(April 14, 2004) -- Tandus walked away a big winner from the 21st Antron Design Award competition recently, when the commercial floor coverings manufacturer's three brands--C&A Floorcoverings, Crossley Carpet Mills and Monterey Carpets--were all lauded. The awards recognize the combination of unique interior design and innovative floor coverings that use Antron fibers.

C&A Floorcoverings earned the Sustainable Flooring Performance Award for its installation at Fairbanks International Airport in Alaska. The award recognizes sustainable interior design practices through the use of commercial carpet applications for installations that date back 10 or more years.

"Powerbond" is C&A's style of carpeting that has graced the airport's floor since its impressive original installation in 1979. The award marks the second such nod for C&A, who also won last year's inaugural Sustainable Flooring award for a 1967 educational facility installation with its "Guardian I" floor covering. Judges chose "Powerbond" for its resilience and cleanability, as well as its ability to maintain temperatures, provide traction and control noise.

C&A was also honored as a Hospitality Merit Winner for a new hospital cafeteria in Illinois, where designers chose "Binary," produced in collaboration with Jhane Barnes, to control noise. Cleanability was also a crucial factor.

C&A's solution-dyed "Chaos," also designed with Jhane Barnes, received a Dupont Antron Product Innovation Award for its modular, dynamic design, inspired by chaos theory and fractal mathematics. Crossley Carpet Mills was also a recipient of a Product Innovation Award for the broadloom "Parallels," an intricately patterned, dense carpet with a high count of recycled content.

Tandus's Monterey Carpets was awarded a Large Office Merit Winner for "Taos," which was effectively used in a law office in Texas. Implemented throughout the space, the carpet proves neutral, yet textural. Judges admired its "professional image."