Design Elements of HPL - Part 1

As mentioned in my previous post, very often when people hear plastic laminate they think "Formica". Unfortunately when people think "Formica" they immediately envision dated patterns from the '50's (starburst with gold fleck or boomerang), awful woodgrain representations from the '60's and '70's, or boring white, almond and grey solids and nebulas from the '80's and '90's. Although some of these are still available, in the past several years the look, feel, and performance of HPL has drastically changed - for the better.

The biggest change has been in the quality of the printed images on the paper used to manufacture HPL. Advances in the technology of digital imaging and printing processes has produced woodgrain patterns (particularly tighter woodgrains such as maple or cherry) and reproductions of natural (stone) and industrial materials (concrete and steel) that can be almost indistinguishable from the actual material being represented.

Other patterns and colors, although perhaps inspired by nature or other materials, may be completely unique to that particular laminate. Thus the laminate itself becomes a design element in its own right, without mimicking other materials. A good example is the laminate shown in the attached photo. As you can see the pattern and colors are very unique - not my personal taste, nor very well suited for most applications. However, the designer that specified this Italian laminate has a specific design concept and ease of cleaning and durability parameters(is being used in a commercial environment on the face of a bar)that really could not be achieved with any other material. If I can get pictures of the completed installation, I'll attach them to a future post.




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