On March 7, 2026, at the cordial invitation of the General Manager in China and the Sales Department Director of the Shanghai branch of Sangetsu Corporation (株式会社サンゲツ, Chinese: “山月”), a delegation led by Mr. Gu, General Manager of Changzhou HUIYA Decoration Materials Co., Ltd., traveled to Tokyo, Japan, for an official visit to the Sangetsu Design Site Flagship located in the core business district of Shinagawa, Tokyo.

Over the past two decades, building floor systems have undergone a quiet yet profound transformation. From the early data center raised access floors that merely satisfied “cable routing” requirements, to today’s composite ground systems that integrate structural load-bearing, cable management, acoustic control, thermal regulation, and decorative aesthetics into a single solution, flooring is no longer the overlooked “sixth surface,” but a critical infrastructure that determines spatial quality and functional flexibility.

At the same time, premium office spaces worldwide are returning to a “human-centric” orientation: openness, flexibility, comfort, and sustainability have become shared demands of clients and designers alike. This means that floor systems can no longer exist in isolation under “engineering thinking,” but must integrate deeply with interior decorative aesthetics.

It is precisely at this convergence of industry logics that Changzhou HUIYA Decoration Materials Co., Ltd. and Sangetsu Corporation of Japan have launched a strategically meaningful cross-border product integration exploration: one party representing the engineering strength of raised access floor structural substrates, the other representing the aesthetic heights of interior decorative materials. Together, the two companies are exploring new possibilities for ground solutions in Asia-Pacific office spaces through the composite product paradigm of “raised access floor substrate + premium commercial carpet.”

I. About Sangetsu

Founded in 1849 (during Japan’s Kaei era), Sangetsu is one of Japan’s longest-established and largest comprehensive interior decorative materials suppliers. Beginning as a textile merchant in late Edo-period Japan, the company evolved over more than 170 years, completed its incorporation as a joint-stock company in 1953, and gradually grew into an interior decoration giant covering a full range of categories: wallpaper, flooring, curtains, upholstery fabrics, ceramic tiles, and carpets, with its headquarters in Nagoya.

Notably, Sangetsu has in recent years acquired the Japan distribution rights for the American premium commercial carpet brand ShawContract, introduced the Swedish flooring brand BOLON to Japan, and continued to drive design-led new product launches (such as the wallpaper “Elementum™,” winner of the iF Design Award 2026) — demonstrating the clear strategy of a century-old enterprise in global expansion and design innovation. These attributes also make Sangetsu an ideal cross-border partner for HUIYA.

🌐 Official website: https://www.sangetsu.co.jp/

II. The On-Site Visit at Tokyo Shinagawa: Experiencing the Pinnacle of Japanese Flooring Aesthetics in the Flagship Showroom

At the warm invitation of the Sangetsu Shanghai Division’s General Manager in China and Sales Department Director, the HUIYA team visited the Sangetsu Design Site flagship showroom in the heart of Tokyo’s Shinagawa district on March 7, 2026.

Shinagawa is not only Tokyo’s most important business and transportation hub, but also home to the Asia-Pacific headquarters of numerous international corporations. Sangetsu’s choice to establish its flagship showroom here is itself a brand statement, a declaration to global designers and procurement decision-makers, in the most commercially influential district, of the highest standards of Japanese interior decoration.

Over the course of a one-day visit and technical exchange, the two teams systematically explored multiple functional zones of the flagship showroom, gaining deeper insight into several layers of Sangetsu’s product philosophy:

Floor Covering (Carpet) Display Zone:

A massive carpet tile sample wall was meticulously categorized by series: F4, F6, F7, with clear gradations in color, texture, and density. This “systematic, modular” approach to product organization reflects Sangetsu’s deep understanding of the balance between specification standardization and design diversity.

ShawContract × NT·DT Co-Branded Display Zone:

Premium commercial collections such as West Elm, Collective, Living Systems, and Shifting Fields presented strong narrative power and material expressiveness. This zone clearly conveyed a message – Sangetsu carpets are not merely “floor coverings,” but a design language carrying spatial mood and brand tonality.

Wall Coverings and Real-Scene Installation Experience Zone:

Large-area carpet installations showcased excellent textural layering, walking comfort, and the play of light and shadow, bringing “material” back to the essence of “experience” itself.

Yet among all the display zones, what most struck the HUIYA team was a carpet sample installed atop an adjustable pedestal raised access floor system. It vividly revealed a long-overlooked industry pain point, and precisely the core convergence of this collaboration: premium carpets require equally premium structural substrates to support their performance and lifespan.

III. The Technical Core of Product Integration: HUIYA Raised Access Floor × Sangetsu Carpet – From “Stacking” to “Composite Bonding”

Many people interpret “raised access floor + carpet” as simply stacking one atop the other, but the technical ambition of this collaboration goes far beyond that. The direction the two parties are exploring is the factory-grade composite bonding of HUIYA’s high-performance structural substrates with Sangetsu’s premium carpet finishes, developing a truly integrated “Carpet Raised Access Floor” system product.

This “composite” rather than “stacking” approach fundamentally addresses several inherent shortcomings of traditional loose-laid carpet on raised access floors: seam misalignment, edge curling, hollow underfoot sensation, difficult cleaning and maintenance, and lifespan mismatch between finish and substrate.

The core agenda of this visit was the formal entry into testing of the jointly developed “carpet finish + raised access floor substrate” integrated composite product. The product system adopts two of HUIYA’s flagship raised access floor series as structural substrates:

1. 🔧 Product Combination Solution 1: GRC800 + Sangetsu DT Carpet Tile

HUIYA GRC 800/1000 Cement Fiber with Steel Mesh Raised Access Floor →

The GRC series uses high-density cement fiber as its base material with embedded steel mesh reinforcement, delivering outstanding compressive load capacity, fire resistance (Class A non-combustible), and dimensional stability. Its dense and flat substrate surface provides an ideal bonding base for carpet finishes — effectively suppressing hollow underfoot sensation and noise, while its low moisture absorption and deformation resistance ensure long-term flatness and seam precision throughout the carpet’s service life.

The HUIYA GRC800 raised access floor series pairs with Sangetsu DT Carpet Tile (500×500 mm or 600×600 mm modules) through a dedicated low-VOC composite bonding process, forming prefabricated carpet raised access floor units, enabling factory one-time forming and rapid on-site installation.

2. 🔧 Product Combination Solution 2: SCL1000 + Sangetsu ShawContract Premium Commercial Carpet

HUIYA SCL 800-3000 Steel Cementitious Laminate Raised Access Floor →

The SCL series adopts a steel-cement composite laminated structure, achieving lightweight design while ensuring high strength. Its load-bearing performance is particularly outstanding, making it especially well-suited for high-load commercial office buildings and industrial-grade spaces. Its exceptionally high surface flatness and structural rigidity make it the preferred substrate for factory pre-bonding with Sangetsu carpets, maintaining stable visual continuity across large-area installations.

The HUIYA SCL1000 series raised access floor pairs with Sangetsu ShawContract Collective / Living Systems / Shifting Fields premium commercial carpet collections. Targeting financial headquarters, multinational corporate offices, premium co-working spaces, and similar scenarios, it delivers a highly efficient solution where “structure + function + finish” are completed in a single installation.

Integrated System Value

When GRC800 / SCL1000 substrates are composite-bonded with Sangetsu carpet finishes, the product achieves multi-dimensional performance leaps:

Performance Dimension	Integrated System Value
Structural Load-Bearing	HUIYA substrates provide stable load capacity, impact resistance, and fatigue resistance
Cable Management	The sub-floor void flexibly accommodates strong-current, weak-current, network, and HVAC conduits, supporting future renovation
Decorative Aesthetics	Sangetsu carpets bring rich color, texture, and spatial narrative
Acoustic Comfort	Carpet finish absorbs sound and reduces noise; substrate suppresses structural sound transmission — dual-layer silence
Fire Safety	Non-combustible substrate + flame-retardant finish significantly elevate the overall fire-resistance grade
Installation Efficiency	Factory pre-bonding and rapid on-site assembly shorten construction periods and reduce on-site contamination
Full Life Cycle	Modular finish replacement extends system lifespan and reduces total cost of ownership

The deeper significance lies in this: the system transforms “the floor” from a passive load-bearing surface into a sustainably evolving functional carrier, the structural layer can be retained long-term, while the decorative finish can be flexibly updated according to design trends or usage requirements. This truly aligns with the contemporary architectural philosophy of “longevity, renovability, and sustainability.”。

IV. The Significance of Cooperation: The “Strong-Strong Alliance” Effect of Resource Integration

If product integration represents the “technical surface” of this cooperation, then beneath it lies a strategic resonance between the two enterprises along their respective development paths.

✅From HUIYA’s perspective, this is a pivotal practice in the leap from “product supplier” to “system solution provider.” For years, Chinese raised access floor manufacturers have held an important position in the global supply chain through mature engineering technology and large-scale production capability. But to truly enter the premium commercial and design-driven market, “structural strength” alone is not enough, what is required is the capability to engage, collaborate, and co-create with the world’s top decorative brands. The cooperation with Sangetsu represents a key step for HUIYA in extending upward along the value chain and upgrading toward branding and systematization.

✅From Sangetsu’s perspective, as a 170-year-old century-old enterprise, its enduring vitality stems precisely from continuous “open integration”, from licensing international brands such as ShawContract and BOLON, to actively seeking synergy with high-quality Chinese manufacturing partners. This cooperation enables Sangetsu, in the Japanese and Asia-Pacific markets, to provide clients with complete ground solutions encompassing “aesthetic finish + engineering substrate,” further consolidating its leadership as a comprehensive interior space solution provider.

The combination of the two is therefore not an incidental commercial encounter, but a mutual strategic convergence:

• HUIYA contributes Chinese manufacturing’s mature technology, quality control, and scaled delivery capabilities in raised access floor structural substrates;
• Sangetsu brings the deep heritage of a Japanese centennial enterprise in interior decorative aesthetics, premium carpet R&D, and global design resources.

This cross-border integration of “Engineering × Aesthetics,” “Manufacturing × Design,” and “China × Japan” represents precisely the evolutionary direction of the future building materials industry – no single enterprise can monopolize all links of the value chain, and true competitiveness arises from open ecosystem collaboration.

V. Current Progress and Future Outlook

Currently, the integrated Carpet Raised Access Floor product, formed by the composite bonding of HUIYA GRC800 and SCL1000 raised access floor series with Sangetsu carpets, is undergoing joint testing. The two teams have engaged in systematic and in-depth technical alignment around key indicators such as material compatibility, bonding process stability, long-term durability, acoustic performance, fire-resistance compliance, and mass production feasibility.

Looking ahead, this cooperation has multiple dimensions of expansion potential:

VI. Outstanding Spaces Are Born from the Synergy of Outstanding Materials

From Sangetsu, founded in 1849, spanning the late Edo period through to the Reiwa era of Japan, to HUIYA deeply rooted in raised access floor systems and going global from a foundation in Chinese manufacturing, this cross-border, cross-disciplinary, cross-cultural exploration in cooperation affirms a simple yet profound philosophy:

A truly outstanding space has never been the victory of a single material, but the result of precise synergy among outstanding materials.

HUIYA will continue to uphold an attitude of openness, professionalism, and long-termism, joining hands with global industry partners to drive the continuous evolution of raised access floor systems in structural performance, spatial aesthetics, and sustainability, providing more complete, reliable, and aesthetically rich ground solutions for high-quality spaces around the world.