Renaissance Interiors Visit Porcelanosa, Valencia

12 Jul

When a trip to visit the Porcelanosa showrooms and factories was offered by Jason McHugh (Business Development Manager Porcelanosa, South East, UK)) we jumped at the opportunity! No sooner had we said ‘yes please!’ than Charlotte and Sarah had arrived in sunny Valencia, the European Green Capital 2024 ready for a three-day tour.

The agenda was packed with every minute planned to ensure that not a moment was missed to cover the wide Porcelanosa portfolio. And, as Charlotte and Sarah discovered, there is much more to this company than ‘just’ tiles. Covering all bases with its diverse selection of products incorporating umbrella brands, Porcelanosa offers wallpapers and wall coverings to state of the art kitchens, bespoke bathroom solutions, soft furnishings, furniture and everything in between!

Charlotte and Sarah offer their personal review of their experience…

The Porcelanosa Groupo (HQ) showroom is stunningly beautiful. This is a showcase of perfection which not only is styled in the most impeccable way, it also smells incredible too! Laid out, this season, as a mock hotel in a Japandi style with clean lines and luxurious finishes, it perfectly illustrates that Porcelanosa is very much not just a tile brand and has so much more to offer.

The high-end finishes incorporate layers of intricate textures which are beautifully highlighted with extremely clever lighting solutions including up-lighting three dimensional tiles to pick out each intricate contour. LED strips behind a raised headboard built from herringbone wood effect tiles and backlighting huge marble pieces creates the most stunning reception desk/bar area. The design was inspired and evoking wonderful stimulation for the creative brain!

Tapping into Biophilic design and a reflection of the green credentials of the city, texture was added to the bathroom design with abundant foliage and textural moss panels - this was a tactile environment and one which just had to be touched!

Never in our dreams would we have envisaged a ‘tile’ company (yes, it was day one, and we were still thinking ‘but they sell tiles’) would have modular sofas which offered extreme comfort and support, but there they were in a lounge area within the hotel concept space! And to complement them, some media units and coffee tables in a contemporary design which mixed wood, metal and ceramics with LED lighting. Another genius use of materials was found in the dressing room spaces where smoked glass was used to partially conceal the contents of the wardrobe hanging rails.

The next destination on our whistlestop tour of Porcelanosa, Valencia, was the factory and warehouses. This was a behind-the-scenes visit to see the whole working process from raw material to finished product. Impeccably clean and run with a blend of state-of-the-art robotics and human interaction, this was a place to see gold-standard quality control in action! Efficiency and quality standards were practised throughout the production and it really was incredible to witness the process of the creation of a tile from start to finish.

The stand out part of this tour was being introduced to the different materials and products that Porcelanosa work with:

• The Krion new generation solid surface.
• XTONE large format porcelain and natural stone surfaces.
• L’Antic Colonial materials for living and feeling.
• Gamadecor for high quality contemporary kitchens.
• Noken bathroom products as well as the Butech R and D subsidiary driving forward the development and technical innovation of products.

For each of these arms of the business we could write pages! In summary, here are our highlights of what inspired us:

Krion is a new generation of solid surface made from two-thirds natural minerals which has a warmth to the touch and is very similar to natural stone. This is a pore-free, extremely hard-wearing material which has a natural antibacterial quality, making it highly resistant (including to fire) and easy to clean without the need for harsh chemicals. This really felt to us as a product of the future and is in production now! The sheer durability had us envisioning wall panelling, seating, and tables and we’re already thinking of using this material in a new design!

As if we hadn’t been wowed enough, the XTONE showroom blew our socks off! In total awe of the ingenious and beautiful design, we walked open-mouthed, admiring the large format porcelain and natural stone surfaces used for countertops, flooring, interior cladding, tables, sinks and other finished products. There were a few elements that we had recently used in a large-scale design for an office and so much more inspiration to incorporate into phase 2 of the project!

And from the large scale to the intimate. L’Antico Colonial is the embodiment of high-quality taking inspiration from nature and offering environmentally-friendly materials. With over 300 different options of mosaics using off-cuts from other product lines including wooden blocks, natural stone and marble, this was a celebration of an ancient creative process brought bang up to modern contemporary aesthetic design. We were also introduced to some great vinyl textured wallpapers and flooring, a Stone Skin product which uses 2mm-4mm layer of natural stone backed with UPVC to create a malleable material for curve features and a fabulous anti-slip, easy to clean, flooring solution to give LVT a run for its money!

Clever functionality blended with incredible design was on display in the Gamadecor showroom featuring contemporary kitchens and bathrooms. This was a showcase of ground-breaking design concepts in production, such as hidden integrated hobs built into stone worktops, 360 rotating storage cupboards, fold out tables and breakfast bars from island units incorporating storage, modular sofas with built in coffee table options and floor to ceiling wall-to-wall cupboards. This was a place to see a whole home solution which also offered budget every-day options to high end living.

In a demonstration of total flexibility on bathroom finishes, the Noken showroom had it all! As well as each style of tap, shower, basin, vanity unit and bath, being available in any finish (even a ‘paint your own’ to be fired like pottery) the innovations of tap design and also radiators made with hollow tubes to store small towels inside were very impressive.

And the technological innovation continued with Butech and their approach to developing high-quality materials and clever solutions with a focus on architectural and engineering consultancy services. Currently specialising in three main areas, constructive products and systems, modular construction and facade products, aesthetics and functionality were met with innovative solutions such as the seamless shower tray designs with hidden drainage systems.

Although this was a quick three day tour (the note about comfy shoes in the pre-trip itinerary was most welcome!) we’ve come back to Renaissance HQ armed with 100’s of photos and videos but more than that, we’re energised with inspiration and ideas of how to use these products within our designs. And yes, Porcelanosa make tiles, but they are so much more than that!

Our huge thanks goes to Jason McHugh for your planning and coordination and to everyone we met on the tour who made us feel so welcome. Your hospitality was matched with your passion for your products, your design ingenuity and drive for innovative solutions. And the best part, Karen is booked to take the same tour in September!