--- description: Breaking news and analysis from time.com. Politics, world news, photos, video, tech reviews, health, science, and entertainment news. title: Where Durability Meets Design image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdb5ea183634fb8ee/6a4b526060118c591289fc61/8B0340D3039649BC876D67F926D26C3E.png?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- # Where Durability Meets Design  Good materials are defined by several key traits: durability, lightness and now, a growing emphasis on sustainability. As a leading manufacturer of high-performance PVC sheets, Lonseal has been delivering a wide range of products to the world since its founding in 1928\. Reflecting on this competitive edge, company President Hideaki Nishioka said, “only a very limited number of companies can match us in terms of customizability in both quality and design.” The company has championed durable PVC as a material, used widely from architecture to vehicle interiors. “Flooring for railways, aircraft and ambulances has been a major driver of our growth,” Nishioka said. For example, Lonseal’s flooring has been used on the Shinkansen (bullet train) since it began in 1964, and the company has also become the leading supplier for ambulance flooring in the United States. Lonseal is developing materials that are practical and sustainable. One recent innovation is the development of waterproof sheets that utilize radiation cooling technology, ensuring that indoor spaces remain comfortable while contributing to carbon neutrality. These sheets were selected for use at this year’s Osaka Expo and after delivering positive results in tests conducted by the Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Transportation, are gradually expanding for use in schools and commercial facilities. “Looking ahead to the next 100 years, we cannot maintain our competitiveness with the same business model. We must identify the next generation of sheet materials,” said Nishioka.  Where Durability Meets Design ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/branded-content/global-kigyo/where-durability-meets-design/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/branded-content/global-kigyo/where-durability-meets-design/"},"headline":"Where Durability Meets Design","datePublished":"2026-06-18T14:28:41.187Z","dateModified":"2026-06-09T07:28:02.389Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/branded-content/global-kigyo/where-durability-meets-design/","keywords":[],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/branded-content/global-kigyo/where-durability-meets-design/","name":"Where Durability Meets Design"}}]}] ```