EGGER Laminates Seminar

Materiality is a vital element of interior design. Therefore, I find talks from people in the material industry extremely important. EGGER Laminates have set up a seminar for our course, including three modules to teach us about laminates. Today, we had the first module called Technical Intervention of Core Products. In this module, we learnt about the material's properties, the range of forms it comes in and some benefits of the product. Last year, I spoke about our lecture from the company Formica, who also educated our class about Laminates (link to blog post). It was interesting to compare the two companies and their cores values. The Formica talk occurred during a pre-COVID period, so we were fortunate to have this lecture face to face as we could interact with the guest speaker, ask questions and review samples. Although our guest speaker (Victoria) conducted the EGGER Laminates seminar via Microsoft Teams, the presentation was engaging and clear.

The presentation began by outlining some benefits of the product, such as its sustainable, cost-effective and antibacterial qualities. The design industry will change significantly following the pandemic to avoid aiding the spread of viruses. Antibacterial finishes and surfaces will be crucial in commercial interiors. As a result, it's valuable that EGGER laminates products are easy to clean. Another benefit of the product is its range of forms as it can come in a board, laminate or edging construction. Each of these forms has diverse compositions. For instance, the board is a wood-based product consisting of MFC or MFDF. This form's benefits are that it is durable, cost-effective and practical as it is ready to cut. Next, we considered laminate, a sheet form that is bonded to a substrate. It is a thin material that is made from multiple layers of paper. Its composition makes the material ideal for curved surfaces as it's flexible. The final form considered in the lecture is Edging, a strip material used to cover edges and creates seamless finishes.

The core products in the EGGER laminates range provide multiple design solutions as their diverse compositions make them suitable for a range of applications. Once discussing the properties of these products, Victoria compared MFC with MDMF. It was interesting how much depth each product has and how EGGERS clients can make decisions such as the type of wood used on the board to suit their projects. For example, if I wanted to create a tabletop to fit with an environmentally friendly scheme, I would choose an EGGER MFC board laminate since MFC is carbon negative and 100% recyclable.

The first seminar was very enjoyable. The presentation was rich with information, and I appreciate the products in the EGGER laminates range. I look forward to the second seminar and learning about Design Innovation Decorative Surfaces. I'm excited to learn about how laminate designs are created and how I can apply laminate to my university projects.