cersaie - Materiali Casa

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LAYERS MEMBRANE5

Exterior finishing details. It protects and enhances.

PROTERRACE SYSTEM

PROTERRACE SYSTEM is an innovative system for terraces and balconies projected by Progress Profiles to protect the edges of the tiles, the screed from water infiltrations and to allow a correct outflow of water. A complete and articulated range of multi-functional perimeter profiles, in powder varnished aluminium, in the shades white, gray, anthracite gray, dark brown, corten (on request beige) and stainless steel, which replace the ceramic “L corner pieces” and the thresholds in marble. The profiles are equipped with a punched flange, which guarantees a perfect grip with the adhesive, a vertical side that protects the screed from water infiltration and covers the edge of the flooring. The Drain version is completed with an innovative drip-guard and holes that allow the outflow of infiltered water between profile and tiles. A system of excellence to enhance and protect exterior environments and restore full liveability, in ideal continuity with the interiors.

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PRODESO® DRAIN SYSTEM is a new generation patented innovative membrane which waterproofs the support and drains the water in the adhesive under the tile. Thanks to the air chamber below the floor, a micro-ventilation facilitates the drying of the adhesive, even in case of large size tiles, and reduces significantly efflorescence formation and triacetate rising in joints. The uncoupling and vapour management properties of PRODESO® DRAIN allow its laying even on non perfectly cured substrates. Easy and quick to install, it has an overall thickness of only 5 mm and its application does not require the use of special adhesives. Versatility is a fundamental quality of this product; thanks to its characteristics it is the right solution for installation in any environment, indoor and outdoor. PRODESO® DRAIN is a draining and waterproofing membrane composed of a high density polyethylene (HDPE) sheet, a non-woven water-permeable polypropylene fabric and a non-woven polypropylene fabric. The cyan-coloured polyethylene sheet consists of conical truncated studs each with a circular base of 4.5 mm height, on which a non-woven polypropylene water-permeable grey fabric is thermo-welded. The membrane underside has a non-woven fabric in hydrophobic polypropylene glued to polyethylene, which extends on one side by about 7.5 cm; This fabric is waterproof for about 15 cm with a polypropylene film that ensures the gluing of the membrane to the support.

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REFINEMENT

AND ELEGANCE

www.avaceramica.it

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CONTENTS

7 EDITORIAL - Getting back into gear Gian Paolo Crasta

8 NEWS

ECONOMICS:14 The world’s top ceramic tile manufacturers Luca Baraldi - MECS

18 Strong rebound in European construction in 2021 91st EUROCONSTRUCT Conference

20 2020 revenues of Italy’s ceramic manufacturers Ilaria Vesentini - MECS

30 Mohawk Industries sets new record Milena Bernardi

32 The rise of Victoria PLC Paola Giacomini

PHOTONEWS:36 EnergieKer presents “Patagonia” and “Eternal Blue” tile

38 Italgraniti at Milano Design Week 2021

40 IN THE SPOTLIGHT - Interview with Francesco Borgomeo, Chairman of Saxa Group Sara Falsetti

44 PHOTONEWS - Iris Ceramica Group: Active Surfaces® help ceramics to break a new record

46 IN THE SPOTLIGHT - The “Frescopunk” side of ceramic tiles Sabrina Tassini

PROJECTS:52 A historic residence in Padua

54 The Vip Lounge at Yuri Gagarin Airport

60 A new fashion look for Balance Pro of Impertek

62 Bailey Hotel&Resort, Cairns - Australia

68 CERSAIE 2021 - Ceramic’s world return in Bologna

72 WHAT’S NEW - Ceramic tiles & laying technologies

114 TRENDS - In the world of surfaces Tosilab

120 PHOTONEWS - Picasso, the new oak floorboard by Original Parquet

122 PROJECTS - Chalet Joux Plane: a “James Bond” style location

126 PHOTONEWS - Re-building with Pietre d’Arredo

5

T I L E I N T E R N AT I O N A L 2 /2 0 2 1

1st COVER PICTURE BY: Frescopunk • https://frescopunk.com See article on page 46 • ADVERTISER’S LIST: pag. 29

2nd COVER PICTURE: Project: Golden Mile by Maxim Kashin Architects Full story on: https://surfacesinternational.com/video/golden-mile-inspired-russian-avant-garde Photo credit: Dmitry Chebanenko

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Gian Paolo [email protected]

Getting back into gear

7


As demonstrated by the figures published in this is-sue, the construction industry is now racing along just like Luca on his scooter. All the leading research centres agree that the recovery of the construction industry will be truly global in scope and will extend to all individual sectors, from residential to contract design and infrastructure.In particular, the latest analyses by the Italian re-search institute Cresme are predicting a global growth rate of 6.4% this year, followed by a further 3.5% in 2022.The residential sector will account for a significant percentage of construction investments, particu-larly for renovations and green retrofits. As part of a trend involving the whole of manufacturing, the construction industry is set to see a surge in sales of renewable, durable and insulating materials, both old and new. Materials are clearly playing a key ro-le in improving energy efficiency and environmental sustainability, with ceramic tiles in particular set to outperform building industry trends. Figures contained in the forecasting survey of world ceramic tile production and consumption conducted by the MECS Research Centre (www.mecs.org) and presented during the Acimac annual meeting sug-gest that world tile production will grow from 16.1 billion sqm in 2020 to 20.1 billion sqm in 2025, corre-sponding to an average annual growth rate of 4.7%. These projections are confirmed by the figures for the first six months of 2021 published by the world’s most important ceramic tile manufacturers’ asso-

Optimism, innovation and a new start are the keywords of this issue of Tile International and Surfaces International. Like Luca, the titular character of Disney Pixar’s latest animated feature film, the surfaces indu-stry is ready to ride the wave of the recovery after overcoming the ups and downs of the last

eighteen months of crisis.

ciations. In the first half of the year, China saw 14.7% growth in production, Spain 31.4%, while Mexico and Brazil recorded almost 50% higher figures than in the first six months of 2020, a period marked by lock-downs and a Covid-related slump in consumption.The ceramic tile industry’s growth is being driven by two regions in particular: Africa and Asia. In Afri-ca, consumption is expected to grow at an avera-ge of 5.6% per year until 2025, with volumes increa-sing from 1.1 to 1.5 billion square metres. In Asia, a 5% annual growth trend will raise consumption levels from 11.5 billion sqm to 14.7 billion sqm, confirming the role of the Far East as the driving force behind the entire global ceramic tile industry. South Ame-rica will grow at a slower pace (+3.8%), dropping be-low Africa as the third largest market for manufactu-rers of ceramic tiles and slabs. With a level of con-sumption of a billion square metres of tiles, the EU is expected to record a CAGR of just 2.6% in 2021-2025, more than half a percentage point below the rate for non-EU European countries (+3.2% per an-num). Bringing up the rear is North America with an average annual growth rate of 2% over the five-year period (to 600 million sqm).As for Italy, the new MECS forecasting model pre-dicts an increase in the country’s ceramic tile con-sumption from 100 million square metres in 2020 to 105 million in 2025, corresponding to an average an-nual growth rate of 0.9%. This will be the combined result of strong growth in 2021 and 2022 (when de-mand will reach a peak of 114 million square metres fuelled by the Superbonus tax incentives) followed by a return to historically average levels.Just as in the animated film Luca, Italy and Ita-lian-made products symbolise the restart and will take centre stage at Cersaie, which after a year’s hia-tus will reprise its role as the pre-eminent internatio-nal meeting place for architecture and distribution professionals working with the surfaces industry.

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Schlüter-BEKOTEC-THERM wins Plus X Award

The Schlüter-BEKOTEC-THERM floor

heating system with its low assembly

height and intelligent design creates a

pleasant, healthy room climate with low

energy consumption.

These qualities won over the Plus X

Awards jury, which recognized the high

quality, ease of use, and functionality of

the Schlüter-BEKOTEC-THERM ceram-

ic thermal comfort floor.

As the world’s largest innovation award

for technology, sports and lifestyle, the

Plus X Award honors brand products for

their quality and innovative conceptu-

al design.

“We are very pleased to be recognized

by this renowned award in three differ-

ent categories,” said Managing Direc-

tor Udo Schlüter. “The award affirms the

value of our work and is an incentive to

continue our development of intelligent,

high-quality system solutions to provide

our customers with even more comfort

and fun with ceramic tiles.”

The advantages of Schlüter-BEKO-

TEC-THERM are evident right from the

start: the system is not only quick to in-

stall, but also stands out for it short cur-

ing times. It can be connected to exist-

ing heating circuits and distributes heat

quickly and evenly throughout interior

spaces - with low supply temperatures.

That saves energy and makes the floor

heating system especially attractive for

use with renewable energy sources,

for example in combination with heat

pumps or solar energy.

Grupo Halcón acquires Cicogres

Grupo Halcón has acquired the indus-

trial assets, brand and catalogue of

Cicogres, a Castellón-based ceramic

tile producer with more than 30 years

of operations and 5 modern production

lines with a capacity of 10 million sqm/

year. The company’s current workforce

has also been retained.

This transaction reinforces Grupo Hal-

cón’s leadership in the global ceram-

ic tile industry, increasing production to

a total of approximately 50 million sqm

across 21 production lines. These in-

clude the two new lines, both with a ca-

pacity of 4 million sqm/year, installed

by Grupo Halcón as part of its 45 mil-

lion euro investment plan launched last

February for 2021. The first was start-

ed up in the spring and expanded the

group’s production capacity for large

and polished tiles, while the second is

scheduled to come on stream in late

autumn. Grupo Halcón has complet-

ed two new showrooms at its facili-

ty as well as the new logistics centre

in Onda. According to Grupo Halcón’s

CEO Francois Brendel, the acquisition

of Cicogres reflects the group’s inten-

tion to supplement organic growth in-

vestments with accretive acquisitions.

With support from Falcon Private Hold-

ings, the group’s majority shareholder

since 2018, Grupo Halcón will continue

to seek additional avenues for growth

across geographies and channels said

Brendel. With its three brands (Halcón,

Emotion and Cicogres), five factories (all

located in the Castellón area) and a to-

tal of 700 employees, the group aims

to generate revenues of more than

250 million euros this year with sales in

more than 100 countries.

RAK Ceramics returns to steady growth

RAK Ceramics, one of the largest ce-

ramics brands in the world, announced

its financial results for the quarter end-

ed 31 March 2021, which confirm the re-

turn to a state of steady growth.

The company surpassed pre-pandemic

levels of operation, with record levels of

revenue and profitability.

This is very good news for the Ras-al-

Khaimah-based Group after a challeng-

ing 2020, when total revenues dropped

by 8.7% to AED 2.35 billion (approx. 521

million euros) due to the COVID-19

lockdowns in the second quarter and

despite the accelerated recovery in the

third and fourth quarters.

“Operations across global markets con-

tinued to improve, leading to the strong-

est start to the year recorded by RAK Ce-

ramics since 2016”, said CEO Abdallah

Massaad (pictured). “Total revenue is the

highest it has been in 5 years, increasing

by 21.9% year on year.”

Total gross profit margin reached an all-

time high of 35.0% driven by an increase

in revenue, an improvement in efficien-

cies and the optimisation of production

lines. Reported net profit outperformed

pre-pandemic levels of profit.

Saudi Arabia has confirmed to be one

of RAK Ceramics’ major export markets.

Here, revenues had already increased

last year by 57.9% year on year. Thanks

to further investments to open new

Ceramiche Piemme inaugurates its new corporate showroom

With a series of Open House events

dedicated to international custom-

ers, Ceramiche Piemme inaugurates

its new corporate showroom at the ital-

ian headquarter in Fiorano Modenese

(Modena).

A completely renovated space that

best expresses the ceramic lines ded-

icated to the high-end residential sec-

tor, in a particularly original exhibi-

tion concept. The Premium area of the

new showroom, which covers a total of

about 1000 square meters, realistical-

ly reproduces the environments of a

luxurious home with -as real protago-

nists- Majestic Pure Selection and Evo-

luta ceramics, the new Ibla collection

and much more. Environments are en-

hanced by digital printing technologies

such as the exclusive “Synchro Dig-

it Piemme”, which makes it possible to

create original coverings with unprece-

dented three-dimensionality and tactile

sensations that perfectly recall those of

natural materials. In the Piemme Floor

and More & Contract area, on the oth-

er hand, the exhibition has a more tech-

nical tone, in line with ceramic materials

and surfaces for more commercial use

such as the Glitch collection designed

in collaboration with international archi-

tecture firm Benoy.

Moreover, “Villa Ibla” is the evocative

setting for the virtual tour that visitors (in

attendance and at a distance) can ex-

perience to discover the Ibla tile line. An

immersive experience that allows vis-

itors to “navigate” through the elegant

rooms covered with porcelain stone-

ware inspired by the “Ragusa pietra

pece” asphalt stone that has character-

ized the artistic and cultural process of

this area from Sicily for centuries.

9


showrooms and to develop significant

brand equity, Q1 2021 was closed with

revenue up by 78.5% and RAK Ceramics

being now the go-to provider of premi-

um ceramic products in the Kingdom.

Very positive results were also regis-

tered on the European markets, with

revenues up by 22.7% in Q1 2021, as

well as in India (+67%) and Bangladesh

(+18.9%), where RAK Ceramics has pro-

duction units.

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The winning projects of Next Landmark

Next Landmark AWARD 2021 - the in-

ternational competition promoted by

Floornature with the support of the

Iris Ceramica Group Foundation - has

now the winners of its 10th edition. The

Landmark of the Year Award - for a

completed work - was awarded to “Ca-

sa en el Bosque”, by the architect Mois-

es Morales, co-founder of W.E.Y.E.S Es-

tudio, Mexico. The Research Award - for

an academic or independently devel-

oped project - was awarded to the Ital-

ian architect Selene Amico for “Regen-

erated Spaces (間) around Lighthouse”.

The two architects won a stay at the In-

ternational Architecture Exhibition of

the Venice Biennale, the distribution of

the project on the online media of Iris

Ceramica Group and the certificate of

victory of the Next Landmark Interna-

tional Award 2021.

The technical-scientific committee

awarded them for the originality, a low

environmental impact, new ways of us-

ing space and the technical, aesthetic

and conceptual innovation.

Roca Group acquires Sanit

Roca Group, one of the leading names

in bathrooms, is consolidating its stand-

ing as a global business by acquir-

ing the German company Sanit, which

specialises in sanitaryware installation

systems.

Roca Group already has a presence in

170 countries and operates 85 produc-

tion plants. This new move, which is cur-

rently awaiting approval by the relevant

anti-trust authorities, will strengthen its

position in a market in which Sanit is

the third largest company in Germany

and the fifth largest in Europe. Alantra

has provided consulting services to the

group for this transaction, with Allen &

Overy acting as legal advisers.

The pre-wall bathroom systems seg-

ment, which includes concealed cis-

terns, mounting frames and flush

plates, is growing rapidly, driven by

the increasing popularity of wall-hung

toilet bowls. The global market for

these products is recording impressive

growth in all countries, Germany first

and foremost, in line with recent trends.

Today’s consumers are increasingly in

favour of solutions that optimise space,

hygiene and comfort.

Sanit, which was established in 1945

and has its HQ in Eisenberg, is current-

ly a member of the Aliaxis Group, glob-

al leaders in advanced piping solutions

with a presence in over 40 countries

worldwide. The company has three

production sites in Germany: Eisenberg,

Rödental and Wittenberg. Between

them, these plants employ 378 people,

export to over 70 countries and man-

ufacture products for the above-men-

tioned markets along with accessories

and complements for the assembly and

recessing of bathroom systems. Sanit

registered a turnover of 74 million eu-

ros in 2020.

As part of Roca Group’s strategy to cre-

ate specialist skills centres for different

categories of bathroom product, Sanit

will become the development hub for

the group’s installation systems.

Launch of the new Casalgrande Padana Gran Prix

The twelfth edition of the Casalgrande

Padana Grand Prix, the three-yearly in-

ternational architecture competition,

has been officially launched.

The event rewards projects that have

successfully used and applied the

technical properties and expressive po-

tential of the company’s ceramic mate-

rials. Projects submitted before the 31st

December 2021, constructed and fin-

ished in the period from January 2019

to December 2021, will be assessed by

a jury of architecture, design, journalism

and communication professionals, aid-

ed by Franco Manfredini, Chairman of

Casalgrande Padana.

The criteria used to select the competi-

tion winners will, as usual, be based on

aspects of virtuous design, functionality

and application involving Casalgrande

Padana ceramic tiles, both large and

small.

The competition, which attracts all kinds

of design professionals (architects, con-

struction engineers, designers, interi-

or designers, private and public techni-

cal studios, and professional architec-

ture and interior design firms), will cul-

minate in an award ceremony held in a

well-known prestigious cultural setting,

as on previous occasions.

The best projects will also be includ-

ed in Casalgrande Padana’s “Creative

Book”, which is printed in 60,000 copies.

Duravit: a lifetime warranty for ceramic products

The importance that Duravit attaches

to quality and sustainability in develop-

ment and manufacturing have led the

company to offer a new, lifetime war-

ranty on over 20 of its ceramic products.

Within 3 months of purchase, end cus-

tomers can register their purchases on-

line on the website www.duravit.com/

lifetimewarranty and receive a person-

al warranty certificate. In the event of a

ceramic product presenting a defect

in material, manufacture or construc-

tion after installation, Duravit also al-

lows customers to present a claim to

the retailer from whom they purchased

it. In response to claims made under

the new warranty, Duravit will bear the

costs of removing, replacing, and re-in-

stalling the product in question.

To find out which products are cov-

ered by the new lifetime warranty, con-

sult the website www.duravit.com/

lifetimewarranty.

ADVERTISING

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a large tile manufacturer. Its six facto-

ries (Cerámicas Myr, Azulejera Alco-

rense, Click Cerámica, Valentia Ceram-

ics, Oset and Azulejos Plaza, acquired

last spring) have a dozen kilns that pro-

duce a total of 3 million square metres

of tiles a month, or 36 million sqm a

year, and will help Pamesa meet a con-

stantly growing demand that still ex-

ceeds the group’s capacity despite its

ongoing investments aimed at expand-

ing production.

Azuliber is also an important player

in the raw materials segment (it owns

several red and white clay quarries in

Spain) and in the production and sup-

ply of spray-dried clay through its two

companies Azuliber and Amizalsa,

which operate a total of 10 spray-dry-

ing plants. The Azuliber Group is ex-

pected to post consolidated revenues

of around 160 million euros in 2021.

The acquisition, for an undisclosed

sum, comes on top of the 70 million eu-

ro investment plan that Fernando Roig

had already announced for 2021, which

includes the installation of new kilns, of-

fice refurbishment at the headquarters,

construction of a logistics centre and

clay warehouse, and modernisation of

Pulidos Pamesa with the installation of

new finishing equipment.

Pamesa continues its unstoppable growth with the acquisition of Azuliber

If the Pamesa Group’s 2021 goals an-

nounced by Fernando Roig in June (see

CWR 142 p.48) were already pointing to

exceptional growth (production capaci-

ty up 40%, tile sales of 130 million sqm

and consolidated revenues of 900 mil-

lion euros compared to the 782 million

euros of 2020), with the announcement

of the acquisition of Azuliber at the be-

ginning of September the chairman of

Europe’s largest tile group has further

revised up his forecasts: the consolidat-

ed revenues of Pamesa Grupo Empre-

sarial are now likely to reach 1.1 billion

euros (up 40% on 2020), including 900

million euros generated in the ceramic

tile segment (up 45% compared to the

616 million euros of 2020).

Given its scale, the acquisition of the

Azuliber group is an extremely signif-

icant operation for Spain’s Castellón

ceramic district and a strategic move

for Pamesa. Azuliber is more than just

Lamosa acquires Roca’s tiles division

Grupo Lamosa, Mexico’s largest ceram-

ic manufacturing group and one of the

top three global players, has taken an-

other important step forward in its in-

ternational growth plan. On August 2, it

announced an agreement with Grupo

Roca for the acquisition of the Spanish

company’s ceramic tile division (Tiles

Investments and Holdings), a transac-

tion worth $260 million (approximate-

ly €221 million) that covers three pro-

duction plants: the two Incepa plants

in Brazil (Campo Largo and São Mateus

do Sul) and the Ceramica Belcaire plant

in Castellón, Spain, as well as a sales

company in the United States. This lat-

est deal comes five years after the ac-

quisition of Cerámica San Lorenzo for

$230 million, a move that transformed

the San Pedro Garza García-based

group into a multinational with opera-

tions spanning Argentina, Chile, Colom-

bia and Peru.

While the sale of its tile division is part

of the Roca Group’s strategy of concen-

trating its activities and growth in the

bathroom furnishings sector following

its recent acquisitions of the Spanish

Royo Group, the German company San-

it and a sanitaryware factory in Brazil,

for Grupo Lamosa the acquisition will

bring an approximately 20% increase in

consolidated revenues and a 16% boost

in installed capacity to 225 million sqm/

year. In 2020, the three acquired facili-

ties produced a total of approximately

23.4 million square metres of tiles.

“This operation strengthens our already

strong presence in North and South

America and also allows us to expand in

Europe,” said Lamosa’s Chairman Feder-

ico Toussaint Elosúa. “It also represents

an important step forward in the Group’s

growth path in line with its strategic de-

velopment plan to expand its geograph-

ical presence, diversify risks and further

strengthen its positioning and leadership

through a search for new opportunities.”

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S C A N O R G O T OI M P E R T E K . C O M

B A L A N C E P R O I S S E L F L E V E L L I N G U P T O 5 % O F S L O P E A N D I T H A S A L A R G E R A N G E O F H E A D S F O R T I L E , D EC K I N G A N D M I X E D F I N I S H I N G S .

1 4 I T E M S T O S AT I S F Y E V E RY I N S TA L L AT I O N N E E D , W I T H H E I G H T S F R O M 2 5 T O 1 0 2 5 M M . MEET US AT CERSAIE (27/09 – 01/10) BOLOGNA ITALY

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Tile International in collaboration with MECS is publishing key data on the ceramic tile sector’s leading groups and companies, ranked by last year’s output volumes and updated to 31/12/2020. To correctly understand the rankings, please bear in mind the following:

• The figures were mostly provided directly by the companies themselves, apart from a small number of cases in which they were obtained from public sources or estimated.

• Along with data for installed capacity, real production, export share and number and locations of facilities, we are

also reporting revenue where available.

And because these are large groups whose operations in many cases extend over multiple industrial sectors, we indicate both revenues generated solely in the ceramic tile segment and consolidated group revenues.

The revenue figures were

T H E WO R L D’ S TO P C E R A M I C T I L E M A N U FACTU R E R S

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Luca Baraldi • MECS • www.mecs.org

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1MOHAWK INDUSTRIES, INC.

USA

230-250 (estimates)

250.0 (estimates)

n.a. $ 3,433 mill.

$ 9,552 mill. (ceramics, carpet, laminate,

wood, stone, LVT)

23 in USA, Mexico, Brazil, Italy, Spain, Poland, Bulgaria, Russia

American Olean, Dal Tile, KAI, Kerama Marazzi, Marazzi, Ragno, Emilgroup, Eliane

2GRUPO LAMOSA

MEXICO 148.0 201.0 38% 602.3 796.8 (tiles, adhesives)

9 in Mexico, 2 in Argentina, 2 in Colombia, 3 in Peru

Lamosa, Porcelanite, Firenze, San Lorenzo, Cordillera, Scop, Princesa, Mallorca, Lamosa USA

3SCG CERAMICS

THAILAND 145.0 181.0 12% 565.0 695.0(tiles + sanitaryware)

18 in Thailand, 7 in Vietnam, 2 in Indonesia, 1 in Philippines

COTTO, Sosuco, Campana, Prime, Mariwasa, Kia, Trend, Impresso

4RAK CERAMICS PJSC

UAE99.2 123.0 60% 395.0 575.0

(tiles, sanitary, tableware)

12 in UAE, 1 in Bangladesh, 1 in India

RAK Ceramics, Elegance

5CERAMICA CARMELO FIOR

BRAZIL84.0 87.0 32% n.a. n.a. 5 in Brazil

Cecafi, Pisoforte, Fioranno, Idealle, Arielle

6GRUPO PAMESA

SPAIN 82.0 82.0 69% 617.0 783.0 5 in SpainPamesa, TAU, Geotiles, Prissmacer, Ecoceramic, Navarti

7STN GROUP

SPAIN 78.1 81.0 78% 360.0 360.0 3 in SpainSTN, Alaplana, Keratile, Tesany, Vitacer

8KAJARIA CERAMICS*

INDIA

78.1(sales)

70.4 1% 353.0 377.0 (tiles, sanitaryware)

10 in India Kajaria

9ARWANA CITRAMULIA

INDONESIA63.0 65.4 0% 127.6 127.6 5 in Indonesia Arwana

10DYNASTY CERAMIC

THAILAND61.0 84.0 4% 222.0 229.0 3 in Thailand

Dynasty, Tile Top, Jaguar, RCI, Chicken, Birdy, Swan, Value

TILE EDIZIONI’S EXCLUSIVE CONTENT - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

*Figures refer to FY endend on March 31 or April 3, 2021

Chiara [email protected]

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The exceptional nature of the year 2020 is also reflect-ed in the ranking of the world’s largest tile producers and warrants some general observations.

Unlike in the past when the ranking remained relative-ly stable, the 2020 ranking has seen (probably tempo-rary) changes in the positions of numerous compa-nies due to the fact that it is not based on installed ca-pacity but on actual production over the 12 month pe-riod. Almost all groups reported a decline in produc-tion volumes due to the plant stoppages that occurred for various lengths of time during the lockdowns in the first half of the year; this contraction was partially off-set by the powerful recovery in the second half of the 2020, with production lines operating at maximum ca-pacity in response to a buoyant market. The fall in pro-duction was therefore not uniform, but ranged from

provided by the companies either directly in euros or in local currency and converted at the exchange rate as of 31/12/2020.

• The ranking is not exhaustive, given the lack of available data on the volumes produced by several large groups that would be included in the ranking, including the Concorde Group

(Italy), Cleopatra (Egypt) and Cedasa/Incopisos (Brazil). Several Chinese groups are also missing as only figures for installed capacity are available, although it should be noted that the top 10 Chinese producers (New Pearl, Wonderful, which also has a plant in the USA, Huashuo, Hongyu, Dongpeng,

Quanye, Monalisa, Haosheng and Shuncheng, in that order) all have annual production capacities of between 100 and 208 million square metres.

-1.5% for companies such as STN and Cersanit to more than -10% for the worst-hit Mexican and Brazil-ian groups. Only a small number of companies main-tained or increased their production levels compared to 2019: Pamesa, Arwana, Victoria, Carmelo Fior and Somany, which increased its capacity by 18% and pro-duction by 14%.

But as demonstrated by the revenue trend, the de-cline in production was not accompanied by a similar drop in sales. Many companies cleared out their ware-houses to meet demand, in some cases encountering issues of insufficient inventory due to prolonged lock-downs (e.g. Mohawk Industries, which closed 2020 with revenues down 5.5% in the ceramic tile segment). Others managed to maintain similar or higher levels of sales to the previous year, including Lamosa, which

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11GRUPO FRAGNANI

BRAZIL 55.3 79.0 9% 93.4 93.4 3 in BrazilIncefra, Incenor,Tecnogres, In Out

12CERSANIT SA

POLAND 53.5 65.6 70% 258.0 457.0(tiles, sanitaryware)

2 in Poland, 2 in Russia, 1 in Ukraine

Cersanit, Opoczno

13SAUDI CERAMICS

SAUDI ARABIA 52.8 60.0 1% 221.8 269.5(tiles, sanitaryware)

14 in Saudi Arabia Saudi Ceramics

14SOMANY CERAMICS*

INDIA48.0 67.7 7% 179.0 191.0

(tiles, sanitaryware)9 in India Somany

15LASSELSBERGER GROUP

AUSTRIA44.2 51.9 n.a. n.a. n.a.

5 in Czech Rep.,2 in Hungary,1 in Romania, 1 in Russia

Rako, Cesarom, LB-Ceramics, Zalakeramia


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closed the year with 8% revenue growth, Pamesa (+20.5%), STN (+10.8%) and Somany (+5.3% based on the euro exchange rate). Other companies reporting high-er sales volumes than production include Cersanit, In-terceramic and Saudi Ceramics.

The year 2021 is already shaping up to be just as ex-ceptional, but this time in a positive sense. In particu-lar, all groups have maintained their growth forecasts in terms of sales and earnings. These include the Global Ceramics division of Mohawk Industries, which closed the first half of 2021 with earnings of +23% (see page 30); the Lamosa Group at +65%; Rak Ceramics at +41.8%; and Portobello at +70.7%. As for production, by the end of 2021 we can expect to see a general increase in out-put volumes due to the return to pre-pandemic levels coupled with numerous investments to expand capac-ity. For example, Mohawk Industries has embarked on expansion projects in Mexico, Brazil, Europe and Rus-sia, Pamesa is installing new kilns in its facilities, and

Kajaria is expected to increase capacity to 82 million sqm by March 2022. But the biggest changes in posi-tioning that will emerge in the 2021 rankings will be the result of major acquisitions by four big players this year: • Lamosa, already the world’s second largest pro-

ducer, which will increase its production capacity to 225 million sqm with the acquisition of Roca’s tile division;

• Pamesa, which by acquiring the Azuliber Group will gain an additional capacity of 36 million sqm/year and is aiming for 130 million sqm of sales and ce-ramic segment revenues of 900 million euros;

• Victoria PLC, which acquired Colli and Santa Maria in April and has not ruled out the possibility of mak-ing further acquisitions during the current financial year (see page 32);

• Grupo Halcon, whose production capacity has in-creased from 32 to 50 million sqm in 2021 due to the acquisition of Cicogres and the expansion of its pro-

duction lines. ✕

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16 VICTORIA PLC*GREAT BRITAIN

42.0 50.0 70%331.8(GBP

282,4 mln)

778.2 (GBP 662,3 mln)

(ceramic tiles, carpet, LVT, …)

4 in Spain, 5 in Italy

Keraben, Saloni, Ibero-Casainfinita, Serra, Ascot, Dom, Mac3, Keradom

17KALE GROUP

TURKEY 40.0 62.0 38% n.a 184.0 (tiles, bathroom, others)

20 in TurkeyCanakkale Seramik, Kalebodur, Edilcuoghi, Edilgres, Campani, IDA

18CELIMA (Trebol Group)

PERU'

36-40 (estimates)

54.0(estimates)

n.a. n.a. n.a. 3 in Peru Celima, San Martin

19PORTOBELLO (PGB)

BRAZIL

36-40 (estimates)

46.0(estimates)

21% 208.4 208.4 2 in Brazil Portobello, Pointer

20INTERCERAMIC

MEXICO 36.0 48.0 29% 310.0 431.0 (tiles, sanitaryware, others)

5 in Mexico, 1 in USA Interceramic

21CERAMIC INDUSTRIES

SOUTH AFRICA

35.0 (estimates)

49.0 n.a. n.a. n.a. 5 in South Africa, 1 in Australia

Samca, Vitro, Pegasus, Gryphon, Centaurus

22VITROMEX

MEXICO 34 50.2 n.a. 143.0 143.0 4 in Mexico Vitromex, Arko

23ELIZABETH

BRAZIL 32.1 51.2 4% 132.0 132.0 4 in Brazil Elizabeth

24ORIENT BELL

INDIA 32.0 35.0 - 55.0 55.0 5 in India Orientbell Tiles

25CORONA

COLOMBIA 31.6 42.0 12% 111.2 331.9 (tiles, sanitaryware)

5 in Colombia Corona, Orchid


Wash Basin and WC: RAK-VALETFurniture: RAK-JOY

Wall and Floor: TOKYO CONCRETE

CERSAIEBOLOGNA, ITALY27 SEPTEMBER - 1 OCTOBER 2021

HALL 30, STAND C58-D57

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The recovery of the European construction industry is more rapid than initially expected, with much of the losses from the Corona

pandemic expected to be recovered in 2021. According to the latest estimates announced at the 91st Eurocon-

struct Conference held on 10-11 June, construction volume in the Euroconstruct area will grow by 3.8% in 2021, following a slump of

ST R O N G R E B O U N D I N E U R O PE A N CO N ST R U CT I O N I N 2 02 1

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Unlike the past years, however, the construction in-dustry will show a lower growth dynamic than the overall economy from 2022 onwards: while the growth rates of the construction industry in 2022 and 2023 will be 3.0% and 2.1%, the economies of the EC-19 will ex-pand by 4.4% and 2.0%.

The past year 2020 brought drastic declines in to-tal construction output in almost all EC countries -

apart from Denmark, Finland, Portugal and Sweden. The countries France, Ireland, Spain, the United King-dom, Hungary and Slovakia recorded high single-digit or even double-digit declines.The construction industry in the Nordic countries was more resilient to the pandemic, with positive growth rates in several countries. This contrasts with a nega-tive growth trend in the Eastern European countries, where the Czech Republic and Poland came off some-

what more lightly. The picture in continen-tal and southern Eu-rope is very heteroge-neous. While construc-tion output plummet-ed in France, growth in Germany was only just below zero, as it was in Switzerland. Moder-ate losses were record-ed in Austria and Bel-gium. Portugal was also able to decouple itself from the negative dy-namics in neighbouring Spain. In the Anglo-Sax-on countries, there was a very significant slump overall in 2020.

Nevertheless, the (al-most) unanimous neg-ative growth rates of the construction in-dustry in the Eurocon-struct countries in 2020 should not hide the fact that the recovery paths are very different. It is by no means the case that stronger losses in 2020 will automatically

91st EUROCONSTRUCT Conference

Source: EUROCONSTRUCT, June 2021

TAB. 1 - TOTAL CONSTRUCTION OUTPUT (% change in real terms)

COUNTRYESTIMATES FORECASTS OUTLOOK

2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023

Austria 2.5 3.6 3.6 -3.3 3.5 2.4 1 .9

Belgium 2.1 3.3 1.6 -4.7 6.1 1.9 2.4

Denmark 3.0 1.3 7.8 6.1 2.9 1.8 2.0

Finland 1.9 1.7 -1.8 1.4 1.1 -0.8 -3.0

France 3.9 3.1 2.2 -12.7 7.0 3.3 1.5

Germany 2.1 2.0 2.0 -0.9 -0.6 0.2 0.2

Ireland 14.9 13.1 8.4 -8.6 -6.4 14.6 9.5

Italy 0.5 1.9 3.4 -4.6 8.7 4.7 3.6

Netherlands 3.9 6.6 3.1 -2.5 -1.6 4.4 4.0

Norway 3.5 -2.0 1.8 -0.1 5.4 2.0 0.2

Portugal 11 .6 10.3 8.4 3.4 0.4 1.0 1.4

Spain 5.1 6.4 4.5 -10.4 5.5 6.0 3.5

Sweden 6.2 -1.0 1.2 1.4 2.7 1.4 1.9

Switzerland 1.2 0.9 -0.3 -0.7 0.5 -0.6 0.6

United Kingdom 6.0 -0.1 2.4 -11.1 11.4 5.2 3.2

WESTERN EUROPE (EC-1 5) 3.4 2.5 2.6 -5.2 4.1 2.9 2.0

Czech Republic 4.5 7.0 1.1 -3.6 -0.9 2.8 2.3

Hungary 25.5 19.8 16.3 -7.1 -1.3 7.9 7.6

Poland 7.2 14.4 4.9 -2.0 -0.2 2.9 3.3

Slovak Republic 3.8 8.0 -4.7 -12.7 1.9 8.3 4.3

EASTERN EUROPE (EC-4) 8.5 12.8 5.1 -3.8 -0.5 3.9 3.8

"EUROCONSTRUCT COUNTRIES (EC-1 9)"

3.7 3.0 2.8 -5.1 3.8 3.0 2.1


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be compensated for in 2021. This becomes particular-ly clear in the case of Ireland, Hungary, Slovakia, Spain and France, which suffered very high declines in to-tal construction output in 2020 and will only be able to compensate for part of them in 2021. Ireland and Hun-gary even expect further declines in 2021. The situation is reversed in Portugal and the Northern European countries (Denmark, Finland, Sweden and Norway): after very robust results in 2020, there should be further increases in 2021.

From a sectoral perspective, civil engineering, which has already shown significantly above-average growth momentum in recent years, has the most promising growth prospects in the years until 2023. Non-residential construction, which was most strongly hit by the crisis, exhibits a relatively weak re-covery path in the coming years. Residential con-struction, on the other hand, will continue to deliv-er stable growth rates but the growth dynamic drops noticeably after 2021. ✕

Index

Totalconstruction

Constructionoutputbysector(EC-19)S:EUROCONSTRUCT(June2021).-Indexatconstantprices,2020=100

GDP Totalconstruction

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

2023

-10

-8

-6

-4

-2

0

2

4

6

FIG. 2 - CONSTRUCTION OUTPUT BY SECTOR (EC-19)

5.1% in 2020. Compared to the previous fore-casts, the decline in 2020 was less than expected, and the pre-crisis

level will thus be reached again by 2022 at the latest. Against the backdrop of signifi-cantly more favourable economic

conditions in the EC-19, the con-struction industry is also benefit-ing from an overall rapid economic recovery.

France

Germany

Italy

Spain

United Kingdom

EUROCONSTRUCT 19

Total Construction in EC-19

Index 2020 = 100

Austria

Belgium

Denmark

Finland

France

Germany

Ireland

Italy

Netherlands

Norway

Portugal

Spain

Sweden

Switzerland

United Kingdom

EUROCONSTRUCT 15

Czech Republic

Hungary

Poland

Slovak Republic

EUROCONSTRUCT 4

EUROCONSTRUCT 192017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023

95

100

105

110

115

120

125

Source: EUROCONSTRUCT (2021, 91st EC-Conference)

FIG. 3 - TOTAL CONSTRUCTION

Index

Totalconstructionoutput

Residentialconstruction

Civilengineering

Constructionoutputbysector(EC-19)S:EUROCONSTRUCT(June2021).-Indexatconstantprices,2020=100

TotalconstructionoutputResidentialconstructionNon-residentialconstructionCivilengineering

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

2023

80

90

100

110

120

FIG. 3 - CONSTRUCTION OUTPUT BY SECTOR (EC-19)

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Better than expected. These three words best describe the picture painted by the 2020 revenues of Italy’s leading ceramic manufacturers.

Among the ups and downs of individual company performance, the most striking observation is that, against all forecasts, the downturn was modest and a third of the

companies surveyed – 23 responded to the questionnaire we sent – even increased their turnover, specifically in the annus horribilis of Covid. The other point, which the sample

2 02 0 R EVE N U E SO F I TA LY ’ S C E R A M I C M A N U FACTU R E R S

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TILE EDIZIONI’S EXCLUSIVE CONTENT - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Various factors suggest that the figures and trends set out here should be seen in a positive light, and that the pandemic year will be remembered as a blip that will not weigh too heavily on future balance sheets. At the start of the health crisis and ensuing lockdown, Italy’s ceramic manufacturers feared they would end 2020 with downturns in double figures. The average downturn, however – according to the sample represented here and excluding the results of the vast multinational Mohawk – turned out to be less than 3%.

Another positive factor, if we compare the 2020 rev-enues of Italian manufacturers with those of inter-national manufacturers – a hundred or so financial statements, mostly from Asian companies, have al-ready been filed and recorded in the official databas-es – is that the comparison shows Italy in a favoura-ble light, despite the fact that shops and factories re-mained closed for longer than in other countries, due to the pandemic containment measures adopted by the Conte Government. The average fall in revenues incurred by this second worldwide sample (still excluding Mohawk) was around 5%, and four times more companies lost sales than gained them: 80% of interna-tional manufacturers reported a fall in revenues in 2020, while just 20% reported a rise.Another reassuring factor for Italian manufacturers is how firmly their prices held up, as shown by the Tile International survey, both nationally and international-ly, combined with good sales prospects in terms of volumes. More specifically, on the Italian market, only 15% of the sample expect to cut their prices, while the vast majority expect to raise them or, at worst, keep

them unchanged. Furthermore, business forecasts for 2021 are rosy to say the least, in keeping with the statistics published by Confindustria Ceramica and the boost expected from recent tax incentives, first and foremost the 110% state subsidy of energy-efficient building upgrades. From Valle d’Aosta to Sicily, all the Italian companies surveyed, bar none, expect sales to increase at rates of between 3% and 89%.

As we know, however, it is foreign markets that deter-mine the success of Italy’s ceramic industry. Our manufacturers generate over 80% of their reve-nues outside Italy, and the sample surveyed confirms this finding: only one respondent reported exports ac-counting for less than 50% of their total revenues. And these same international markets are showing re-assuring signs in terms of the resilience of Italy’s man-ufacturing industry, regardless of the final balance sheet for 2020. All respondents are making positive price forecasts, with list prices either rising or remaining stable.

These dynamics are matched by similarly good fore-casts in terms of volumes: in the EU, in particular, which has always been the biggest market for Italian ceram-ic, there is a unanimous chorus of price rise forecasts. The future is looking bright in the Middle East, Far East and North America too: only one or two com-panies from the entire survey sample are forecasting downturns in these

geographical areas.

The forecasts for 2021 also come in the wake of a surprisingly positive pandemic year for international trade, despite the grounding of long-haul flights, re-

All the figures lined up corrob-

orate the starting point of the

analysis and the results of the

sample survey: in terms of economic

results, the majority of Italy’s

ceramic companies have already put

Covid behind them.

Analysis by Ilaria Vesentini - MECS Research Centre (www.mecs.org)

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survey does not show, but which business-people in the field bear witness to, is that regardless of whether sales went up or down, 2020 was a

year of good profit margins, due to the big reduction in operating costs across all areas of manufacturing, not just ceramic.

strictions on other goods traffic flows and a rise in na-tionalism and protectionism that has penalised Italian manufacturers, as they are the most internationalised players in the sector. Italy’s tile exports fell by 2.1% last year compared with 2019, which is less than the average fall worldwide (3.6%) and streets ahead of the 11.5% downturn suf-fered by Chinese manufacturers. Spanish manufacturers reported a 4.5% increase in ex-ports, but their factories had significantly shorter shut-downs than their Italian counterparts.

All the figures lined up so far, corroborate the starting point of the analysis and the results of the sample sur-vey: in terms of economic results, the majority of com-panies have already put Covid behind them.

Lastly, a detailed look at the company data brought to-gether in this section reveals outlier indicators, such as the +33.3% reported by ABK Group, which reflect one-off operations. In ABK’s case, this was the acquisition of

Ceramiche Gardenia Orchidea in 2020, at a time when most M&A deals fell through due to the pandemic (the early months of 2021, however, have already seen a rise in merge activity).Generally speaking, the top-end specialist segment (designer tiles, premium materials and premium finish-ings) have suffered the worst of the damage that Cov-id inflicted on the luxury segment, across all industries and well beyond the borders of Italy. In some cases, the results for 2020 have simply shone the spotlight on difficulties that were already emerging in 2019, in the form of re-organisations and redundancies triggered by tougher market conditions that the health emer-gency has simply accentuated. It is worth remembering, in fact, that the 2019 pre-Covid financial data – see “Economic & financial analysis of world ceramic tile manufacturers 7th edi-tion 2021” - already suggested that Italian manufactur-ers were struggling more than their Spanish and Asian competitors, as a result of a slowdown in all operating indicators and a fall in margins. ✕

MOHAWK INDUSTRIES, Inc USD 3,432.8 million (2020: consolidated segment Global Ceramic)

Historical: 2012: USD 1,616 MIL. • 2013: USD 2,677 MIL. • 2014: USD 3,015 MIL. • 2015: USD 3,013 MIL. • 2016: USD 3,175 MIL. - 2017: USD 3,405 MIL.

2018: USD 3,553 MIL. • 2019: USD 3,631 MIL.

These revenues were generated by the following companies and/or brands:

• MARAZZI (All markets) • RAGNO (All markets) • EMILGROUP (All markets)

• AMERICAN OLEAN (North America) • DAL-TILE (North America) • KERAMA MARAZZI (Russia)

• KAI GROUP (Bulgaria and Romania) • ELIANE (Brazil)

PRODUCTION: 240/260 MIL. SQ.M (Mohawk Ind. production capacity, Tile International 2020 estimate)

INTERNATIONALISATION: NORTH/SOUTH AMERICA, EUROPE, RUSSIA, ASIA

EMPLOYEES: 42,000

Copyright Tile Edizioni - All values are expressed in mil/€

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Copyright Tile Edizioni - All values are expressed in mil/€

IRIS CERAMICA GROUP € 415.0 million (consolidated)

Historical: 2012: € 420.0 MIL. • 2013: € 440.0 MIL. • 2014: € 450.0 MIL. • 2015: € 480.0 MIL. • 2016: € 530.0 MIL. • 2017: € 509.0 MIL.

2018: € 485.0 MIL. • 2019: € 485.0 MIL.


• FIANDRE Architectural Surfaces • IRIS CERAMICA • FMG, Fabbrica Marmi e Graniti

• ARIOSTEA • SAPIENSTONE • STONEPEAK CERAMICS (USA)

• PORCELAINGRES (Germany) • EIFFELGRES • GRANITECH

• TECHNORIUNITE • MATIMEX • ARCAREL

• TECHNOMIX • LA CERAMICA • SEVENTYONEPERCENT

• ACTIVE SURFACES

PRODUCTION: 19 MIL. SQ.M - FLOOR TILE 94% - WALL TILE 6%

INTERNATIONALISATION: 2 FACILITIES: STONEPEAK CERAMICS (USA), PORCELAINGRES (GERMANY)

EXPORTS: 85%

EMPLOYEES: 1,600

NOTES:

Incorporation and launch of SEVENTYONEPERCENT, a luxury bathroom furnishing brand established in conjunction with the PAOLO CASTELLI brand. Opening of the new Iris Ceramica Group showroom in Milan (Italy), at 4, Via Santa Margherita. Relaunch of traditional full-body technical ceramic. Research and development relating to HYPERTOUCH home automation technology (launch 2021). Relaunch of the Granitech engineering division with brand restylingand reorganisation of a new architecture and engineering consultancy and solutions centre. Restyling of the brand dedicated to antimicrobial and anti-pollution coverings launched in 2010 as ACTIVE Clean Air & Antibacterial Ceramic, now ACTIVE SURFACES™, with the introduction of a dedicated product line and the launch of a marketing and retail investment plan.

FINFLOOR GROUP € 381.0 million (consolidated)

Historical: 2003: € 286.3 MIL. • 2004: € 308.1 MIL. • 2005: € 343.7 MIL. •2006: € 355.2 MIL. • 2007: € 343.4 MIL. • 2008: € 330.6 MIL. • 2009: € 259.7 MIL.

2010: € 273.8 MIL. • 2011: € 304.6 MIL. • 2012: € 315.3 MIL. • 2013: € 325.8 MIL. • 2014: € 329.5 MIL. • 2015: € 374.1 MIL. • 2016: € 406.8 MIL. • 2017: € 424.8 MIL.

2018: € 410.0 MIL. • 2019: € 404.0 MIL.


• FLORIM CERAMICHE SPA SB Floor Gres, Rex, CEDIT - Ceramiche d'Italia, Casa dolce casa - Casamood, Cerim, FLORIM stone

• FLORIM USA INC. Milestone

PRODUCTION: 22 MIL. SQ.M

INTERNATIONALISATION: 1 PRODUCTION FACILITY AND LOGISTICS CENTER IN TENNESSEE (USA).

FLAGSHIP STORES IN MILAN, MOSCOW, NYC, SINGAPORE, FRANKFURT, LONDON, ABU DHABI.

EXPORTS: 80% (Calculated on the value of direct business, excluding revenues from production on behalf of third parties)

EMPLOYEES: 1,400

PANARIAGROUP € 357.3 million (consolidated)

Historical: 2003: € 212.4 MIL. • 2004: € 235.5 MIL. • 2005: € 247.2 MIL. • 2006: € 351.5 MIL. • 2007: € 354.4 MIL. • 2008: € 328.0 MIL. • 2009: € 289.9 MIL.

2010: € 285.2 MIL. • 2011: € 294.1 MIL. • 2012: € 280.8 MIL. • 2013: € 273.0 MIL. • 2014: € 290.7 MIL. • 2015: € 342.9 MIL. • 2016: € 377.0 MIL

2017: € 384.6 MIL. • 2018: € 371.0 MIL. • 2019: € 382.0 MIL.


• PANARIA CERAMICHE • LEA CERAMICHE • COTTO D'ESTE

• BLUSTYLE • FLORIDA TILE • MARGRES

• LOVE TILES • BELLISSIMO • MAXA CERAMIC SLABS

PRODUCTION: OVER 20.0 MIL. SQ.M

INTERNATIONALISATION: 2 FACILITIES IN PORTUGAL , 1 IN THE UNITED STATES

EXPORTS: 83%

EMPLOYEES: 1,724

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CERAMIC WIDE DECORATION

ADV_G.Romani TILE INTERNATIONAL CERSAIE 2021.indd 1ADV_G.Romani TILE INTERNATIONAL CERSAIE 2021.indd 1 05/08/21 08:5505/08/21 08:55

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Copyright Tile Edizioni - All values are expressed in mil/€ Copyright Tile Edizioni - All values are expressed in mil/€

COOPERATIVA CERAMICA D’IMOLA GROUP € 207.0 million (consolidated)



2018: € 222.5 MIL. • 2019: € 216.0 MIL.


• IMOLA CERAMICA • LA FAENZA CERAMICA • LEONARDO CERAMICA

PRODUCTION: 12.97 MIL. SQ.M - FLOOR TILE 93,5%, WALL TILE 6,5%

EXPORTS: 78.9%

EMPLOYEES: 1.050

ITALCER GROUP SPA € 249.0 million

Historical: 2017: € 81.2 MIL. • 2018: € 198.9 MIL. • 2019: € 204.7 MIL.


• LA FABBRICA

• DEVON&DEVON

• BOTTEGA

• ITALCER SPA

• AVA

• CERAMICA RONDINE

• CEDIR

• EQUIPE CERAMICAS

• ELIOS CERAMICA

• SPRAY DRY

• ITALCER USA

PRODUCTION: 12.5 MIL. SQ.M - FLOOR TILE 92%, WALL TILE 8% (9 MIL. MADE IN ITALY, 3,5 MIL. MADE IN SPAIN)

EXPORTS: 85%

EMPLOYEES: 830

CASALGRANDE PADANA € 233.97 million (consolidated)



2018: € 263.8 MIL. • 2019: € 260.9 MIL.


• CASALGRANDE PADANA SPA • NUOVA RIWAL CERAMICHE SRL

PRODUCTION: 16 MIL. SQ.M - 100% FLOOR TILES (MADE IN ITALY)

EXPORTS: 80%

EMPLOYEES: 970

CERAMICHE GRESMALT SPA GROUP € 148.8 million (consolidated)

Historical: 2003: € 46.4 MIL. • 2004: € 47.9 MIL. • 2005: € 54.7 MIL • 2006: € 59.3 MIL. • 2007: € 68.3 MIL. • 2008: € 65.0 MIL. • 2009: € 63.4 MIL.


2018: € 132.8 MIL. • 2019: € 150.2 MIL.


• CERAMICHE GRESMALT GROUP • ERMES CERAMICHE

PRODUCTION: 14.2 MIL. SQ.M - FLOOR TILE 100%

EXPORTS: 86,8%

EMPLOYEES: 499

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ABK GROUP € 148.0 million (consolidated)

Historical: 2003: € 78.9 MIL. • 2004: € 80.6 MIL. • 2005: € 87.9 MIL • 2006: € 92.5 MIL. 2007: € 102.2 MIL. • 2008: € 105.1 MIL. • 2009: € 90.1 MIL.

2010: € 89.0 MIL. • 2011: € 83.0 MIL. • 2012: € 74.0 MIL. • 2013: € 77.0 MIL. 2014: € 85.0 MIL. • 2015: € 94.0 MIL. • 2016: € 104.0 MIL. • 2017: € 110.0 MIL.

2018: € 110.0 MIL. • 2019: € 111.0 MIL.


• ABK • ARIANA • FLAVIKER

• HARD KOLL • ABKSTONE • MATERIA

• GARDENIA ORCHIDEA

PRODUCTION: 10 MIL. SQ.M - FLOOR TILE 100%

EXPORTS: 74%

EMPLOYEES: 519

NOTES: Acquisition of Gardenia Orchidea. Acquisition of a shareholding in the Spanish company Arbe Stolanic.

LAMINAM SPA € 128.0 million (consolidated)

Historical: 2010: € 18.5 MIL. • 2011: € 25.0 MIL. • 2012: € 24.1 MIL. • 2013: € 29.8 MIL. 2014: € 39.4 MIL. • 2015: € 50.0 MIL.

2016: € 68.0 MIL. • 2017: € 85.0 MIL. • 2018: € 110.0 MIL. • 2019: € 125.1 MIL.


• LAMINAM SPA

• LAMINAM UK

• LAMINAM CANADA

• LAMINAM GERMANY

• LAMINAM ISRAEL

• LAMINAM SERVICE

• LAMINAM FRANCE

• LAMINAM USA

• LAMINAM RUS

PRODUCTION: 3.5 MIL. SQ.M

INTERNATIONALISATION: RUSSIA

EXPORTS: 80%

EMPLOYEES: 563

NOTES: An upgrade of the Borgo Val di Taro production facility (in the Italian province of Parma) is in progress.

DEL CONCA GROUP € 140.2 million (net of infragroup)


2010: € 124.0 MIL. • 2011: € 122.1 MIL. • 2012: € 121.2 MIL. • 2013: € 121.3 MIL. • 2014: € 126.9 MIL. • 2015: € 146.4 MIL. • 2016: € 163.8 MIL.

2017: € 168.5 MIL. • 2018: € 157.2 MIL. • 2019: € 141.0 MIL.

These revenues (net of intercompany transactions) were generated by the following companies and/or brands:

• CERAMICA DEL CONCA • PASTORELLI • CERAMICA FAETANO (Rep. San Marino)

• DEL CONCA USA

INTERNATIONALISATION: SAN MARINO (CERAMICA FAETANO SPA), USA (DEL CONCA USA, INC.)

EXPORTS: 83%

EMPLOYEES: 556

CERAMICHE RICCHETTI SPA GROUP € 104.5 million


2010: € 196.7 MIL. • 2011: € 190.5 MIL. • 2012: € 188.6 MIL. • 2013: € 184.0 MIL. • 2014: € 185.2 MIL. • 2015: € 180.9 MIL. • 2016: € 165.2 MIL.

2017: N.D. • 2018: N.D. • 2019: N.D.


• CERDISA • CISA • RICCHETTI

• ROBERTO CAVALLI HOME LUXORY TILES

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ROMANI SPA INDUSTRIE CERAMICHE GROUP € 96.2 million (consolidated)


2010: € 100.3 MIL. • 2011: € 117.0 MIL. • 2012: € 109.2 MIL • 2013: € 102.5 MIL. • 2014: € 101.3 MIL. • 2015: € 102.6 MIL. • 2016: € 103.4 MIL.

2017: € 103.75 MIL. • 2018: € 105.1 MIL. • 2019: € 99.2 MIL.


• SERENISSIMA • CIR • CERCOM

• ISLA TILES • CERASARDA • EXE

PRODUCTION: 5,8 MIL. SQ.M - FLOOR TILE 100%

EXPORTS: 78%

EMPLOYEES: 408

GOLD ART CERAMICA SPA € 87.4 million

Historical: 2017: € 70,7 MIL. • 2018: € 76,4 MIL. • 2019: € 79,5 MIL.


• GOLD ART CERAMICA • ENERGIEKER

PRODUCTION: 8,9 MIL. SQ.M - FLOOR TILE 80% - WALL TILE 20%

EXPORTS: 55,5%

EMPLOYEES: 310

NOTES:

In 2020, Gold Art completed its acquisition of a 100% shareholding in Winter Spa, based in Maranello (in the Italian province of Modena) and brought its logistics centre on-stream to support the Pavullo production facilities. In 2021, the company started work on expanding its production sites for the production of a new SACMI Continua+ line for large formats, which is due to come on-stream in Spring 2022.

VICTORIA PLC ITALIA € 92.0 million

2019: € 40.5 MIL.


• ASCOT EVERYTILE • DOM DESIGN LAB • SERRA CERAMICHE

PRODUCTION: 16.2 MIL. SQ.M - FLOOR TILE 92%, WALL TILE 8%

EXPORTS: 80%

EMPLOYEES: 320

NOTES:On March 2020 Group Victoria PLC Italia, who had previously purchased Serra Ceramiche, acquired Ascot and Dom Ceramiche. On 21 April 2021 Victoria PLC Italia acquired also Ceramiche Colli and Ceramiche Santa Maria (article on page 32)

ITALGRANITI GROUP SPA € 81.1 million

Historical: 2011: € 81.1 MIL. • 2012: € 77.4 MIL. • 2013: € 68.7 MIL. • 2014: € 73.3 MIL. 2015: € 71.8 MIL. • 2016: € 79.0 MIL. • 2017: € 81.6 MIL.

2018: € 80.4 MIL. • 2019: € 82.6 MIL.


• ITALGRANITI • IMPRONTA • ITALSTONE


EXPORTS: 75%

EMPLOYEES: 231

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FINCIBEC SPA € 77.2 million (consolidated)

Historical: 2003: € 93.8 MIL. • 2004: € 98.8 MIL. • 2005: € 96.8 MIL • 2006: € 100.2 MIL. 2007: € 99.8 MIL. • 2008: € 85.2 MIL. • 2009: € 68.0 MIL.

2010: € 70.8 MIL. 2011: € 70.6 MIL. • 2012: € 67.3 MIL. • 2013: € 69.0 MIL. • 2014: € 71.5 MIL. • 2015: € 71.5 MIL. • 2016: € 77.4 MIL. • 2017: € 81.3 MIL.

2018: € 81.2 MIL. • 2019: € 79.0 MIL.


• MONOCIBEC • CENTURY • NAXOS

• FINCIBEC • OVER FINCIBEC

PRODUCTION: 4.7 MIL. SQ.M - FLOOR TILE 82% - WALL TILE 18%

EXPORTS: 83%

EMPLOYEES: 381

COEM SPA € 71.4 million



2018: € 73.1 MIL. • 2019: € 72.3 MIL.


• CERAMICHE COEM • CERAMICA FIORANESE


EXPORTS: 76%

EMPLOYEES: 273

NOTES:Investments are still being made in plant upgrades with a view to increasing and improving production and customer service. Production also includes 79,000 sq.m of body to be glazed.

INDUSTRIE CERAMICHE PIEMME SPA € 74.7 million


2015: € 96.3 MIL. 2016: € 104.0 MIL. • 2017: € 104.0 MIL. • 2018: € 98.1 MIL. • 2019: € 94.3 MIL.


• CERAMICHE PIEMME


EXPORTS: 85%

EMPLOYEES: 324

NOTES:Ceramiche Piemme reorganised its corporate governance and started restructuring its production. The company also established an industrial plan for 2021-2025 that includes investments in its products, processes and sales network.

CERAMICHE CCV CASTELVETRO SPA € 68.5 million


2010: € 42.8 MIL. • 2011: € 41.6 MIL. • 2012: € 40.0 MIL. • 2013: € 40.3 MIL. • 2014: € 51.0 MIL. • 2015: € 56.7 MIL. • 2016: € 60.2 MIL. • 2017: N.D.

2018: N.D. • 2019: N.D.


• CERAMICHE CCV CASTELVETRO


EXPORTS: 76%

EMPLOYEES: 205

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TUSCANIA SPA € 56.6 million (consolidated)

Historical: 2017: € 45.6 MIL. • 2018: € 44.7 MIL. • 2019: € 55.7 MIL.


• TUSCANIA CERAMICHE SPA • IL CAVALLINO CERAMICA ARTISTICA SPA


EXPORTS: 45%

EMPLOYEES: 249

NOVABELL SPA CER. ITALIANE € 61.1 million

Historical: 2003: € 41.1 MIL. • 2004: € 44.3 MIL. • 2005: € 45.6 MIL. • 2006: € 47.0 MIL. 2007: € 48.0 MIL. • 2008: € 46.0 MIL. • 2009: € 39.0 MIL. • 2010: €

41.5 MIL. 2011: € 41.5 MIL. • 2012: € 44.5 MIL. • 2013: € 50.0 MIL. • 2014: € 49.1 MIL. • 2015: € 51.9 MIL. • 2016: € 52.5 MIL. • 2017: € 51.0 MIL.

2018: € 52.0MIL. • 2019: € 54.0 MIL.


• NOVABELL • ABITA • STONE CREEK


EXPORTS: 89%

EMPLOYEES: 194

CERAMICA FONDOVALLE SPA € 28.5 million (consolidated)

Historical: 2010: € 17.3 MIL. • 2011: € 19.1 MIL. • 2012: € 19.9 MIL. • 2013: € 21.4 MIL. 2014: € 22.0 MIL. • 2015: € 24.3 MIL. • 2016: € 30.1 MIL. • 2017: € 27.1 MIL.

2018: € 31.1 MIL. • 2019: € 27.1 MIL.


• FONDOVALLE • MY TOP

PRODUCTION: 773.980 MQ - FLOOR TILE 100%

EXPORTS: 70.5%

EMPLOYEES: 105

POLIS MANIFATTURE CERAMICHE SPA € 67.5 million (consolidated)



2018: € 61.5 MIL. • 2019: € 66.3 MIL.


EXPORTS: 59%

EMPLOYEES: 287

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ALTAECO SPA € 21.7 million



2018: € 27.9 MIL. • 2019: € 27.1 MIL.


• CERAMICA VOGUE • CERAMICA APPIANI • CERAMICA BARDELLI

PRODUCTION: 862,990 MQ

EMPLOYEES: 256

SICHENIA CERAMICHEGROUP € 26.2 million


2010: € 53.0 MIL. 2011: € 51.7 MIL. • 2012: € 40.6 MIL. • 2013: € 32.2 MIL. • 2014: € 26.9 MIL. • 2015: € 28.5 MIL. • 2016: € 38.7 MIL. • 2017: € 37.1 MIL..

2018: € 29.0 MIL. • 2019: € 26.5 MIL.


• SICHENIA

PRODUCTION: 2.6 MIL. SQ.M - FLOOR TILE 95%, WALL TILE 5%

EXPORTS: 78%

EMPLOYEES: 155

ADVERTISER’S LISTAva....................................................................1st two-sided insert

Abk Group .............................................................................................6

Ariana .....................................................................................................77

Ascot .......................................................................................................67

Cevisama ...........................................................................................125

Cortag .....................................................................................................11

DOM ........................................................................................................35

DR Tecnica .........................................................................................93

Eco Design ......................................................................................... 81

Elios .........................................................................................................79

Gruppo Romani ..............................................................................75

Grupo Halcon ...................................................................................85

Impertek................................................................................................13

Italgraniti ..............................................................................................83

Kajaria Ceramics .......................................................................... 113

La Fabbrica ........................................................................................87

Lasselsberger Rako .......................................................................3

Mapei.............................................................2nd two-sided insert

Marocchi ........................................................................................... 105

Montolit .................................................................................................89

Original Parquet .............................................................................72

Piemme ...................................................................................................4

Pietre d’Arredo ..............................................................................128

Profilpas ........................................................... inside back cover

Progress Profile ..........................................inside front cover

Raimondi ..............................................................................................59

Rak Ceramics ....................................................................................17

Rondine ................................................................................................75

Saxa Grestone ..................................................................................51

Schlüter Systems .....................................................back cover

Seramiksan .....................................................................................109

Top Cer ............................................................................................... 107

Turkish Ceramics Federation .............................................119

VitrA Tiles .............................................................................................. .2

Vallelunga ...............................................................................................1

www.surfacesinternational.com

NOW ONLINE

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Mohawk Industries is continuing its excellent performance. After a record-breaking first quarter of 2021 (sales of $2.67 billion, up 16.8% on 2020 and net earnings

of $237 million), the company celebrated even better results in Q2.Net sales for the second quarter of 2021 were $3.0 billion, up 44% as reported and 38% on a constant

currency and days basis, while net earnings reached $336 million. As a result of this sustained growth, the US flooring group posted net sales of $5.6 billion for the first half

M O H AWK I N D U ST R I E S S E T S N EW R E CO R D S

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Milena Bernardi - [email protected]

During the second quarter, most Mohawk manufactur-ing units ran near capacity or were limited by materi-al supply and labour availability. The group companies are responding to rising material, energy and transpor-tation costs by increasing product prices and optimiz-ing manufacturing and logistics. All of the group’s Business Units grew sub-stantially at a global level, capitalising on the strong growth in the real estate mar-ket and building renovations in both the housing and commercial segments. Due to higher demand, inventory levels remain low and the group has “approved new capital invest-ments of approximately $650 million to increase our production with most taking 12 to 18 months to imple-ment”, said Jeff Lorberbaum, chairman and CEO of the Group. Between April and June, the Flooring Rest of the World and Flooring North America segments (which produce and sell carpets, laminate, wood, stone and vinyl) reported respectively 68% and 35% increases in sales compared to the second quarter of 2020.The Global Ceramic Segment also reported excellent results. Quarterly sales reached $1,039.5 million (up 38% on 2020), bringing net sales for the first six months of the year to almost $2 billion ($1,969.4 million, up 23% on H1 2020), accounting for 35% of consolidated group sales.

All ceramic segment operations reported an increase in sales in both the residential and commercial chan-nels. The U.S. ceramic business is strengthening, and the product mix is being improved with new shapes, siz-es and surface structures, while bathroom and kitchen countertop sales are growing steadily.

The ceramic businesses in Mexico and Brazil continue to be very strong with res-idential business in both regions at histor-ically high levels. However, they contin-ue to be limited by capacity constraints, a problem that Mohawk has addressed by

initiating new investments. The group’s European ce-ramic business delivered strong sales and profitability thanks to greater productivity, an improved product mix and higher prices. Here too, the group has initiated ex-pansion projects aimed at supporting sales of high-end collections (premium slabs, small sizes, outdoor and an-tibacterial collections) and due for completion in 2022. In response to continued sales growth in Russia, par-ticularly in new construction projects and direct sales to customers through the 370 Kerama-Marazzi stores, the group has initiated expansion plans that are expected to be completed in the second half of next year.“In the third period, we expect our strong sales to con-tinue, with typical seasonal slowing from the second quarter,” said Lorberbaum. “Longer term, housing sales and remodeling are expected to remain at a high level

Jeff LorberbaumJeff Lorberbaum

“In the quarter, we generated the highest

quarterly sales of any period in our

company’s history. Our second quarter

results were significantly stronger

than we had anticipated across all our

businesses, and our operating margin

expanded to its highest level in the last

four years. The actions we have taken to

simplify our product offering, enhance

our productivity and restructure our

costs are benefiting our results”


3 1


of 2021 (up 30% versus 2020) and net earnings of $573 million compared to the $62 million of the equivalent period in 2020.

EXPORTS21.5%

U.S. Ceramic Carpet and Rugs LVT / Sheet Vinyl Laminate Countertops

Mexico Ceramic

BrazilCeramic Laminate (JV)

Europe Ceramic LVT / Sheet Vinyl Laminate Carpet Tile

Canada Ceramic Carpet Rugs Distribution

India Wood/Laminate (JV) Distribution

New ZealandCarpet Hard Surface Dist.

AustraliaCarpet Hard Surface Dist.

MalaysiaWood

Russia Ceramic Laminate Sheet Vinyl

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Commercial

SHAREHOLDER INFORMATIONCORPORATE HEADQUARTERSP.O. Box 12069160 South Industrial BoulevardCalhoun, Georgia 30703(706) 624-2246

INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRMKPMG LLPAtlanta, Georgia

CORPORATE COUNSELAlston & Bird LLPAtlanta, Georgia

TRANSFER AGENT AND REGISTRARAmerican Stock Transfer and Trust Company, LLC6201 15th Avenue Brooklyn, New York 11219(972) 764-2720

PUBLICATIONSThe Company’s Annual Report, Proxy Statement, Form 8-K, 10-K and 10-Q reports are available without charge and can be ordered via our stockholder communications service at (706) 624-2337 or via the Internet at mohawkind.com under Investors. Written requests should be sent to Kenneth Huelskamp at the Company’sheadquarters address above.

PRODUCT INQUIRIESFor more information about Mohawk’sproducts, visit our websites: mohawkflooring.comdaltile.comivcfloors.commarazzigroup.compergo.comunilin.comquick-step.comgodfreyhirst.comeliane.com

INVESTOR/ANALYST CONTACTFor additional information about Mohawk, please contact Kenneth Huelskamp, VP of Investor Relations at (706) 624-2337 or at the Company’s headquarters address.

ANNUAL MEETING OF STOCKHOLDERSThe Annual Meeting of Stockholders of Mohawk Industries, Inc. will be held at the time and location specified in our Notice of Annual Meeting of Stockholders for 2020.

COMPANY STOCKMohawk’s common stock is traded onthe New York Stock Exchange under the symbol MHK.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITYMohawk is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer committed to attracting a diverse pool of applicants and sustaining an inclusive workforce.

NYSE AFFIRMATION CERTIFICATIONSAs a listed company with the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”), Mohawk is subject to certain Corporate Governance standards as required by the NYSE and/or the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). Among other requirements, Mohawk’s CEO, as required by Section 303A.12(a) of the NYSE Listing Company Manual, must certify to the NYSE each year whether or not he is aware of any violations by the Company of NYSE Corporate Governance listing standards as of the date of the certification. On June 17, 2019, Mohawk’s CEO Jeffrey S. Lorberbaum submitted such a certification to the NYSE which stated that he was not aware of any violation by Mohawk of the NYSE Corporate Governance listing standards.

The Company has filed the certifications of its Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer required by Section 302 of Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 as an exhibit to the Company’s Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019.

Stock Performance Graph The following is a line graph comparing the yearly change in the Company’s cumulative total stockholder returns to those of the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index and a group of peer issuers beginning on December 31, 2014 and ending on December 31, 2019.The peer group includes the following companies: Armstrong Flooring, Inc.; Dixie Group, Inc.; Interface, Inc.; Leggett & Platt, Inc.; MASCO Corporation and Stanley Black & Decker. Total returnvalues were calculated based on cumulative total return, assuming the value of the investment in the Company’s Common Stock and in each index on December 31, 2014 was $100 and that all dividends were reinvested. The Company is not included in the peer group because managementbelieves that, by excluding the Company, investors will have a more accurate view of the Company’s performance relative to peer companies.

Design by Corporate Reports Inc., Atlanta, GA www.cricommunications.com

$250

$200

$150

$100

$ 50

02014 2015 2016 2017 20192018

$183.73

$87.78

$173.86

• Mohawk Industries, Inc. • S&P 500 Index — Total Returns • Peer Group

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as rent deferment expires and investments in commer-cial projects continue to strengthen. We are expanding our operations and introducing new innovations to max-

imize our results. Our balance sheet is strong, and we are exploring additional internal and acquisition oppor-tunities.” ✕

HALF-YEAR RESULTS OF MOHAWK INDUSTRIES’ BUSINESS UNITS

Business UnitNet sales H1 2021

(USD x 000)% on total

Net sales H1 2020(USD x 000)

% var.2021/2020

Global Ceramic 1,969,374 35.0% 1,601,785 +23.0%

Flooring North America 2,050,439 36.5% 1,648,418 +24.4%

Flooring Rest of the World 1,603,046 28.5% 1,085,360 +47,7%

Consolidated net sales 5,622,859 100.0% 4,335,563 +29.7%

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The fact that Victoria PLC did not commence operations in the ceramic tile sector until four years ago but is now one of the world’s top players just goes to show how much

the British flooring group – which is listed on the London Stock Exchange with a capitalisation of 1.5 billion euros – believes in the potential and future of tile.

The group’s vertiginous growth began in 2017 with the acquisition of Italian tile producer Ceramica Serra. This was followed by Keraben, Ibero and Saloni in

T H E R I S E O F VI CTO R I A PLC

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Paola Giacomini - [email protected]

Victoria PLC’s ceramic segment acquisitions are part of a strategy of expanding capacity while extending its product and brand portfolio. The acquisition of Colli and Santa Maria, a 35 mil-lion euro investment funded from the company’s existing resources, achieves both these aims. Despite investments to increase productivity, additional capacity is needed because the group’s Italian plants struggle to meet the sharp growth in orders without outsourcing a portion of production. Additional value will be gen-erated by the complementary nature of the acquired brands: Vallelunga for the high-end segment (polished and satin-finished marble and cold-decorated slabs); Colli, an acquisition that strengthens the group’s posi-tion in the large-scale retail trade already established with Ceramiche Serra; and Casabella, a brand that will

complement Capri in the mid-range segment. The acquisition of Colli and Santa Maria will bring the production capacity of the Italian plants to 25 million sqm/year and generate additional revenues of around

50 million euros. Moreover, as Victoria’s board ex-plained, it will add no less than 10 million euros of EBITDA in the first year, a figure that will increase in

2022 as the group insources tile production that is cur-rently outsourced due to lack of capacity. Alongside its acquisition-based growth policy in the ceramic tile sector, the flooring multinational has con-tinued to make major investments in organic growth. During these 4 years, the group has invested tens of millions of euros in its tile facilities with the aim of im-proving productivity, quality, logistics and service. This is particularly evident in the case of Ascot, where the

Ascot “Urbanica”Ascot “Urbanica”


3 3


Spain, then again in Italy by Ceramiche Ascot and Keradom in 2020, and most recently by Ceramiche Colli (Colli,

Vallelunga and Casabella brands) and Ceramiche Santa Maria (Santa Maria and Capri brands) on 21 April this year.

process of modernising the pol-ishing department has just been completed and which is now run-ning at a steady profit after just one year. Further confirmation is provided by the plan to make 15 million euros of new investments in Italy in 2021-2022, much of which will be focused on organ-ic growth.

THE GROUP’S RESULTS

Victoria PLC is an industrial com-pany with production and sales activities spanning a range of flooring segments (carpet, LVT, underlay and accessories), around 3,500 employ-ees and more than 20 factories in the UK, Europe, Australia and the United States.The financial year ending 3 April 2021 was its eighth consecutive year of growth despite the difficulties caused by the pandemic. The group’s consolidat-ed net revenue reached £662.3 million, up 6.6% on the previous year (+7.4% at constant exchange rates), while EBITDA increased to £127.4 million and EBITDA margin to 19.2%. Geoff Wilding, Executive Chairman of Victoria PLC commented: “I want to pay credit to all Victoria’s management team, who, when it really mattered, delivered an extraordinary outcome for shareholders in a challenging opera-tional environment”.

For the first time ever, ceramic tile segment rev-enues exceeded those of the group’s core busi-ness of soft flooring in Europe. Of the group’s three operating divisions, UK & Europe Ceramic Tiles – which includes all tile segment operations in Italy and Spain – was the one with the biggest increase in revenue, up 15.8% to £282.4 million or 42.6% of

The standout performance was that

of Victoria Italia, which passed the 100

million euro revenue mark and following

the acquisitions of Colli and Santa Maria

is now heading for 150 million euros.

Although the outbreak of the pandemic

delayed the full integration of Ascot by

several months following the acquisi-

tion in March 2020, revenues generated

in Italy grew by 146% in 12 months, from

£34.6 million to £85.2 million due to the

acquisition of major new customers and

the penetration of new markets, especial-

ly in Eastern Europe and North America.

Vallelunga “Terreae”Vallelunga “Terreae”

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consolidated group revenue. Keradom, acquired in December 2020, contributed to the business unit’s balance sheet for a period of four months. The UK & Europe Soft Flooring division, which in-cludes operations in the carpet, underlay, LVT, artificial grass and accessories segments in the UK, Ireland, the Netherlands and Belgium, posted only slightly lower revenues at £280.4 million (down 0.6% on the previous year), equivalent to 42.3% of the total. The Australia BU also operates in the soft flooring segment and report-ed sales of £99.6 million.Moreover, the ceramic tile division is the one that gen-erated the highest margins in the last financial year, despite the 7.7% decline in EBITDA caused by the pro forma effects of the acquisitions of Ibero, Ascot and Keradom. In any case, EBITDA margin stood at 22.3% compared to the soft flooring division’s 17.5%. The standout performance was that of Victoria Ita-lia, which passed the 100 million euro revenue mark and following the acquisitions of Colli and Santa Ma-ria is now heading for 150 million euros. Although the outbreak of the pandemic delayed the full integration of Ascot by several months following the acquisition in March 2020, revenues generated in Italy grew by 146% in 12 months, from £34.6 million to £85.2 million

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due to the acquisition of major new customers and the penetration of new markets, especially in Eastern Eu-rope and North America. Although larger in size than the Italian operations, the Spanish business did not perform as well. Revenues declined by 5.8% to £197.2 million (approximately €230 million) due to a difficult first half of the year com-pounded by insufficient inventory, followed by sec-ond-half recovery that has continued into the current financial year.

THE AIM: LONG-TERM GROWTH

Although it is a listed company and is consequently attentive to the financial aspects of its business, “Vic-toria is an industrial enterprise operating in the floor-ing business, not a financial investor, and is interest-ed in the long-term development of the sector”, ex-plained the group’s CEO, Philippe Hamers. “We have very specific plans to grow our presence in the ceram-ics sector and are currently looking at several oppor-tunities, some of them in Italy. We are especially inter-ested in Italy, as well as in Spain, because the quality and style of ceramic products manufactured here are amongst the best in the world.” ✕

Dom “Kado”Dom “Kado”

Dom “Kado”Dom “Kado”

A Brand of:A Brand of:domceramiche.it


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EnErgiEKEr prEsEnts “pAtAgOniA” And “EtErnAL BLUE” tiLEs

EnergieKer presents

the new “Patagonia”

marble effect inspired

by the most precious

South-American caves.

The polished-surface

series offers a wide

range of options: sizes

cm 60x120 and 120x120

with 9 mm thickness

represents the ide-

al choice both for floors

and tiles.

The 6-mm cm 120x270

and the 12-mm cm

163x324 entailed in EK-

TREME and EKTREME

TOP SOLUTION brands

provide great, elegant

solutions for furnishing

accessories and tops.

Moreover, the compa-

ny shows at Cersaie the

new Eternal Blue: a bold

marble-effect tile which

perfectly embodies the

latest trends of a chic

yet never predictable

style. Its bluish shades

give a touch of calm and

serenity to the most inti-

mate environments.

Eternal Blue comes ei-

ther in matt and pol-

ished finish, in Book-

Match version and in

sizes cm 60x120,cm

120x120 and cm 120x270.

EnergieKer products

combine the conveni-

ence of the porcelained

stoneware and a pre-

cious, elegant aesthetic

appeal.

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www.energieker.it

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ItalgranItI at MIlano DesIgn Week 2021

Italgraniti’s Milan Flag-

ship Store at 21, Via Statu-

to, in the heart of the Bre-

ra Design District, again

proved to be a focal point

for design professionals

during the long-awaited Mi-

lano Design Week 2021 (4-

10 September), thanks to a

new display concept spe-

cifically developed for the

occasion by the architects

Andrea Parisio and Gi-

useppe Pezzano.

The new display system

was designed around two

key principles: “dwell-

ing” among the full poten-

tial of ceramic and explor-

ing that potential by means

of an extensive library of

formats, colours and tex-

tures. Redeveloped to wel-

come the Fuorisalone au-

dience into an engaging

experience, the environ-

ment drew inspiration from

the interior of a houseful of

all-Italian classics, where

light, filtered by a colon-

nade, punctuated the shad-

ows to showcase the ma-

terial and textural effects

of the large-format ceram-

ic panels from the Silver

Grain collection. The same

large-format panels were

also used as coverings for

the monumental kitchen,

which reflected a ration-

alist style and was the un-

disputed star of the show-

room. Beyond the curtain

that marked out the con-

fines of the “stage”, like in

a theatre, visiting architects

and designers also had the

opportunity to explore and

examine the ceramic ma-

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terials, and put togeth-

er their own compositions

with them, while finding out

more about the brand’s lat-

est developments.

The icing on the cake of this

Flagship Store is its perma-

nent material library, which

enables professionals to in-

teract with the full range

of Italgraniti coverings, and

study their various iterations

within the framework of a

truly hands-on experience.

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Having begun research in 2013 to develop patented, sustainable, por-celain paving made from up to 30% of waste-derived agglomerate, Saxa started production in Anagni in 2017. What has happened since then?

Francesco Borgomeo: Time has passed so quickly! We’ve put years of intensive research, development and industrialisation into a concept whose strategic value everybody appreciates today. I had the

idea for a “Circular Factory”, a factory that could make use of the circular economy, based on the great manufac-turing experience of central-southern Italy some eight years ago.I knew we could make porcelain pav-

INTERVIEW WITH FRANCESCO BORGOMEO,

CHAIRMAN OF SAXA GROUP

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ing from recycled raw materials and solid urban waste, using electrical energy from renew-able sources and biogas from organic waste to heat our kilns. At the time, though, it seemed

too revolutionary, and everything was against it – in-cluding the regulations. Today the same idea underpins the Italian and European Recovery and Resilience Plan.

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Tile International: Gruppo Saxa has adopted the ambitious target of re-employing all 500 of the ital-ian workers from the plants in Anagni (ex Marazzi), Gualdo Tadino (ex-Tagina), Spilamberto (ex-Cen-tro Impasti Ceramici) and Roccasecca (ex-Ideal Standard). Given the long-lasting impact of the pandemic, how are things going?F. Borgomeo: 80% of our people are in full time work. Anagni, Gualdo Tadino and Spilamberto are working 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.This has given us tremendous satisfaction be-cause communities are coming back to life, facto-ries are re-opening, trucks are setting off for des-tinations all over the world and everybody is start-ing to smile again. I can’t tell you how much this means to me. We are working hard to finish the Roccasecca plant, which is presently at about 35/40% capacity, but when it is ready, we shall have a truly unique

factory focused on green innovation, with prod-ucts and processes the whole world will want to emulate.Tile International: How have you managed to fund such growth, in terms of corporate finance?F. Borgomeo: My plan to build the world’s first fac-tory for green urban paving for public procurement was backed by a group of investors. Our paving was to be made from recycled ma-terials in processes compatible with the circular economy – in other words we were going to recy-cle urban or community waste.We issued a corporate bond that attracted 120 mil-lion euros for R&D and for the construction of plant authorised to process 130,000 tons of incinerator ash for use in our patented bodies.After an extended Due Diligence process, the Mi-lano Brescia A2A municipal utility, the leading cir-cular economy player in Italy, acquired a 27.7% share in Saxa. Today, between our old and new

Francesco BorgomeoFrancesco Borgomeo

Francesco Borgomeo, aged 54, a philosophy graduate from La Sapienza University and the Gregorian University in Rome, began his career at Giuseppe De Rita’s CENSIS and at CNEL. At the age of 29, he took over Irses, the research institute founded by his father Luca, and transformed it into a corporate consulting and re-engineering company, acquiring prestigious clients like Enel, Eni, Wind, IBM, GSK and HP, and eventually attracting Nomisma to take a stake in it. At 40, Borgomeo abandoned consulting to become an entrepreneur himself, successfully buying and selling various companies. He then took on the challenge of turning around Italy’s ceramic industry, forming Saxa and taking over Marazzi Sud, Ideal Standard and Tagina.“I’ve got clay in my veins,” Borgomeo reminds us. Fornaci LDM in Formia was founded by his great-grandfather back in 1890 and remained one of the largest brick and roof tile works in central-southern Italy for almost a century.Borgomeo is currently president of the Cassino-Gaeta Industrial Association and holds the Order of Merit of the Republic of Italy.

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shareholders, we are gearing up for a 60 million in-crease in capital.Tile International: You are already famous for your Sanpietrini ceramic cobble stones (in thicknesses of 5 or 6.5 cm), and you are developing thick and extra-thick versions of Grestone.Can you tell us something about this?F. Borgomeo: We began with very clear ideas, even about the market for these products: only outdoor pav-ing and only extra-thick (we were the first to offer 3 cm at Cersaie, back in 2017), and only contract. This proved the right choice, since we have become market leaders in thicknesses from 3 cm up, which have proved popular with customers all over the world. We have turned ceramic cobblestones into a popular paving material and today, through Grestone, we are raising awareness that this product is destined to be the urban paving material of the future, in place of stone and concrete.

After all, stone is becoming increasingly rare in terms of availability, quality and cost. Thanks to a new, green-er mindset, we no longer think it right to dynamite whole mountains for raw material.Concrete, the only possible alternative, is not even re-motely comparable to ceramic in its technical proper-ties, nor in appearance or durability. Everybody is starting to accept this now, thanks to the amazing work put in by our sales team, headed by An-drea Petrillo.Tile International: Can your factories also supply tai-lor-made products for special purposes like the resto-ration of historic town centres?F. Borgomeo: Certainly! Thanks to the innovative pro-cesses used to produce our paving, we can replicate almost any type of stone on the market. And because stone is getting more precious and more difficult to source, for the reasons we just mentioned, it is becom-ing essential for us to offer products that are not on-

4 3


ly long-lasting, but satisfy our customers’ appearance needs too. Our products are the perfect blend of tra-dition and technology. For urban restoration projects, we can offer paving blocks made by a special, patent-ed process that allows us to colour the body directly. Our Sanpietrini can be white (because the standard body is white in any case) for pedestrian crossings, blue for parking meter areas, yellow for disabled parking ar-eas or even pink for parking places reserved for preg-nant women. This means our historic town centres can return to life with high-performance products that look exactly like their traditional counterparts, and town councils can save money by having road mark-ings that are always perfectly clear without having to continuously re-paint zebra crossings.Tile International: Who are your main customers, and how do you reach them?F. Borgomeo: Our main customers

are people who believed in our project from the start and have followed developments ever since. More than customers, many of them have become strate-gic partners and often give us new ideas for product or process innovation. Bear in mind that our first five cus-tomers account for over 50% of our turnover and regu-larly help increase our annual sales. Tile International: What about exports?F. Borgomeo: Exports are a key driver of growth for us. Back in 2019, Italy accounted for almost 50% of turnover. Now, in 2021, that’s dropped to under 40%. Our main export markets are Northern Europe and the United States, who are growing at an impressive

rate. Green transition and environ-mental protection were big issues abroad well before they came to the fore here in Italy. With the new Na-tional Recovery and Resilience Plan, though, we hope that Italy too will soon join the green revolution.

✕

My plan to build the world’s first

factory for green urban paving for

public procurement was backed by a

group of investors. Our paving was

to be made from recycled materials

in processes compatible with the

circular economy – in other words

we were going to recycle urban or

community waste.

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Pictures: “Cyberwall”, installation created with Active Surfaces® curated by Alessandro Melis, on display at the Italian Pavilion, Venice Architecture Biennale 2021

IrIs CeramICa Group: aCtIve surfaCes® help CeramICs to break a new reCord

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Iris Ceramica Group’s Active Surfaces® have achieved yet

another major result: they are able to destroy over 99% of

the bacteria they come into contact with in just 30 min-

utes in the dark, demonstrating their powerful antibacterial

power even in the absence of light.

Tests directly compared the Active Surfaces® materials

with a non-treated ceramic sample, to prove how this prop-

erty is effective in just a very short time.

The ISO 22196 standard protocol requires that both surfac-

es be placed in contact with a known quantity of bacteria,

in this specific case the Escherichia Coli strain, and then be

left in the dark for 24 hours.

However, it is important to underline how fundamental it

is for antibacterial ceramic surfaces to demonstrate their

efficacy in much less than 24 hours, particularly in certain

environments such as hospitals, care homes, schools and

nurseries, where hygiene is a priority.

For this reason, the Iris Ceramica Group has aimed to re-

duce the testing times to see how Active Surfaces® are

able to really protect people in the places they are used.

The studies conducted began with increasingly shorter in-

tervals, from 8 to 4 and then to 2 hours, finally reaching 30

minutes. These data offer scientific proof of the continu-

ous research into excellence with Active Surfaces®, which,

in 30 minutes in the dark, have demonstrated antibacterial

efficacy of over 99%.

This clear and unambiguous result bears witness to the

special features of Active Surfaces®. A material that, since

2009, when it was first produced, has been the focus of

continuous studies and research, expressing all the poten-

tial of technical ceramics and making them a functional ma-

terial with exclusive mechanical, electrical, thermal and bi-

ochemical properties, the perfect blend of earth, fire and

water.

The remarkable properties of Active Surfaces® were ob-

tained using an innovative industrial process that com-

bines titanium dioxide with silver, a technology patented

by the Iris Ceramica Group after a long and scrupulous sci-

entific research project in partnership with the Department

of Chemistry at the University of Milan.

Active Surfaces® ceramics perform their tasks with the ut-

most precision, and today are often an outstanding solu-

tion for all the challenges of contemporary living which

cannot be managed using conventional materials. These

eco-active ceramic materials have antibacterial, antiviral

(including anti-Covid19), anti-pollution, anti-odour and

self-cleaning properties, with quality tested according to

international ISO standards.

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Frescopunk was founded at the end of 2019 by a small team of three innova-tive people, armed with laptops.The interesting thing is that none of

the three had previously worked in the porcelain stoneware industry, or even had anything to do with wall and floor coverings.

Two of them had been working for renowned, international advertising agencies, as a creative director and as a consultant, and one of them is

THE “FRESCOPUNK” SIDE OF CERAMIC TILES

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an architect. The storytelling about the company continues with great style ideas, a digital-based strategy of distribution and a strong brand

identity. To know more about the eclectic proposals and goals of Frescopunk we talked with CEO and founder Stephan Siegwart.

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Tile International: How did the company’s ad-venture start?Stephan Siegwart: I have been investing in re-al estate for a few years now and in the course of renovating a multi-family house, I came across ce-ment tiles, which are popular again today.I was immediately hooked by the fascinating col-ours and the latest design trends of this quite ra-re products. And I realized, that not only special materials such as wood or natural stone, but also graphic design in combination with special col-ours can give a room its unique character. And thus, the idea for Frescopunk was born. Tile International: With what assumptions did you realize this idea?Stephan Siegwart: It is one thing to develop a convincing design concept, but then to transfer it to a real product with technically superior as-pects, that’s in a completely different league.

The robustness and versatility of grès porcelain stoneware convinced us right from the start. Almost more important: there are endless pos-sibilities for transferring colours and designs to the unfired material. We were surprised to find out, that a large part of the market uses these pos-sibilities rather to imitate natural surfaces. That was never our goal, we wanted to offer exclu-sively graphic designs from the very beginning. Tile International: But how do you start when you want to evaluate production possibilities in a market you don’t know and have no contacts in?S. Siegwart: We were very lucky! Our very first in-quiry went to the ACIMAC (Associazione Costrut-tori Italiani Macchine Attrezzature per Ceramica). They immediately put a very skilled industry-ex-pert at our side who, together with us, analyzed our needs, evaluated a list of suitable produc-ers and arranged the meetings with these com-

Stephan SiegwartStephan Siegwart

“We came from, literally, from nothing.

The way that this company really started was

just an idea.

And we are very proud of what we have

achieved so far. It is pure passion, every day is

something new, something we have never done

before. But when you love what you do, you

don’t really work a day in your life.

Even hard work is fun.

Our greatest reward is when our customers

experience a moment of joy, every day when

they see our beautiful products in their

rooms.”

www.frescopunk.comwww.frescopunk.com

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panies for us. This was back in September 2019 during Cersaie fair in Bologna. Tile International: what’s the main design concept of Frescopunk?S. Siegwart: Two different directions shape the design concept of Frescopunk. They are completely different and both are independent and function of their own. At first glance, they have nothing to do with each oth-er. But when you start to combine them, it becomes magic.One of these two design directions consists of repet-itive patterns, as is typical for tiles. Here we aim for a very reduced, minimalistic design. But it is a tightrope walk between too much and too little design. Mak-ing a simple design distinctive can take a long time to achieve. Sometimes even more challenging than a more complicated design. Anything that is wrong will be spotted right away. So everything must be perfect. In these designs we use just two colours, which - in

addition - are only subtly different from each other. The creative effect arises strongly from the special play of light of these colours. Intense testing was car-ried out to develop these colours for grès porcelain stoneware. A completely different story are the Frescos. They pick up a decorative tradition for walls and ceil-ings from previous traditions. But now it is catapult-ed into the 21st century. Frescos just got punked, “fres-copunked”. According to contemporary design per-ceptions, not always the entire wall has to be cov-ered by a fresco. Rather, individual accents can be set with larger or smaller frescos. This becomes particu-larly exciting with the combination of our Tiles and our Frescos. They both are compatible in terms of col-ours and sizes and this results in endless possibilities of combination. Tile International: In regard, which sizes do you offer for your collections of tiles?

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S. Siegwart: Our Tiles collection is offered in two siz-es: 60x60 cm (59,4x59,4 cm) and 60x120 cm (59,4 x 119 cm).Our Frescos collection is offered for walls from the smallest single tile Fresco in 60x60 cm up to 180x360 cm, which is a puzzle of 9 tiles of 60x120 cm.Our Frescos for pools are offered in 480x840 cm (fit-ting standard pools of 4x8 m), which is a puzzle of 28 tiles of 120x120 cm. Other Fresco sizes can be custom ordered, but it will always be a puzzle of 60x60 cm, 60x120 cm or 120x120 cm tiles.Tile International: Frescopunk means art or just design? S. Siegwart: We do not see our products as art. They are not signed nor numbered, they are produced industrially, and

our intention is a business one. But we are aware, that – as in art – our creations are here to stay. They must please their owner every day, for decades, never get boring. This can only be achieved if the design has substance and is created with scrupulous attention to detail. In this sense we can say we create small artworks.To tell an example: We have this one customer who or-dered all eight frescos that we offer in the smallest size (single tile size). Not to tile them on the floor or wall, but just to collect them. We therefore recommend that our customers who order a Fresco for a wall or a pool, al-so order in addition the same one in single tile size, in

order to keep and collect it. Because once the big Fresco is tiled, it can’t be removed from the wall without de-stroying it.

Two different directions shape the

design concept of Frescopunk. They

are completely different and both

are independent and function of

their own.

At first glance, they have nothing

to do with each other. But when

you start to combine them, it

becomes magic.

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“I like to be inspired by current circumstances, political issues,

daily discussions with friends and family.

My creations come about because precisely these topics are justified

and touch me personally.

The Fresco “DEA” for example, is a strong woman, a goddess, who closes her

eyes to the world, showing us that we should all take a closer look.

We discover her beauty and the many details in this artwork surprise us.

Thus, she is not only contemporary, but timelessly beautiful.

“inspiration exists, but it has to find you working.” Pablo Picasso (1881 - 1973).

Skerikk (Designer, brand director and founder of Frescopunk)

Tile International: who are Frescopunk products made for?S. Siegwart: Our products are characterized by the fact that they are unique, but not dominant. They perfectly match with other materials and colours that are installed in a room. Our products are aimed at architects and property owners who want to set unique accents while keeping the whole picture in mind. We provide a beautiful product and want to inspire ar-chitects and interior designers to unleash their own creativity by placing it the best possible way. We offer luxurious and prestigious products for peo-ple who want something special, knowing that an in-finite amount of creativity and thought has gone into its development.Frescopunk products are characterized by a high rec-ognition value. Anyone who has ever seen one, will immediately recognize a Frescopunk product again. Tile Internation-al: and what about the Frescopunk’s production goals?S. Siegwart: Our tiles are and will re-main niche prod-ucts. It therefore makes no eco-nomic sense for us to invest in our own production facility. We are very hap-py to work with few selected produc-ers who - together

with us - develop and manufacture a product of the highest quality. Made in Italy!I have the utmost respect for all Italian grès porcelain stoneware producers who have built up their big pro-duction facilities and continuously and consistently manufacture beautiful products in high quality. I was thrilled when I first saw a production plant and all the automated processes inside.We are open to any Italian manufacturer who wants to talk to us about a collaboration, be it about produc-tion or design development.Tile International: what distribution strategy have you implemented?S. Siegwart: As a small company that is new to the market, we also have a slightly different approach when it comes to the sales strategy. We focus strongly on online distribution, also through the e-commerce on our website. In addition, we will have regional and country-specific exclusive partners who are integrat-

ed into our online sales strategy. This puts us in a good starting position in many countries. The feedback to our beautiful prod-ucts has been over-whelming since the start and we expect that it will be quite a challenge to meet the demand with our organizational capacity and devel-opment. ✕

Let’s protect the environment. Use GRESTONE.

A natural choice.

Grestone - Grupppo Saxagres S.p.A.Via Osteria della fontana 69 a/b/c/d

Località Selictella - 03012 - Anagni (Fr) - Italia e-mail: [email protected] www.saxagrestone.it

Don’t destroy the mountains to build squares, streets and yards.Use GRESTONE, Urban pavings, the recycled ceramic stone, a porcelain stoneware mix that incorporates up to 30% inert materials from urban waste.

The mountains will be forever grateful to you.

Visit us at Cersaie 2021 - Pad 36 Booth B46

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Palazzo Sambonifacio, an enchanting location in the heart of Padua (Italy), is an ancient 15th century palace a few steps from the city centre, known and

appreciated for its refined rooms and frescoes on the walls, a heritage that has recently been renovated with the aim of offering new buyers luxury apartments.

A H I S T O R I C R E S I D E N C E I N PA D UA

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The building opens into a wonderful internal arcaded courtyard from which a monumental staircase with fresco decoration from the 18th century starts, lead-ing to the main floor. Here, a gallery with grotesque decorated ceilings and large canvases on the walls depicting 18th century architecture and landscapes.The client of one of the apartments required a ren-ovation of the outdoor area, including the terrace of about 60 m2 on the first floor, which required the in-

tervention of Eterno Ivica, Italian company specialized in laying systems and building accessories. For the realization, Eterno Ivica has provided supports for raised floors, to be installed at the base of an ex-ceptional and impressive flooring: natural Istrian stone 3 cm thick, bush-hammered and 55 x 55 cm in size.Over 200 Pedestal New Maxi* in NM2, NM3, NM4 range to allow the surface to support, in addition to the stone plates, also various tubs for plants, flowers


A H I S T O R I C R E S I D E N C E I N PA D UA

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PROJECT INFORMATION:

• PROJECT NAME: Historic complex Palazzo Sambonifacio

• ADDRESS: Via Barbarigo, Padova

• SECTOR: Private construction

• CONTRACTOR: Pegaso Costruzioni

• PLATES SUPPLIER: Marmi e Pietre, Cervarese Santa Croce

(PD)

• INSTALLER: Fratelli Lazzari Sandro e Antonio

• DESIGN STUDIO AND CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT:

Arch. Ferrari & Zollino

• SUPPORTS USED: Eterno Ivica NM2, NM3, NM4

and aromatic herbs.This area has thus become a small jewel, part of a his-toric complex nestled in the streets of the city cen-tre, a further demonstra-tion of the magnificence of “Padua Urbs Picta”.

✕

* ADJUSTABLE PAVING SUPPORT NEW MAXI NM

A wide range of features make Adjustable Paving Support

New Maxi perfect for any kind of raised flooring

applications: the noise-reducing rubber head, the special

adjustment key, a wide range of adjustable heights and the

pre-cut base for wall corner cuts.

Featuring an above average loading capacity and a

reliability that can only be offered by experts in the field

of raised flooring supports, the Adjustable Paving Support

New Maxi is regularly selected and widely appreciated

throughout the worldwide building industry.

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The prestigious Russian firm Vox Architects has built a waiting room inspired by space exploration at the Saratov airport, named after the first man to travel in space.

The interior design of this project reflects the aesthetics of space stations and spaceships as our contemporary culture imagines them. Shades of white and blue dominate this interior

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Humanity’s adventure in space inspired the decor of the 1044 sq.m VIP lounge realized by Vox Architects in 2019 at the Saratov International Airport . Floors and part of vertical claddings (in a logic of total look) have been covered with Laminam finishes I Nat-urali - Bianco Statuario Venato (in the 5+ thickness). These slabs were produced and commercialised by Laminam Rus, the Laminam branch located in Russia.

The mood of the rooms which form the VIP waiting room for travellers in transit or awaiting departure could not have been decorated any other way: this airport, with a total surface area of over 23,000 sq.m, was named for Yuri Gagarin, the first man in history to fly in outer space on 12 April 1961.

“The cosmos and its exploration were our reference


T H E V I P L O U N G E AT Y U R I G A G A R I N A I R P O R T

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decorating plan featuring Laminam finishes for floors and a wall cladding.

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points in designing the project’s architectural image,” explained the architects, Boris Voskoboynikov and Ma-ria Akhremenkova, founders of Vox Architects. “There-fore, the theme of space is present metaphorically and in a concrete dimension.”

From a conceptual standpoint, the architectural de-sign was structured to represent interplanetary trav-el and to reproduce the luminosity of the sky and the cosmos. “We achieved this result by selecting certain types of lighting in these spaces, and by choosing par-

· CLIENT: SarAero-Invest JSC

· MANAGEMENT COMPANY: Airports of

Regions CC

· LOCATION: Saratov, Russia

· TOTAL SURFACE AREA: 1,044 m2

· STATUS: implementation, 2019

DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION:

· ARCHITECTURAL FIRM: VOX Architects

· MAIN ARCHITECTS: Boris Voskoboynikov,

Maria Akhremenkova

· DESIGN TEAM: Yana Mitasova, Kaurbek

Bagaev, Lyubov Orlova, Ekaterina

Novik, Artem Vybornov. Maxim Frolov,

Evgeny Nezamaykin

· PHOTOS: Sergey Ananiev

· GENERAL CONTRACTOR: Project Line

· LIGHTING ENGINEERING PROJECT

DEVELOPMENT: Artemide

· GRAPHIC DESIGN: Leit.design (printing on

ceramics), Yana Mitasova (navigation)

MANUFACTURERS AND SUPPLIERS:

· FURNISHINGS: Walter Knoll, Vitra, Arper,

Actiu, Cor, B&B Italia, Pedrali, Boss

Design, Renz, Six Inch

· FURNITURE SUPPLY: Office Solutions,

Statio, Flai Group

· LIGHTING: Artemide (main and decorative

lighting), Flos (decorative floor lamps

in the VIP lounge)

· LIGHTING ENGINEERING CONSTRUCTION:

Baufon

Electricity provider: power grid

· FLOORING AND ONE WALL: Laminam Rus,

supplier Made

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ticularly functional materials and colours. This allowed us to represent symbolically the scientific and techni-cal breakthroughs that have taken place in the aero-space industry and related research.”Boris Voskoboynikov and Maria Akhremenkova contin-ued, “The lighting engineering project attempts to pro-voke the sense of uneasiness that can come from con-sidering deep space as full of enigmatic signs and per-meated by brilliant rays of light”.

The colour solution of objects, walls and floors was based on a combination of light blue and white with various nuances of blue. With these chromatic defini-tions, the rooms look like part of an aerospace station on Earth or, in a not so distant future, on another planet, as our science fiction stories would suggest.

“At the same time, these spaces have an ethereal at-mosphere that recalls the clouds against the blue sky as a rocket shoots up into the mesosphere.” The aesthetic suggestion has another goal as well: “to induce in people the emotions of turning point, mira-cle, superiority that the first journey into space aroused at the time.”

Vox Architects has added concrete and material signs to the emotional aspects by celebrating the space ad-venture “with the realization of a portrait of Gagarin in relief as a tribute to this great cosmonaut, and a repro-duction of an astronaut re-entry capsule conceived as a children’s play area for families in transit”.

The two levels of the VIP room are connected by an atrium with a glass facade looking outside, a lift in the centre and a floating circular staircase.This “complex architectural structure appears as a lu-minous vertical column.”

On the ground floor, we find the reception area and a departure gate, open public spaces, a restaurant, a bar, separate public rooms and a play room. On the sec-ond floor, the spaces are more intimate since they are structured like single, semi-open work capsules. The other rooms that travellers can use are a conference room with a kitchen nook, an office with living room fur-niture and several private sitting rooms.

“Organising the lounge on two levels makes it possi-ble to distribute passenger flow depending on their personal needs as they spend time in the VIP lounge, and to use the space to the fullest of its potential,” ex-plained Boris Voskoboynikov and Maria Akhremenko-va in conclusion.

Laminam supported the entire project by making avail-able to Vox Architects all the know-how of the compa-ny’s engineers in a logic of constant support to archi-tects and builders in the construction phase. Providing active collaboration with clients is one of the most im-portant distinctive characteristics exported also abroad by Laminam, the Italian multinational which now has numerous branches and partners around the world.

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THE MOST INNOVATIVE AND COMPLETERANGE OF TOOLS

FOR LARGE FORMAT TILES INSTALLATION

“SCREW” LEVELING SYSTEM

SCORE CUTTING

WET AND DRY 45° BEVEL CUT

CIRCULAR CUTS

WET AND DRY 90° AND 45° BEVEL CUT

VIBRATION (AIR REMOVAL)

SEAM SETTER

CREATE STAIRS AND COUNTERTOPS CORNERS PROTECTION

WEDGE/CLIP LEVELING SYSTEM

HANDLING

INSTALLATION

HANDLING TRANSPORT

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HALL 32BOOTH A22-B23

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The project, commissioned by the prestigious boutique Eraldo Store, is based in the city centre of Ceggia, a small town within the Venice Metropolitan

City. The ambitious plan represents a bridge, even literally, between the historic centre of the small town and its first peripheral area.

A N E W FA S H I O N L O O K F O R B A L A N C E P R O O F I M P E R T E K

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The urban project, designed by the architects Aldo Parisotto and Massimo Formenton, wants to be an element of connection in an uneven urban fabric, whose intention is the recovery of the historic center and the revitalization of the peripheral areas in harmo-ny with the context that surrounds them.The boutique on the main building is spread over three floors and a basement, each floor is divided for sales areas and a private floor, covering a total of

2500 square meters, and a private floor. The build-ing is a structure covered with basalt stone with open spaces created through glazed terraces, which cre-ates a finished and neutral appearance on the outside and bright and transparent to the internal, allowing it to emerge silently in the city contextThe floating floors of all the structure terraces are re-alized using the great variety of Impertek supports. The project for the construction of the terrace on the


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private floor involved a raised decking flooring with long wooden planks, while fixed supports were cho-sen for the internal patio. For the other terraces, it was preferred to use marble tiles, with 4 mm joints, which match the external cladding of the building. Thanks to the Balance Pro supports, it was possible to easily in-stall different sizes of tiles, 4 centimeters thick, with running laying. Balance Pro is the revolutionary All in 1 system of Impertek for laying raised floors. With only

14 references it is possible to satisfy every installation need, Balance Pro covers heights from 25 to 1025 milli-meters and its head automatically adjusts the slope up to 5% and allows tightening from above using the spe-cial TOPKEY. The wide range of heads allows the in-stallation of both Tile and Decking with flooring of any size and material. Impertek supports were chosen be-cause they combine stability, efficiency and speed of realization with ease and precision in laying. ✕

* PEDESTAL LINE is the most complete range of

products for the construction of raised floors and

is able to offer solutions for every construction

need. Furthermore, all Impertek products defend

environmental sustainability because they are made

with recycled and recyclable materials once their

life cycle is complete.

It consists of three architectural interventions: a new building for the boutique, the renovation of the exhibition-logistics hub and the walkway over the canal that separates the two structures.

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Tourism and hospitality group, Crystalbrook Collection, is set to transform the skyline of Cairns City (Queensland, Australia) with an almost 320 million Euro investment in three new international hotels.

The company is the Australian business of the Dubai- based Ghassan Aboud Group (GAG), headed by billionaire businessman and philanthropist Muhammed Ghassan Aboud. Mr Aboud holidayed in tropical North Queensland in 2016 and became so enchanted

B A I L E Y H O T E L & R E S O R T, C A I R N S - AU S T R A L I A

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Project overview

The development of Bailey Hotel & Resort saw the construction of two towers: Lake Street Tower Ho-tel providing 217 rooms and Abbott Street Apartment.

The Apartment tower includes 110 apartments en-compassing one, two and three-bedroom options, as well as a lap pool, agym, a spa and a games room.The Bailey towers share a basement and common ar-


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with the beauty of the area that he invested a slice of his fortune in the region’s tourism industry. With a cost of over 82 million Euros, the new Bailey Crystalbrook Collection hotel is the second of three five-star hotels. It includes 217 rooms, 110 apartments,

5 restaurants and bars including a signature Crystalbrook Station steakhouse and Parilla grill, a 24-hour fitness centre and meeting spaces for up to 150 people. The hotel opened in November 2019 and is Cairns’ second new five-star hotel in over 20 years.

ea podium. The hotel provides a range of separate fa-cilities to compliment both towers.Bailey Hotel Tower offers exclusive facilities, includ-ing Bar/Grill & Colada Restaurants along with a “Milk Bar”, a swimming pool, a 24 Hour Fitness Centre, four event/function areas, concierge and gift shop.The completion of this five-star hotel was a large boost for the Cairns community. This project is en-vironmentally responsive and reflects the unique qualities that the owners wanted to portray in this beautiful part of Australia. The nature of this project was to deliver a modern, innovative and aesthetically

pleasing, luxurious hotel and resort. Prime Construc-tions was engaged to deliver this project and took on a multi-faceted role that incorporated project manage-ment, principal contractor and full fit-out contractual works. The lead architects, Thompson Adsett, deliv-ered the design development, construction documen-tation and interior design for the main hotel. The res-taurants and bar were designed by Jess White and her team at CTRL Space.Together the all Queensland design team has delivered a space that puts it on par with the new wave of five-star hotels that have infiltrated other areas of Australia.

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The pools

The multiple pool installations were awarded to Bald-win Aquatics, a pool builder located in South Queens-land. Contractors waterproofed the pool substrates by embedding MAPENET 150 alkali- resistant fibreglass mesh into the first layer of MAPELASTIC SMART ce-mentitious waterproofing membrane. MAPELASTIC SMART is a highly flexible waterproofing mortar that is ideal for use in swimming pools to protect the concrete structure that may be subject to vibration and cracks.To fully embed the MAPENET 150 reinforcement mesh, a second layer of MAPELASTIC SMART was applied.Over 1000 m² of ceramic tiles were installed over the waterproofing membrane using KERAFLEX MAXI S1 high-performance cementitious adhesive, while joints were grouted with KERAPOXY two-component, ac-id-resistant epoxy grout.KERAPOXY is an ideal grout for joints in swimming

pools due to the product’s excellent mechanical and chemical resistance, smooth final surface, low water absorption, uniform colour and resistance to ultra-vi-olet rays and atmospheric agents. It is easily workable with no shrinkage; therefore no cracking or fissures are present in the grouted joints.

Installing ceramic tiles in public areas

The contract for ceramic installation in all public areas was awarded to Jerry and The Tilemakers, profession-al tiling contractors also located in North Queensland.Contractors installed all ceramic tiles through the hotel resort using KERAFLEX MAXI S1. This adhesive is not only a high performance and versatile mortar but can also be used to install large format tiles, porcelain tiles, ceramic and mosaic tiles as well as natural stone. It is thixotropic, has a long open time and can be installed in a up to 15 mm thick layer.

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PROJECT INFORMATION:

· Bailey Hotel & Resort, Cairns (Queensland,Australia)

· Owner: Bailey Crystalbrook Resort, Ghassan Aboud Group

· Period of construction: 2019- 2020

· Period of Mapei’s intervention: 2019- 2020

· Design: Thomson Adsett

· Main contractor: Prime Constructions

· Ceramic installation company: Jerry & The Tilemakers

· Pool contractor: Baldwin Aquatics

· Mapei Co-ordinator: Rod Howard, Mapei Australia Pty Ltd.

· Photos: Crystalbrook Collections

MAPEI PRODUCTS:

WATERPROOFING:

· Mapelastic Smart

· Mapenet 150

· Mapegum WPS

· Mapeproof Turbo 1K

PREPARING SCREEDS AND SUBSTRATES:

· Topcem

· Planicrete SP (manufactured and distributed in Australia by Mapei

Australia Pty. Ltd.)

· Eco Prim T Plus

· Ultraplan Eco

INSTALLING CERAMIC TILES:

· Keraflex Maxi S1

· Kerapoxy

· Mapesil AC

INSTALLING ACOUSTIC LAYERS AND WOODEN FLOORS:

· Ultrabond Eco S955 1K

INSTALLING LVT FLOORS:

· Ultrabond Eco MS 4 LVT Wall

Ceramic tiles were installed in the restaurant areas, podium decks, balconies and walkways after install-ing acoustic underlay with ULTRABOND ECO S955 1K polyurethane adhesive.

Preparing substrates and waterproofing

In the bathrooms, screeds were created using TOPCEM, a special normal-setting, quick-drying, con-trolled-shrinkage hydraulic binder, and special ag-gregates. The substrates were then treated with PLANICRETE SP (a multi-purpose latex to create high performance mortars and screeds distributed in Aus-tralia by Mapei Australia) and waterproofed with two coats of MAPEGUM WPS, fast-drying flexible liquid membrane. TOPCEM was also used for screeds around the pools to create falls and on all balconies to create falls to drains prior to the application of MAPELASTIC SMART highly flexible waterproofing membrane.

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LVT and wooden floorings

Acoustic underlay was installed with ULTRABOND ECO S955 1K one-component, solvent-free, sililated pol-ymer-based adhesive prior to the installation of LVT (Luxury Vinyl Tiles) on the floors in the hotel rooms.Contractors used ULTRABOND ECO MS 4 LVT WALL high performance, one-component silylated poly-mer-based adhesive, which is also suitable for all kinds of textile and resilient floorings, to install the LVT planks.Wooden floors were installed in the restaurant and foy-er areas using ULTRABOND ECO S955 1K, one-com-

ponent, solvent-free, sililated polymer adhesive with very low emission level of volatile organic compounds (VOC), which is suitable for bonding all types of wood-en floors.MAPEPROOF TURBO 1K one-component, solvent-free

moisture vapour barrier was ap-plied to the concrete surfaces prior to the installation, followed by a coat of ECO PRIM T PLUS solvent-free, low odour acrylic primer in water dispersion.

Contractors also used ULTRAPLAN ECO, ultra-fast hardening self-levelling smoothing compound, to cor-rect any irregularities in the concrete surface.

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A Brand of:A Brand of:ascot.itascot.it A Brand of:A Brand of:

URBANICATerracotta e metallo, materia e luce. Elementi che si fondono per offrire una nuova percezione del gres porcellanato.

Terracotta and metal, matter and light. Elements blended together to give a new perception of porcelain stoneware.


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.T I L E I N T E R N AT I O N A L 2 /2 0 2 1

C E R S A I E 2 0 2 1ceramic’s world

returns in Bologna

The 38th edition of the show, which features a packed programme of initiatives, marks the return of the exhibition as an in-person event in compliance with the strictest health and safety protocols. With this in mind, Cersaie and the city and regional institutions already presented “Bologna Together with Cersaie”, a digital poster illustrating all the activities

and services offered to Italian and international visitors to help them organise their participation in the safest and most effective way possible.

In particular, current regulations require a Green Pass for admission to the show.

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C E R S A I E , T H E P R E - E M I N E N T I N T E R N AT I O N A L E X H I B I T I O N F O R T H E W O R L D O F C E R A M I C S ,

B AT H R O O M F U R N I S H I N G S , A R C H I T E C T U R E A N D D E S I G N , C O M E S B A C K A F T E R A Y E A R O F F

T O T H E B O L O G N A E X H I B I T I O N C E N T R E F R O M 2 7 S E P T E M B E R T O 1 O C T O B E R 2 0 2 1 .

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Facts&Figures

Cersaie 2021 occupies all 15 halls of the Bologna Ex-hibition Centre and is hosting around 600 exhibitors, including 41% non-Italian companies from 26 differ-ent countries. This large number of exhibitors con-firms the show’s enormous international appeal.

Following the official opening of Cersaie with the tradi-tional ribbon-cutting ceremony, the first appointment in the programme is the Economic Conference to be held in the Europauditorium of Palazzo dei Congres-si on Monday 27 September at 11:00 am in the pres-ence of representatives of the main local and nation-al institutions. At 2:30 pm, Hall 18 will see the official opening of the Contract Hall and Archincont(r)act, a new space de-voted to networking between producers and archi-tecture firms and their clients in the real estate and contract sectors.

The Ceramics of Italy International Press Confer-ence, due to be held at 6:00 pm in the splendid setting of Palazzo Re Enzo in Piazza del Nettuno in Bologna, will explore the current state and future prospects of the ceramic sector in the presence of the world’s jour-nalists and media professionals. In the second part of the International Press Confer-ence, the Confindustria Ceramica Distributor Awards

will be presented to five distributors (from France, Ger-many, Israel, Italy and North America) who have ex-celled in their dealings with the Italian ceramic industry.An exhibition organised as part of the “building, dwell-ing, thinking” programme will explore projects carried out a group of young architects under the supervi-sion of Renzo Piano. The exhibition will present a selection of projects car-ried out since 2014 with a focus on those currently in progress in Modena, Padua and Palermo. The exhibition will be officially opened at 10:00 am on Tuesday 28 September.

Architecture Dates

Cersaie 2021 is welcoming numerous well-known fig-ures in the context of the “building, dwelling, thinking” cultural programme.These include two internationally acclaimed female architects, Odile Decq and Benedetta Tagliabue, who will speak a conference moderated by architecture historian Professor Fulvio Irace and entitled “Sensitive Architecture”, which will be held on Thursday 30 Sep-tember at 11.00 am in the Palazzo dei Congressi in the Bologna Exhibition Centre. Following the long months of lockdown and enforced isolation during the Covid-19 pandemic, we have come to realise the importance of the tactile and sensorial aspect of architecture: the rediscovery of our bodies,

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colours, symbols and light. Through a description of their latest projects, Odile Decq and Benedetta Tagli-abue will help participants discover the importance of these aspects in our daily lives.

This will be followed at 3:00 pm, again in the Palazzo dei Congressi, by a conference entitled “Small Talks Reloaded - To travel is to study”, with the participa-tion of 11 well-known Italian architecture firms: Atel-ier(s) Alfonso Femia AF517, asv3 officina di architet-tura, Bricolo e Falsarella, CZA - Cino Zucchi Architet-ti, Diverserighestudio, Iotti + Pavarani Architetti, Lab-ics, MAP studio, Orizzontale, TAMassociati e Werner Tscholl.

Cersaie’s Keynote Lecture will once again be given by a Pritzker Prize laureate. This year’s guest speaker is Japanese architect Shigeru Ban, who will give a talk on Friday 1 October 2021 at 11:00 am in the Palazzo dei Congressi at BolognaFiere following an introduction by architecture historian Professor Francesco Dal Co.

Cersaie goes (also) Digital

Cersaie Digital, a virtual platform, in Italian and Eng-lish, online for three weeks from 20 September to 8 October, is the stand-out new feature of this 38th edi-tion. Exhibitors present at the in-person exhibition will also be participating in the online event, which is in-tended to complement rather than substitute the physical show. The digital platform allows many visitors who want to make the most of their time at Cersaie as well as professionals who are unable to visit the exhibition in person to meet each other and do business. The pre-view of the in-person show provided by the platform enables visitors to plan their days at the exhibition and request meetings with exhibitors based on their availability. The Congress Center section will present the events planned for Cersaie, some of which will be streamed.Along with a preview of the products and collections showcased by leading international companies in the field of surfaces, bathroom furnishings and finishings for the world of contract design, visitors will also be able to continue exploring the new products proposed by manufacturers of ceramic tiles, bathroom furnish-

ings and surface materials and consolidate business relations with Cersaie exhibitors, even after the in-per-son exhibition has come to an end.To gain free access to Cersaie Digital from 20 Septem-ber to 8 October, it is possible to register via the on-line ticket office using the same credentials as the en-trance ticket.

Tiling Town

Located in Hall 32, ‘Tiling Town’, the meeting place for Italian and international visitors and experts with any connection to tile installation, is back for its 9th

edition this year. On each of the five days of Cersaie, it will host tile-setting demonstrations by master tilers, involving outdoor applications and environments cre-ated using large-format panels.

A substantial space has been allocated to Assoposa (the Italian national tile setters’ association), which will be interacting with trade operators from the world of tile installation, and serving as an Info Point showcas-ing the work the association has done over the eight years since its foundation, and its future goals in terms of vocational training and qualifications. These include its Tiler, Master Tiler and XXL Slab-lay-er qualifications, and its three-year vocational training courses held at construction training colleges, offering apprenticeships involving a blend of work and training.

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Tiling Town will also be hosting a technical seminar every day, on matters relating to UNI 11493. The programme will cover site organisa-tion, selection criteria for both materials and in-stallation techniques; identification and prevention of critical issues with installation; and long-term retention of the functional performance of coverings. The semi-nars will be held both face-to-face and remotely via the Assoposa Facebook page. There will also be tile installation demonstrations of-fering tips and highlighting best practices for working with all types of ceramic tiles and achieving long-last-ing, trouble-free results. Lastly, there will be an introduction to a range of courses for tilers, dealers and architects held at the facilities of a number of tile manufacturers. These form part of an initiative deriving from a training pro-tocol agreed between Confindustria Ceramica and Assoposa.At 10.00am from Monday to Friday, there will also be an interesting series of Tile Town Matinées, dur-ing which Assoposa and its Technical Partners (Fila, Mapei and Raimondi) will shine the spotlight on the latest developments in the market, the most innova-tive products to enhance the work of tilers and how to solve the most frequent problems.

New training season

As well as its scheduled events, Assoposa will be pre-senting the new calendars for the 2021/2022 training season, which will include: • Certification courses: 40 hours of theoretical and

practical training focusing on traditional installation in accordance with UNI 11493, with a view to equip-ping trainees with the advanced skills they need to to pass the Tiler and Master Tiler qualification exams.

• XXL Slab-layers course: 24 hours of purely practical training focusing on the installation of large formats. On successful completion of the course, existing Til-ers will qualify as XXL SLAB-LAYERS, thus obtain-ing certification of their ability to install large-format products in accordance with the applicable stand-ards in all construction situations.

• The new Assoposa Academy course: 24 hours of purely practical training in the on-site construction of washbasin systems, from the load-bearing struc-

ture, to the ceramic covering made from large-format panels and the use of grouts and mastics.

Assoposa Services

Assoposa representatives will be on hand every day to talk about the services for tilers that have raised the association’s profile over the past two years:• Direct technical support: thanks to its close collab-

oration with Technical Partners and tile manufac-turers, and to the Telegram chat platform involv-ing the association’s tilers and technicians, Assopo-sa members can obtain immediate support with a wide range of issues they might run into on-site. They can also take part in an ongoing exchange of opinions and experiences to facilitate the profes-sional development of all participants.

• Legal assistance with an allocated lawyer: as from this year, in the event of legal difficulties, all Assopo-sa members will be entitled to a free initial consulta-tion with the construction industry specialist law firm that has a service agreement with the Association. ✕

Ceramic tiler certification

The most significant new initiative introduced by Assopo-

sa this year is its ceramic tiler certification scheme.

After years of hard work dedicated to training professional

tilers and raising the profile of tiling and design as a disci-

pline, in accordance with UNI 11493, the Association is now

offering tilers the opportunity to obtain full-blown certi-

fication of their professional credentials, in accordance

with UNI EN ISO 17024.

Thanks to a partnership with an external Certification

Body, committed to offering unbiased, objective assess-

ments, Assoposa has managed to develop an assessment

system that ties up perfectly with its training courses, thus

enabling professionals to become “Certified Tilers” in

possession of the knowledge, skills and competences

listed in UNI 11493-2.

Tiling Town 2021 will therefore provide a framework for the

official presentation of the initiative, which is aimed at all

stakeholders and all key players involved in the realisation

of flooring systems.

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C E R C O M

The world of minerals bequeaths a truly con-

temporary colour palette to Cercom ceram-

ic surfaces for the new A B S O LU T E S TO N E

project, made of porcelain stoneware, dedi-

cated to indoor and outdoor design. The aes-

thetic of the collection clearly reveals the tex-

ture and shading of the materials it was in-

spired by, transforming floors and walls into

designer elements with a distinct personality.

From Moon, the lightest shade, to the intense

Black, the colour tones of Absolute Stone dis-

play awareness of the needs of interior de-

sign. There are two neutral offerings, Clay and

Grey, while Ground has a more contempo-

rary, rusty vibe. Thanks to the wide range of

sizes, including modular and available in both

a natural R10 and grip R11 finish, different in-

stallation layouts can be created, enhanc-

ing the elegant chromatic variations found in

each colour.

Featuring a natural flair for outdoor creations,

Absolute Stone offers an R11 A+B+C grip finish

both with a traditional 10 mm thickness and

with the ultra-thick 19 mm. This extends the

array of installation layouts, from traditional

screed, to dry-laid or floating floors, even ve-

hicle accessible paving.

visit us atHALL 29 Stand A22-B21from 27-09 to 01-10

www.ceramicarondine. i t

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N G K Ü TA H YA S E R A M I K

NG Kütahya Seramik’s bookmatch collection brings

an innovative approach to design. The creative pat-

terns that follow each other in harmony, offer unique

decoration alternatives for spaces with today’s trends.

120x240 cm sized bookmatch porcelain tiles provide

ease of application along with size advantage for in-

door and outdoor projects. A very natural look can be

obtained during the application of bookmatch series

thanks to having minimum joint gaps. The serie is giv-

ing depth sense while providing a stylish, natural and

modern look to the areas such as hotels, wet areas, of-

fices, and living spaces.

AlbatrosAlbatros

BarbadosBarbados

BluettaBluetta AlayaAlaya

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C O R TAG

Cortag Revolution Tools is a Brazilian manufacturer tools

company specialized in providing with solutions for tile

cutting and placement. Since 1995, based in Mogi Mirim -

São Paulo, Cortag designs, innovates, produces, and com-

mercializes professional manual and electric tile cutters

as well as large format solutions and levelling systems.

During the current year, Cortag has made important prod-

uct launches:

· M E G A manual tile cutter: the most innovative Cortag

product currently. With reinforced, fixed and robust

guides, that provide great stability and precision cuts,

enables to cut tiles up to 15mm thickness from 75cm to

180cm length. Besides that, it has a scoring and break-

ing system that returns to the cutting position at one

movement.

· Z A P P Titan electric tile cutter: the most powerful

Cortag’s machine today! Its engine has 1,500 Watts

power, that enables to cut porcelain tiles, marble,

granite and other materials up to 50mm straight cuts

and 40mm angled cuts. Besides that it has the plunge

function that enable making special cuts such as nich-

es and outlet holes, friezes and others.

In its innovative spirit, Cortag constantly invests in re-

search and development, aiming to combine: the best ex-

isting technology in production processes and materials

with the understanding of the construction professionals

needs. Cortag’s philosophy is to make professional’s work

on the jobsite more productive every day! Besides that,

a lot of investment in the digital environmental has been

made both in the processes and in customer services.

Among the main values of the company, care for human

resources and environmental play a big role. Due to that,

Cortag has achieved several important ISO certifications:

9001: Quality Control, 14001: Environmental and 45001:

Health and Safety Work.

This has brought Cortag to Brazilian market leadership in

the last years, with constant awards, among them, TOP of

MIND in several categories. Nowadays, Cortag is present

in more than 20 countries and plans extend its borders

even more.

All this work is carried out in synergy with a team with na-

tional and international coverage, through operational of-

fices in Brazil, Latin America, USA and Europe, which pro-

vides a presence, agile and personalized service to vari-

ous groups of clients and distributors, to whom we would

like to say a special “thank you” for trusting in us!

MegaMega

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Brooklyn &Memory.

WALL Memory · Jungle 20x20 . 8”x8” Brooklyn· White 100x100 RET . 39”x39”

FLOOR Brooklyn · White 100x100 RET . 39”x39”

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C E R A M I C H E P I E M M E

Exquisite Italian artistic craftsmanship and digital technologies convey into the new I B L A line of porcelain stoneware tiles by Ce-

ramiche Piemme. The profound tactile appeal of Ragusa “Pietra Pece” asphalt stone, combined with three-dimensional decors that

evoke the patterns and reliefs of traditional lace, in a collection that bears the ancient name of the UNESCO World Heritage Site city.

The distinctive stylistic features of the art and culture of the old centre of Ragusa (Italy) thus become genuine contemporary design

tools, available to anyone wishing to re-create Mediterranean moods with elegant evocations of Italian craftsmanship. The Piemme

designers developed distressed, tarry colours and surfaces that alternate matt and surprisingly glossy finishes in a ceramic version

with the aid of the “Synchro Digit” technology.

Avant-garde technology produces a porcelain stoneware that is easy to install, environment-friendly and extremely tough, yet able to

confer immense character on interiors, with great design versatility. Together with the 4 plain tile colour variants, the “Tombolo” wall

tiles, the “Zagara” floral decor and the “Ragusa” and “Opus” mosaics (in two surface finishes, natural and honed) make Ibla a very strik-

ing collection.

As well as the more traditional sizes, the new long plank tile (30x119.5 cm) provides fascinating

colour effects in multiple installation patterns, both on floors and as a wall covering. The small plank of 10x60 cm and the chevron of

10x53 cm are the basis respectively for Italian (right-angle block) and French (chevron) herringbone installation layouts.

HALL 28 | STAND B3

8 2


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S E R A M I K S A N

With the H I L L Smart Urinal, Sera-

miksan takes the hygiene experi-

ence of users to a whole new lev-

el. With the HILL Smart Urinal, which

detects the liquid concentration and

cleans itself, photocell and manual

washing urinals are now becoming

history. It offers many functional fea-

tures such as a smart washing mod-

el that saves water by changing the

water setting in frequent use and

makes a self hygiene flush when not

used for 24 hours, and an even dis-

tribution of water with the nozzle.

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R A K C E R A M I C S

RAK Ceramics presents K L I M A ,

the new generation of ceram-

ic surfaces that, thanks to special

materials, is able to absorb and

repel heat according to individu-

al needs. Suitable for both indoor

and outdoor applications, for floor-

ing or external walls, to achieve

maximum comfort with minimum

energy impact.

When installed on outdoor floor-

ing, Klima repels the heat from

sunlight, resisting high tempera-

tures. Even with significant sun ex-

posure, the surface is not burn-

ing hot and floor remains cool and

pleasant to walk on with bare feet.

When applied on indoor flooring,

Klima retains room heat and re-

leases it over the entire surface,

producing a warmer feel than a

standard floor. Ideal for surfaces

that provide a wood-like effect, im-

parting a warmth and a comfort to

be experienced.

On external ventilated façades,

Klima helps limit heat dispersion

while maintaining a steady indoor

temperature. An innovative solu-

tion that helps reduce room ener-

gy demands.

Among collections with Klima

technology is included for exam-

ple the Salento ceramic serie for

floor and wall coverings. RAK Ce-

ramics reinterprets the ancestral

charm of stone and transforms it

to one of the most preferred ma-

terials in contemporary architec-

ture. Solid, durable and extremely

versatile, the stone-look tiles have

special features and a highly at-

tractive visual impact. A tradition-

al mood that is able to define inte-

rior design projects with a modern

appeal.

CersaieHall 36 · B24-C29


Come and discover our new polished porcelain tiles Visit us at:


#100%MADEINSPAIN

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E L I O S

Floral patterns, foliage and intensely

coloured tropical views are the protag-

onists of the M E M O R Y series, for solu-

tions rich in light and material effects. It

is available in 20x20 format and is suit-

able for both commercial and residen-

tial indoor environments as eclectic

cladding solution. Memory fits perfect-

ly with several other proposals of Elios

Ceramica, such as the new Clay collec-

tion, with structure and irregular edges

which add to the surface a strong dyna-

mism full of reflections and details

www.lafabbrica.it

PIERRES DES CHATEAUXPIERRES DES CHATEAUX

PIERRES DES CHATEAUX

TIMELESS BEAUTY

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A B K

S I G N O R I A is the latest chapter in the

broad Sensi project, which ABK has

dedicated to marble-effect finish-

es. This “colourful luxury experience”,

reminiscent of renaissance art, adroitly

blends polychrome marbles in a high-

ly original and contemporary way, us-

ing stylistic contrasts and combinations

characterised by modern, geometric

lines. To achieve this, ABK has selected

Italian and exotic varieties of marble of

the required colours, all distinguished

by highly decorative veining.

The Signoria collection contains six var-

iants. Calacatta Vena Oro reproduces

classic white marble with subdued, pre-

cious veining. Roma Imperiale is a natu-

ral fresco of unusual but refined shades

ranging from baby blue to sage green,

with bursts of rust red and white/beige

details. Port Gold fascinates for its al-

most velvety black background and

its distinctive network of golden veins.

The cold white of Lilac Grey forms the

perfect background for intricate grey-

blue veining, which also appears in an-

other, more exotic and crystalline var-

iant, Labradorite, based on precious

marbles that range from green to blue.

The last variant in the collection is Gri-

gio Siena, an elegant Italian marble with

broad, golden veins that stand out dis-

tinctly against a grey background.

The collection comprises large-format

panels, measuring 120x280 cm, with

various sub-multiple sizes for floor and

wall installations, plus exclusive patch-

work effect decorations (Opus) and an

interesting offering of coordinated mo-

saics (Ventagli and Sticks). Customers

have three surface finishes to choose

from: lux, soft and natural.

27-9 / 01-10-2021Hall 31/Stand B61 montolit.com

· TITANIUM WHEELS SELECTION SYSTEM

· Non-slip system without suction cups

· Quick elastic connection

· “No Limits” extendable system with rails

· INTERNATIONAL PATENT

· 100% MADE IN ITALY

COMPLETE MANUAL CUTTING SYSTEM FORPORCELAIN, CERAMIC OR GLASS SLABS

FLASH LINE · FL3

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G A R D E N I A O R C H I D E A

The OX I D E collection features an orig-

inal surface texture inspired by the

world of metal oxides, in keeping with

a trend in contemporary architecture

that is spreading rapidly from residen-

tial spaces into the worlds of commerce

and hospitality.

OXIDE stands out for its distinctive in-

dustrial personality and realistic surfac-

es that reproduce the tactile and visual

sensations of corroded metals.

The shimmering variations in colour and

the gloss-matt reflections that give the

product an almost three-dimensional

look are particularly impressive.

The fascinating surface is complement-

ed by all the benefits of porcelain tile

developed using the latest technolo-

gy. 3DTech, for example, is a production

process that creates surfaces of amaz-

ing sensory value thanks to the applica-

tion of ceramic materials cleverly com-

bined with digital graphics.

The OXIDE collection is made up of

five different colours: Aluminum is

the lightest finish with the least con-

trast; Iron is the darkest shade, remi-

niscent of wrought iron; bolder options

come in the form of the grey-blue Steel,

green-copper Green and golden-warm

Brass.

A choice of sizes from cm 80x80 to

120x280 ensures versatility in installa-

tion. The OXIDE collection is also avail-

able in an exterior variant with thick-

nesses of 9/20 mm and an R11 surface

for use in outdoor areas, including pool

surrounds.

S C H L Ü T E R - S YS T E M S

Most people spend a lot of time in their own bathroom

and want to design the room according to their wishes in

order to feel comfortable there. Intelligent system solu-

tions from a single supplier allow a great deal of individu-

al design freedom and enable, for example, the combina-

tion of a floor-level shower with an efficient floor and wall

heating system.

With S C H LÜ T E R - K E R D I - L I N E -VA R I O , such showers

can be designed more flexibly than ever before. With the

combination of the high-performance drain, which can

be rotated through 360°, and elegant, variably shortena-

ble drainage profiles, almost any installation wish can be

realised. The W-shaped WAV E drainage profile and the

COVE profile in the form of a cove have a minimalist de-

sign and are each 120 cm long. They can be shortened as

desired up to a minimum length of 22 cm. In the variant

made of textured aluminium, the profiles are available in

eight colours of the S C H LÜ T E R T R E N D L I N E series. So

they do not only match current tile or natural stone trends

in the bathroom – they can also be combined with oth-

er Schlüter solutions for an intelligent bathroom, such as

attractive end profiles in the same colour scheme or the

practical S C H LÜ T E R - S H E L F wall shelves, which are also

available in TRENDLINE design. Here, even the WAVE de-

sign can be coordinated with the floor-level shower. The

mounting profiles for the clever S C H LÜ T E R - A R C L I N E

accessory system are also available in the elegant alu-

minium surfaces.

Even more comfort with heated floor and wall coverings

With efficient floor and wall heating, the feel-good factor

in the bathroom can be increased many times over. The

S C H LÜ T E R - D I T R A - H E AT- E electrical system simulta-

neously serves as a thin-layer heating system and as a

secure bonded waterproofing and uncoupling system –

so the floor and wall tiles are not only pleasantly warm

quickly, but also permanently protected from damage.

The heating can also be used specifically in the shower

area. As the heating cables lie directly under the cover-

ing, the mild heat reaches the surface quickly and evenly,

so that the temperature there increases by up to 4°C with-

in just 15 minutes. This on-the-point heat saves energy

and thus also costs: two hours of heating a day on an area

of around 4 square metres with DITRA-HEAT-E costs no

more than an espresso a week in your favourite café. The

targeted control as required can be conveniently carried

out via smartphone or tablet – so that the perfect temper-

ature can be set at any time.

The Schlüter-DITRA-The Schlüter-DITRA-HEAT-E electric floor and HEAT-E electric floor and wall heating system com-wall heating system com-bines fast and target-bines fast and target-ed temperature control of ed temperature control of tiled surfaces with secure tiled surfaces with secure bonded waterproofing and bonded waterproofing and uncoupling. This means uncoupling. This means that the energy-efficient that the energy-efficient system can also be used in system can also be used in the bathroom. the bathroom.

The Schlüter-ARCLINE ac-The Schlüter-ARCLINE ac-cessory system allows cessory system allows the flexible installation the flexible installation of practical and elegant of practical and elegant bathroom accessories. bathroom accessories. These are variably fixed in These are variably fixed in mounting profiles – so the mounting profiles – so the wall tiles do not have to be wall tiles do not have to be drilled through or glued.drilled through or glued.

Floor-level showers can be Floor-level showers can be designed flexibly and ele-designed flexibly and ele-gantly with Schlüter-KER-gantly with Schlüter-KER-DI-LINE-VARIO.DI-LINE-VARIO. The variant with the The variant with the WAVE drainage pro-WAVE drainage pro-file was awarded the re-file was awarded the re-nowned Red Dot 2021 in nowned Red Dot 2021 in the bathroom and sanitary the bathroom and sanitary category. category.

Uniform design in the Uniform design in the shower: The WAVE design shower: The WAVE design is available for both the is available for both the drainage profile and the drainage profile and the Schlüter-SHELF shelf. Schlüter-SHELF shelf.

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R A I M O N D I

In 2009 Raimondi introduced the first pro-grade

wedges & clips levelling system, the well known RLS

(Raimondi Levelling System) which quickly became

a worldwide benchmark. Now Raimondi improves it

presenting the brand-new H D C L I P S .

HD stands for Heavy Duty, since they offer the high-

est tensile strength within the Raimondi’s range. Al-

so, HD clips bear the peak at the maximum tensile

strength longer. This means that the HD clips not on-

ly have more tensile strength, but also offer more tol-

erance when tightening the wedges. Final result is the

HD clips are the best performant and easier to use

clips ever offered by Raimondi, which flawlessly lev-

el even heavier tiles.

HD clips offer other advantages. The design makes

it much easier to insert the clips underneath the tile,

conferring the product greater ease of use. Another

improvement is the packaging which now allows for a

faster and better product presentation.

Boxes containing bags are provided with an easy-to-

remove corner: just open the box and the product is

ready for sale. Each box has clear indications to rec-

ognize the kind of clips and the quantity. Multiple box-

es (with corner removed or not) can be stacked on top

of each other so to create the desired display combi-

nation without the need to assign them a shelf, a floor

portion it is sufficient. Also, it is available a “not-opena-

ble” box containing 2.200 clips.

A brand-new kit has been developed for the HD. It

contains 250 HD clips 1.5 mm (1/16”), 250 wedges and

1 floor pliers. It comes into a four-color high quality

print box. Just stack multiple kits one to create a great

visual impact in the show-room. HD clips work with the

same wedge and the same traction pliers as all other

Raimondi’s clips. So, end-user can use his existing set

of wedges and pliers.

DR TECNICA S.R.L.VIA 2 GIUGNO9 - 41042 F IORANO MODENESE (MO) - ITALY

TEL +39 0536 921721 - FAX +39 0536 921735 info@drtecnica. it

T E C N I C A

design.create.produce.

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R A KO

The “L I N K A ” floor series from

tile manufacturer Lasselsberg-

er with its RAKO brand is a real

eye-catcher. This is because “Lin-

ka” impresses with striking deco-

rations, numerous colours and an

elegant surface appearance. Max-

im Velčovský designed the series

for RAKO. He is an internationally

successful designer and the head

of the studio for ceramics and por-

celain at the Academy of Arts, Ar-

chitecture and Design in Prague.

The line as a leitmotif

“Linka” in Czech means “line”. And

the motif of the line runs through

the entire design process in the

work of designer Maxim Velčovský

on the tile series for RAKO. For him,

it stands as a central element in

front of every drawn form, every

sketch, and only emerges from

the skilful connection of different

lines. The play of the lines, which

complement each other to form diverse geom-

etries, makes each surface covered with “Linka”

unique.

Eight designs combined in two product lines

A total of eight “Linka”designs are available,

ranging from a homogeneous appearance of a

fine abstract hand painting to the graphically ex-

pressive pattern of striking, mutually overlapping

lines.

“Linka” consists of two product lines. The first

arises from a drawing in which the decoration

becomes a line scan, from which a larger dec-

oration arises through the addition of the tiles in

the surface. Lines join to form a mosaic that cre-

ates a maximally independent structure with a si-

multaneous high recognition value. In this prod-

uct line, combinations of grey and white colours

are combined, perfectly complemented by grey

as well as powerful black decorations.

The second product line seems to be connect-

ed to the earth, is almost archaic, and led design-

er Maxim Velčovský in his conceptual world to a

time when people moved from caves to perma-

nent dwellings. This was when the first walls and

houses were built. For him, tiles symbolise the

evolution of the wall and combine practical and

aesthetic functions. Structures and grids can be

read here as basic design parameters. The tiles

of the product line are characterised by black

and brown colours and are complemented by

contrasting floor tiles.

For a wide range of project requirements

“Linka” is available in two sizes: 60 x 60 and 20

x 20 cm. Due to its high quality, “Linka” is suit-

able for the private and commercial areas. With

R10/B slip resistance, a visually and haptical-

ly pleasantly matt surface and high ease of care

(surface type ABS), it ensures long-lasting enjoy-

ment in daily use.

Lasselberger and RAKO are presenting the “Lin-

ka” series and a variety of other product innova-

tions and novelties at the CERSAIE trade fair in

Hall 19, Stand C44-D43.

Maxim Velčovský (*1976) graduat-

ed from the Academy of Arts, Archi-

tecture and Design in Prague and

co-founded the Qubus Design Stu-

dio in 2002. His works can be found

in the collections of the Victoria & Al-

bert Museum in London, the Cen-

tre Pompidou in Paris, the Neue

Pinakothek in Munich, the Museum

of Art and Design in Prague and the

Design Museum in Lausanne. Since

2011, he has been head of the stu-

dio for ceramics and porcelain at the

Academy of Arts, Architecture and

Design in Prague.

9 5


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G R U P O H A L C Ó N C E R Á M I C A S

T E M P O is a rectified porcelain collec-

tion by Halcòn Ceràmicas inspired by

natural stone that realistically repro-

duces the appearance of this materi-

al thanks to its graphic contrasts and

refined texture. It is available in 4 col-

ours (cotton, nature, ash, dark), differ-

ent formats (cm 75x150, 75x75, 60x120,

60x60, 30x60) and two finishes, pol-

ished and matt. In addition, the Tempo

collection is completed with a rectified

White Body Wall Tile in size 30x90 cm.

Tempo has a timeless appeal and

shows a very rich design with a very in-

teresting graphic variation, perfectly in

line with current interior design trends.

With special attention to detail, chro-

matic richness and texture, AU R A ,

the new series by Emotion Ceramics,

sbrings to life unique spaces where

nature becomes the protagonist and

makes us feel part of it. The surface of

this Stone tile, with its irregular design,

its multiple formats and its diverse

tones, manages to personalise any en-

vironment with character and at the

same time, with a unique elegance.

Its veins provide richness, movement,

contrast and depth within the same

chromatic range.

AURA is presented in 6 colours (can-

vas, light, ash antracita, sand, earth)

and available in the following for-

mats: cm 75x150 rect., 75x75 rect.

60x120 rect., 60x60 rect., 30x60 rect.,

60,5x60,5 and 30x60.

AURA by Emotion Ceramics

TEMPO by Halcón Cerámicas

9 7


D R T E C N I C A

To allow maximum compositional freedom and give shape to a dynamic and effective showroom, the company

presents new and smart D I S P L AY S Y S T E M s fitting every specific need. The Display units are easy to update and

add personality to the exposition, enlighting tiles, slabs and little surfaces to the best. The novelties developed

by DR Tecnica, such as F R A M E + in different sizes and C U B E + for loose slabs, aim to create exhibition and sales

spaces that enhance the products on display, thus capturing the attention of customers.

All the display systems are the result of the constant company’s research for solutions and materials, but also of

the active listening and close connection with the clients.

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M O N T O L I T

Brevetti Montolit presents F L 3 , the third generation of manual cutting system for all extra-large sizes (from 0 to 340 cm). The new

equipment, created in collaboration with the “Politecnico di Milano”, consists of an incision trolley, modular rails and nibbler, all in-

side in a practical and strong “cordura” bag.

The futuristic incision slider, made of die-cast aluminum, slides on the guide bars thanks to three wheels in anti-friction material, but

the “Real Heart of the system” it’s Revolution 3WD, that’s consist in a loader that supports the incision wheels, it is a polygon made

of aluminum alloy, of aeronautical derivation, that houses three wheels of different diameters: 8, 12 and 20 mm all with surface treat-

ment in Titanium to ensure greater smoothness and durability.

The tiler can select the most suitable wheel for the work to be done, with a simple rotation of the support, without using specific

equipment.

The three engraver wheels are naturally able to deal with any kind of porcelain stoneware, ceramic or glass without problems, but

the user will have the right to choose the most suitable tool according to the type of material, (its consistency / compactness or sur-

face finish) to guarantee precise cuts with a better finish and obtain a “workmanlike execution”, following the indications of Montolit

technicians and above all his instinct and experience.

The three aluminum modular guide bars, each 120 cm long, are positioned directly on the slab to be cut without any particular fix-

ing system; the grip is obtained thanks to the special silicone strips placed on the contact surface and the fixing increases with the

power of the pressure exerted on the slide carriage. The clamps or suction cups are completely useless (unique and internation-

ally patented system).

The operation of the incision it’s facilitated by the ergonomic handle that allows the user a total control and always optimal pres-

sure. At the end, with the nibbler consisted in a double splitting system, the separation is carried out along the traced incision line.

9 9


AVA

B R E C C I A A R G E N T U M , a marble of

Italian origin inspired by the architec-

ture of the 1920s and used in high-

end construction, is the result of aes-

thetic research based on the most

sought-after slabs for this type of

marble. A very elegant series with the

utmost perfection in definition, graph-

ic uniformity and matching possibility

with marbles and stones already

present in the AVA and La Fabbrica

range.

The range features the big size

324cmx163cm in 12 mm and 20mm

thickness, the big sizes 320cmx160

cm and 280x120 in 6 mm thickness

and the smaller size 60x120 in 8,8mm

thickness.

This variety of sizes and thicknesses

represents the great versatility that

the ceramic can reach in every field of

application, extending the possibilities

of use going from floor to wall cover-

ing to furniture, tables, tops, doors

and ventilated walls.

Breccia Argentum is suitable for res-

idential and commercial solutions,

shutters and doors, shipping indus-

try, furnishings, design, ventilated fa-

cades, coordinated top and coverings.

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P R O F I L PA S

Classic Cover Flat Cover

Design Cover Invisible Cover

P P D R A I N A Q UA is the new range

of linear drains for floor-level show-

ers, entirely designed and produced

by Profilpas. Made of stainless steel

AISI 316 and equipped with remova-

ble patented siphon in antibacterial

ABS, they are the perfect synthesis of

beauty and practicality.

PP Drain Aqua linear shower drains

meet any aesthetic taste and per-

fectly match the latest trends in bath-

room accessories thanks to the pos-

sibility of choosing between four

types of cover, different in design and

finishes. Classic Cover, in polished or

satin stainless steel, is equipped with

frame and, if turned upside down,

becomes tileable; Flat Cover, which

stands out for its perfectly flat and

linear design, is available in sever-

al colours ranging from soft touch

white to black, passing through chro-

mium-plated steel, gold, pink gold,

nickel and graphite; Design Cover,

characterized by a thin and elegant

central drain, is able to blend perfect-

ly with any covering thanks to its line-

ar design; finally, Invisible Cover dis-

appears under the tile, becoming one

with the shower covering.

With PP Drain Aqua, the maintenance

and the cleanliness are fully simpli-

fied. The siphon, made of antibacte-

rial ABS, is easy to remove and to in-

spect. Moreover, the base of the drain

is composed of a single piece without

welds for the best hygiene and effi-

ciency. The version with direct drain-

age (without siphon) is also available.

PP Drain Aqua linear shower drains

have been designed to minimize in-

stallation times thanks to the pre-

glued waterproofing membrane, the

height adjustment supports from 6 to

18 mm and the bases in polystyrene

foam.

1 0 1


C E R A M I C A R O N D I N E

I N F I N I T Y was born from the recovery of a mountain hut and it is an unusual mix of wood and con-

crete. This collection was inspired by the chic industrial style that, with its three different colors,

can be used in several environments, from the most modern to the most classic.

The combination between concrete and wood creates continuity between floor and wall cover-

ing. This is the reason why Infinity is a versatile and easy to match series.

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P R O G R E S S P R O F I L E S

Humidity, water infiltrations and inadequate

drainage could cause serious damages to

external surfaces, which are constantly ex-

posed to rainfalls and weather. For this rea-

son, it is highly recommended to carry out a

perfect laying work to ensure the structures’

suitability.

Progress Profiles, Italian manufacturer of

technical and decorative finishing profiles

and fixing/laying systems including mem-

branes for construction and interior design,

patented P R O D E S O ® D R A I N M E M -

B R A N E , a waterproof, draining, uncou-

pling membrane that allows the vapour

management, with a thickness of only 5mm

(13/64”) .Technologically advanced, under

the sign of versatility, simplicity, speed and

efficiency of installation, PRODES® DRAIN

System is particularly suitable for large sizes

XXL tiles laying in all indoor and outdoor en-

vironments, even in humid areas such as SPA

or indoor pools.

The membrane is composed of a high-den-

sity polyethylene sheet to which a draining

layer is thermo-welded at the top; a non-wo-

ven polypropylene fabric is glued to the bot-

tom. The reliefs of the polyethylene sheet

create an “air chamber” under the tiles which

favors the movement of the air helping a mi-

croventilation which allows the drainage and

rapid drying of the adhesive preventing the

spillage and the ascent of triacetates and the

formation of efflorescence in the joints.

Thanks to its structure, PRODESO® DRAIN

Membrane can also be applied on substrates

that are not perfectly cured, on old tiles or

Plywood/OSB. Using PRODESO® DRAIN

System, the installation time is considerably

reduced; the system, indeed, allows working

without any interruption from the laying of

the membrane up to the end. a Full package

of accessories have been carefully studied

and added for a perfect laying system. Pro-

gress Profiles presents once again an inno-

vative product that matches high functional-

ity and maximum versatility, thus facilitating

installers work and guaranteeing an always

perfect and long-lasting results.

With the latest novelties VitrA aimed upon con-

tinuing to enrich colour-form-texture matri-

ces’ systems approach and PRO Nature mate-

rial libraries to further support professionals in

their design goals for timeless and long-last-

ing spaces that inspire their customers with

mix & match sets. M A R M O M I X is a new tile sys-

tem inspired by classical marbles for contem-

porary spaces, C E M E N T M I X M E S O , a new con-

crete layer to the CementMix concrete layers

and Urban Travertino is a new natural stone tex-

ture edition to the same colour coded Color-

Code material family. Both M A R M O S TO N E and

B O S C O S TO N E are new stone textured ranges

with marble characteristics. Moreover, AT E L I E R

0 1 invites to experiment, play and create, with

patterns which look like painted with coloured

pencils on a textured paper.

1 0 3


V i t r A

MarmoMixMarmoMix

CementMix MesoCementMix Meso

Atelier01Atelier01

BoscostoneBoscostone Urban TravertinoUrban Travertino

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1 0 4


VA L L E L U N G A & C O .

Originating from a fine balance between hard and soft, warm

and cold, and the dialogue that emerges from the juxtaposition

of different materials, the Concreta lines by Vallelunga & Co

are characterised by the eternal charm of stone and the urban

appeal of cement. This exchange between nature and tech-

nical content provides a framework for experimentation with

textures, nuances, surface effects, unusual cuts and graphic

patterns, in a process of cross-fertilisation between disparate

worlds that starts from nature, undergoes decorative conver-

sion and emerges as a truly contemporary material.

T E R R A E , the latest addition to the Vallelunga & Co. family, in-

corporates pressed, fired clays, processed by expert hands, to

create a surface animated by graphic and textural patterns, and

blends of the purest pigments. It expresses its vitality through

the strength of colour, the dynamism of forms and textures,

and sophisticated inserts in distinctive materials.

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S E R E N I S S I M A

M AT E R I C A is a new range of ceramic that

takes full advantage of the performance of

porcelain tile to create indoor and outdoor

coverings in step with the latest trends. Ma-

terica draws inspiration from a fusion of nat-

ural stone and industrial concrete that yields

a soft, elegant surface.

The collection’s five neutral, versatile colours

are ideal for today’s living spaces, and come

in a wide range of sizes and decorative solu-

tions. The discreet character of the collection

emerges both in the lighter shades – plati-

num and ecru – and in the deeper, more in-

tense colours – black and turtle-dove – not

to mention the elegant pearl, which lies at

the mid-point of the palette. The range is

available with either a natural or an R11 grip

finish, including with a thickness of 19 mm, to

meet every imaginable design requirement,

whether indoors or out.

Visit us at CERSAIEStand C-66 • Pav 36

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V E R S AC E C E R A M I C S

The fascination of prestigious marble

comes to a climax in the M A X I M V S

project, which consists of eight care-

fully selected varieties whose natural

beauty is enhanced by large-format

tiles and a scintillating surface shine.

The collection includes Italian mar-

ble varieties of the kind traditionally

found in noble homes, along with fas-

cinatingly exotic marbles whose col-

ours suggest the opulence of pre-

cious stones.

From classical statue marble to the

high-contrast Panda White, the col-

lection’s white marbles are embel-

lished by elegant veining which even

carries on from one tile to the next.

Lapis lazuli and tiger’s eye are the in-

spirations for Galaxy Blue and Galaxy

Brown respectively. There is also the

option of pink (Rosa Venezia), green

(Calacatta Green) and, of course, gold,

whose warm tonalities appear in Cala-

catta Bright and Black&Gold.

The Maximvs collection also includes

a series of decorative tiles that repro-

duce iconic motifs from great Ital-

ian houses on their ceramic surfaces.

The tone-on-tone pattern of Megaba-

rocco, for example, is perfect for both

floors and walls and even for kitchen

countertops, thanks to its availability

in a thickness of 12 mm. All other dec-

orative elements are made using ce-

ramic hot decoration techniques and

precious raw materials.

Maximvs is the perfect choice for

prestige residences but is also ideally

suited to contract, hospitality and ho-

tel applications.

60x120 Tropical - 30x180 ClasswoodLivello Washbasin

Ocean Plus WC Pan - Bidetwww.seramiksan.com

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E C O D E S I G N

Recognized as leading manufacturer of D I S -

P L AY- S Y S T E M S and showroom equipment

for the tile & stone industry and for wooden

floors, ECO Design have been selling, for over

30 years, to the main manufacturers, wholesal-

ers and retailers who can find functional and

impressive furniture for shops, showrooms

and fairs. From single display-units to turn-key

services and complete installations, the com-

pany satisfies any request making its expertise

available to the customers.

The products are conceived and manufac-

tured in the ECO Design Italian factory and ex-

ported all over the world.

The full range is available on www.ecode-

signsrl.it and the team offers help and support

for any project.

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The K A D O collection, conceived by Dom De-

sign Lab, pushes back the frontiers of the tac-

tile and textural performance of ceramic surfac-

es. Advanced technological research and con-

tinuous investment in know-how have enabled

the company to produce a material that you can

“see” even with your eyes closed, by replicating

every detail three-dimensionally.

Each colour is offered in two graphic variants,

Cement and Flakes, which break free from the

constraints of continuous design. Polychrome

flakes blend with natural-coloured stone and

enrich the surface with details and effects.

KADO comes in six colours – Ice, Sand, Clay,

Smoke, Ocean and Lead – and three sizes

(60x60, 60x120 and 90x90). The Torochi, Kiru

and Kujaku mosaics come in original, design-led

shapes that blend colours and finishes and can

be used for feature walls.

The collection is also available in three exterior

colours in the Flakes version, in thicknesses of

10mm (cm 60x60) and 20mm (cm 90x90).

D O M C E R A M I C H E

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A S C O T

U R B A N I C A is the latest collection from

Ascot Everytile, in which terracotta and

metal are fused by the primordial force

of fire, to create a striking, new material,

coloured with pure oxides in a uniquely

contemporary palette.

Available in six shades (Salt, Sand, Ash,

Corten, Iron and Emerald) and four mod-

ular, ergonomic formats (30x60, 60x60,

60x120 and 90x90), each colour in the

collection is enriched with a diamond

shape containing flecks of pure metals,

a hexagon that blends colours and sub-

stance, and a square mosaic that mini-

malists will love.

For fans of white-body ceramic, Urban-

ica includes a wall tile made of bitech

with an industrial chic design style and

a wealth of textures and accents, in size

cm 33.3x100.

There are plenty of special pieces too, in-

cluding in a 20mm outdoor version that

makes it possible to use Urbanica out-

doors, on grass, sand, gravel or screed,

with the utmost safety and versatility.

UltUltUltUltrrrraaaaCCCCaaaarrrreeee®®®®UltraCare®

TRENDS

Surfaces INTL 2/21 114

Minimalist, sophisticated luxury or biomimetic forms that seek to enhance the potential of both the natural and the artif icial?

Tosilab, the design hub specialising in trend research, offers a comprehensive overview of the latest trends: four moods that explore different aesthetic directions in the world of surfaces.

- NEW TRENDS -

IN THE WORLD OF SURFACES

Tosilab

Aseptic spaces that reflect the mood and needs of current times or a raw aesthetic

that transports us back through history, or even prehistory?

Chiara Bruzzichelli

TRENDS

115 Surfaces INTL 2/21

ASEPTIC AGE

The first, Aseptic Age, focuses on sterile, hygienic spaces in tune with the zeitgeist, rooms with rounded contours resistant to any kind of infectious agent. The sinuous shapes and pale-coloured, natural materials represent a contemporary adaptation of the “cocooning” trend first identified by futurist Faith Popcorn and much in vogue in the 1990s. The Aseptic Age trend favours a neutral palette (beige, warm white) and pale coloured timbers and makes extensive use of minimalist stone, resins and cements. The style is suitable for both indoor and outdoor spaces in hospitality and retail applications.A perfect example of the Aseptic Age trend can be seen in the rounded forms of My Cocoon Hostel in Mykonos (pictured), designed by Dimitris Tsigos from the Greek practice Omniview. My Cocoon combines the fragmentation of space necessary to ensure privacy for guests with an overall sensation of openness.

Hostely Mykonos http://www.hostelmykonos.com/

Surfaces INTL 2/21

TRENDS

116

BARE & RAW

Bare & Raw is a mood that interprets a seemingly raw aesthetic, such as peeling walls, wood, cement and oxidised metal. The “raw” trend has been in vogue for several years now, partly as a Western reinterpretation of the traditional Japanese aesthetic of wabi-sabi, rustic beauty in all its imperfection and impermanence. In the 2021 version, “raw” is reinterpreted in a way that respects the sense of place and consequently also borrows its original philosophy. It adapts to the environment and makes minimal changes, drawing inspiration from an idealised “stone age” in which architecture blends into the landscape. The impact is rustic and primordial, in keeping with the ideal of nature left almost untouched. It is an aesthetic trend that emphasises actual or seemingly underground spaces and architecture that blends in with the landscape. The materials range from the above-mentioned woods, cements and metals through to stone and raw earth.An example of Bare & Raw is Terra Restaurant in Dubai (pictured). Designed by Bone Architects, it is a kind of timeless space where traditional architectural and construction styles are combined with modern yet cleverly disguised technologies to offer diners a warm, cosy and homely experience. It is an intimate space far removed from the harshness of certain urban settings.

Caterermiddleeast.com https://www.caterermiddleeast.com/outlets/87044-mediterranean-inspired-homegrown-restaurant-opens-in-dubais-jumeirah

TRENDS

117 Surfaces INTL 2/21

GLAMOUR BOURGÉ

It is never easy to talk about luxury in times of hardship. The history of the last twenty years has taught us that during periods of crisis, style proposals aim to promote a less ostentatious and more restrained and respectful kind of luxury, less about appearance and more about substance. This is the essence of Glamour Bourgé, the new concept of

attainable luxury where classical elements are mixed with fine details and set in minimalist contexts. Marble and plaster are among the most prevalent materials adopted by this style, which achieves a balance of pure forms, especially in shades of green and white, together with wood and brass. One example of Glamour Bourgé is the Forte Forte Store in Madrid (pictured). The result of a collaboration between fashion designer Giada Forte and art director Robert Vattilana, the store is dominated by a large white central column, a sculpture of jagged, offset planes that extends onto the ceiling as a sun-like corolla of marble ribs. The floor is covered with large grey stone mosaics with iridescent textures, green marble inserts and brass strips. The backdrop is a large wall created from superimposed hand-treated plaster panels.

Credits: forte-forte.com

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TRENDS

118

Credits: Vikasa - https://www.facebook.com/vikasayoga/photos/2644138242367551

NEW NATURAL

Last but not least, New Natural is a category that embraces anything that can be described as “natural”. It includes excellent alternatives to traditional natural materials that are often indistinguishable from the originals and at the same time reduce the environmental impact of the extraction and transformation processes. But at the same time we are seeing a trend towards the use of authentic natural materials as a way of enhancing aesthetic potential and extending the range of available options. Examples include agglomerates made from scrap materials (fibres or flakes); references to biomimetic aesthetics; natural materials interpreted in new ways; and mixtures of natural materials that create new structures and surfaces.A skilful interpretation of New Natural comes from the Thai architectural practice Enter Projects Asia, which focused on the use of rattan when designing a series of yoga rooms for the Vikasa Yoga Retreat in Bangkok (pictured). Exploiting the versatility and natural look of rattan, the spaces were clad with this natural material to create an urban oasis away from the bustle of Thailand’s capital city. Moreover, rattan is a local material and is well suited for a building devoted to quiet, meditation and harmony.

The four trends Aseptic Age, Bare & Raw, Glamour Bourgé and New Natural can be explored individually or combined to create a new and highly personal style.

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120

PHOTONEWS

Surfaces INTL 2/21

121

PICASSO, THE NEW OAK FLOORBOARD BY ORIGINAL PARQUET

“Picasso” is a new collection of oak floorboards in a range of colours that convey warmth and modernity.Picasso is 100% made in Italy and produced using Original Parquet’s “SEVEN+” technology for excel-lent technical performance. The product consi-sts of a 4 mm surface layer in premium oak and a backing layer in birch plywood. Picasso comes with grooves every 150 mm for optimised heat transfer on radiant floors. Individual boards are extremely flexible too, making for easy installation. Zero formaldehyde emission, micro-bevelling on all four edges and accurate male-female joint profiles add to the excellent technical standards achieved by this collection, which comes in 3 diffe-rent widths (150 mm, 190 mm and 240 mm) and in

lengths from 1,850 mm to 2,350 mm.

“Picasso” floorboards are available in three finishes:BRUSHED A finish produced by against-the-grain orbital

brushing to clean and abrade the wood, giving it a softer, more rounded look.

SAW CUT This surface finish is characterised by irregu-

lar saw-marks running across every board, re-miniscent of the hand-sawed look of traditional flooring.

HAND SCRAPED The hand scraped finish replicates the look of

one of the oldest wood finishing techniques. The surface features irregular undulations that vary with the hardness of each individual board.

PHOTONEWS

Surfaces INTL 2/21

Surfaces INTL 2/21Surfaces INTL 2/21

T HE CHARMING AND PRESTIGIOUS CHALET JOUX PLANE IS LOCATED IN THE HEART OF THE FRENCH ALPS,

IN A SECLUDED AND ELEVATED POSITION JUST A FEW MINUTES’ DRIVE FROM THE CENTER OF THE WELL-KNOWN SKI RESORT MORZINE. FROM ALL LIVING SPACES AND COMMON AREAS, YOU CAN ENJOY A PANORAMIC VIEW OF THE ADJACENT MOUNTAINS, BEING DEVELOPED OVER AN AREA OF 680 SQ. M. THE CHALET CAN ACCOMMODATE UP TO 14 PEOPLE IN 5 LUXURIOUS BEDROOMS, PLUS A ROOM WITH A BUNK BED FOR FAMILIES WITH CHILDREN. ALL ROOMS HAVE PRIVATE TERRACES WITH FREESTANDING BATHTUBS FOR MAXIMUM RELAXATION.

CHALET JOUX PLANE: CHALET JOUX PLANE: A A "JAMES BOND""JAMES BOND" STYLE LOCATIONSTYLE LOCATION

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PROJECTS

A NEW INTERPRETATION OF THE ALPINE TRADITION

The architectural project, signed by the Marullaz Architectures studio, and the interior design, curated by Shep & Kyles team, favored a stylistic and material mix marked by the rein-terpretation of the Alpine tradition in a minimalist and contemporary way. Structural rationality, visual brea-dth and dialogue between interiors and exteriors stand out as distincti-ve features of this “movie house”, re-miniscent of James Bond’s one in the film "Spectre". The large floor-to-cei-ling windows ensure that the cha-let blends harmoniously into the sur-rounding mountain landscape.

Surfaces INTL 2/21

PROJECTS

123

Pictures: Stephan Gautier

INTERIOR DESIGN AND MATERIALS

Several glass elements characterize the in-teriors and mark the square footage, besi-des wooden furniture with a Nordic style specifically created by the designers and the elegant finishes chosen from the collections proposed by PORCELANOSA Grupo.The distinctive symmetry and the bright-ness of the location (played on the intense shades of brown and gray) are brought out by the parquet flooring Advance 1L Natu-ral by L'Antic Colonial, which runs along the entire length of the chalet, lending a seam-less aesthetic effect in which walls and flo-ors uniform.

Upstairs you can find the living room with its two functional areas: the first one is for re-

Surfaces INTL 2/21

PROJECTS

124

ading, with XXL sofas in dark colors combined with solid wo-od beams, the second one is the dining room. Downstairs the-re is the recreational area, consisting of a gym, a cinema room, an art gallery, a recreation ro-om, a spa with Jacuzzi, a hammam and an in-door swimming pool covered with the porcelain stoneware Stuc Gray Texture by XTONE®, ba-sed on the charm of sandstone.Especially for the wellness area, the design team focused on a scheme of materials with oxidized textures combined with the floor Ferroker by Porcelanosa and its metallic effect.These slabs are resistant to scratches, shocks and high tempe-ratures and combine this area with the hammam. The entrance is covered with the stone collection Globe by

L'Antic Colonial, which enhances the sophisticated atmosphere.The metallic mosaic Imperia Mix Silver Blue Backs by L'Antic

Colonial covered the interiors of the hammam, with its concave shape. The small white, gray and blue tiles further emphasize the enveloping and intimate atmosphere of the environment, with the complicity of the spotlights installed in

the upper part. Finally, Argenta Antracita by Porcelanosa and the porcelain stoneware XLIGHT® Nox Corten by Urbatek were used for the bathrooms next to the spa. The Habana Dark finish by L'Antic Colonial was chosen for the washbasins, while the full-body porcelain stoneware slabs by Porcelanosa make up the general floor of the shower, alterna-ted with the Moka Anticato wall covering by L'Antic Colonial. ✕

www.cevisama.com

Organised by:

[email protected]

Partner of:

See you from7-11 Feb 2022!

València – Spain


The state of the facade when the renovation is completed

www.pietredarredo.it

PHOTONEWS

Surfaces INTL 2/21 126

powered by COLMEF


RE-BUILDING WITH PIETRE D’ARREDO

In an old building located in the Municipality of Corto-na (AR), Italy, it became necessary to restore the origi-nal external wall, even in the smallest details, while en-suring high energy standards and of sustainability of the materials used to construct the new building.It was a complex operation, since for the new structure it was decided to use Xlam wood construction type wi-th wood fibre cladding and to certify the house as Ca-sa-Clima Gold. The project was therefore aimed at the construction of a technologically performing building, but without lo-sing the original charm of all the valuable architectu-

ral elements that make up the original building stock. In order to achieve this aesthetically flawless result, the client relied on the finishing materials Pietre d’Arredo by Colmef, whose versatile products leave plenty of ro-om for “creativity” or the needs of customers and pro-fessionals, such as the possibility of mixing and modu-lating together elements of different shades and sha-pes to create more or less articulated textures and combinations.

· Project: Eng. Martina Picchi· Manufactoring Company: Tecla srl

The farmhouse before the renovation ... ... and after!

PHOTONEWS

Surfaces INTL 2/21127

Colle

ctio

n: Belmonte

| [email protected]

| w

ww.pietredarredo.com

Can you feel the sound of wellness? Of course you can: the sound of water that pours down, descends, flows and leaves behind a sense of well-being and cleanliness. A real symphony able to extend the pleasure of the shower, transforming a unique moment into sound. For that to happen, it is essential that the water flows without encountering obstacles: for this reason, we have designed the linear shower drains PP Drain Aqua, where beauty and functionality blend together.Isn’t this the sound of water?

The sound of water.

Schlüter®-SHELF-E Schlüter®-SHELF-N Schlüter®-SHELF-W

Entdecken Sie die nächste Generation der Linienentwässerung: Mit Schlüter-KERDI-LINE-VARIO in den Ausführungen COVE und WAVE kombinieren wir leistungsstarke KERDI-Entwässerungstechnik mit eleganten Profilen im Schlüter-Design. Schlüter-SHELF ist eine kreative Lösung für praktische Stauräume an gefliesten Wänden. Dieses praktische Regal ist jetzt in drei neuen eleganten Designs PURE, SQUARE und WAVE erhältlich. Damit eröffnen sich noch mehr Gestaltungsmöglichkeiten für praktischen Stau-raum. Sowohl Schlüter-KERDI-LINE-VARIO als auch Schlüter-SHELF sind in gebürstetem Edelstahl und in Aluminium mit TRENDLINE-Pulverbeschichtung erhältlich.

Design COVE

Design WAVE

Discover the next generation of linear drainage: Schlüter-KERDI-LINE-VARIO combines the efficiency of KERDI drainage technology with elegant profiles in Schlüter designs. Schlüter-SHELF is a creative solution for integrating attractive shelves into tiled wall surfaces. The practical wall shelves are now available in the three fresh design options PURE, SQUARE and WAVE. The new styles offer even more interior design choices for the attractive wall shelves. KERDI-LINE-VARIO and SHELF are available in brushed stainless steel or powder coated aluminium in stylish TRENDLINE colours.

Schlüter-Systems KG · Schmölestraße 7 · D-58640 Iserlohn · Tel.: +49 2371 971-0 · Fax: +49 2371 971-111 · www.schlueter-systems.com

Schlüter®-KERDI-LINE-VARIOFlexibel. Clever. Schön. Flexible. Intelligent. Elegant.

NEUNEW

Anzeige_TILE_International_KERDILINE_VARIO_SHELF_DE_GB_A4.indd 1Anzeige_TILE_International_KERDILINE_VARIO_SHELF_DE_GB_A4.indd 1 12.05.21 11:2012.05.21 11:20

cersaie - Materiali Casa

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