Developed locally by us at T&R - the producers of Floc - Floc is manufactured right here in New Zealand using strong wool sourced from local farms. The product has been specified across commercial and public sector projects throughout Aotearoa, including BNZ and FMG offices, the Beehive, and Lincoln University’s Ivey West renovation, positioning it as a specification-ready material as it enters a significantly larger market.

The move is expected to see approximately 5,500 square metres of Floc Roll installed across Australian projects in the first 12 months, representing a meaningful increase in demand for New Zealand strong wool.

“With Australia’s population around seven times that of New Zealand, the scale of the opportunity is significant,” says Floc Business Development Manager Tom O’Sullivan. “If we’re able to build real demand there, and continue sourcing wool from New Zealand farms and manufacturing locally, the impact goes well beyond this product. It has the potential to create sustained demand back into the New Zealand wool industry.”

“This is the point where the work we’ve done in New Zealand starts to scale,” he says. “We’ve spent the last few years getting the product right and proving it in real projects. Australia is about building on that and creating long-term demand.”

Floc is made from 100% strong wool fibre and has been developed to meet the requirements of commercial interiors, balancing acoustic performance, compliance and design flexibility.

Its uptake in New Zealand has been driven by that alignment, with projects demonstrating how wool can be specified as a high-performing material while still contributing to the architectural outcome of a space.

“There’s been a lot of focus on finding new uses for strong wool, but not all of those ideas translate into something that can actually be specified and delivered,” says O’Sullivan. “What we’ve focused on is making sure this works in the real world, not just in theory.”

For the New Zealand wool industry, the significance of this expansion sits well beyond a single product.

Andy Caughey, Head of Wool Impact NZ, says; "Floc is doing something genuinely important: establishing a new category for wool within the global acoustic interiors market. That means new demand, built from the ground up, with New Zealand wool at its core.

“When companies like Floc grow here and scale through export, the value stays onshore: in our manufacturing, our capability, and our wool-growing communities. The Australian expansion is a strong signal of where the market is heading; there is a real and growing appetite internationally for interior products that are natural, healthy, and independently verified.

“Floc is well-positioned to meet that demand,” continued Caughey.

The product’s environmental credentials are supported by an independently verified Environmental Product Declaration (EPD), providing third-party data across its full lifecycle.

“It’s no longer enough to say a product is sustainable,” says O’Sullivan. “You need to be able to stand behind it with real data. That’s exactly what we’ve focused on.”

Floc’s entry into Australia is being delivered through a distribution partnership with Armstrong Ceiling Solutions, a well-established supplier within the Australian interiors market.

“It was important for us to partner with a business that already has strong relationships with architects and designers in Australia,” says O’Sullivan. “Armstrong brings that experience and reach, and we’re looking forward to seeing how Floc is taken up in that market.”

James Van Leerdam, National Sales and Marketing Manager at Armstrong Ceiling Solutions says; “We are incredibly proud to partner with T&R Interior Systems as the exclusive distributor and authorised representative of Floc in the Australian market.

“Floc represents a genuinely differentiated solution within the commercial and residential interiors space, bringing together natural materiality, proven acoustic performance, and robust environmental credentials in a way that is both specification ready and commercially viable.”

Van Leerdam continues, “What makes this partnership particularly exciting is the opportunity to introduce a product that not only meets the functional and compliance expectations of the Australian market, but also responds to the growing demand for more sustainable, biophilic and responsibly sourced materials in the built environment.

“Through our established national footprint, deep relationships with the architectural and design community, and strong project delivery capability, we are well positioned to support the successful adoption of Floc. We see this as more than a product launch, it’s an opportunity to help reshape how natural materials are specified within commercial and residential interiors across Australia.”

For the New Zealand design and wool industries, this is a step toward building long-term, high-value demand for strong wool, moving beyond conversation into measurable impact.