshold should you aim for in an intensive open space?

100,000 cycles minimum per NF EN ISO 12947-2, with a pilling rating of 5 (ISO 12945-2) and lightfastness of 6 (ISO 105-B02). Beyond 150,000 cycles, the premium (15 to 25%) is not paid back over the average commercial lease term.

Which fire standards apply to upholstered commercial furniture?

The M1 rating (NF P 92-507) or the EN 1021-1 (cigarette) and EN 1021-2 (match) tests are required depending on the ERP category and the Labour Code. For rail fit-outs, NF F 16-101; for marine, IMO MED.