31-01-2017

FMG Roads: tradition and innovation in public places

The porcelain tiles in the Roads collection are based on classic hues. Their expressive power is greatest in wall coverings for the hospitality industry, where they help to underline a sense of welcoming and wellbeing

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Feeling at ease in a place of transition or during a short stay is a common sensation which is particularly important in today’s fast-paced lifestyles. When designing spaces for hospitality and accommodations, this is always a key consideration in making decisions regarding all the aesthetic details.

While home design is increasingly oriented toward unusual colours, bold combinations and objects reinvented for new uses (often outside their usual context), creativity in public places and the contract industry is frequently inspired by new interpretations of traditional motifs and colours.

This process of renewal firmly entrenched in tradition is combined with a search for products offering high standards of long-lasting resistance and performance.

If we add other key factors for public places, such as easy cleaning and low maintenance, the choice of the best surfaces for floors and walls is naturally guided toward porcelain.

Porcelain tiles guarantee the required resistance and impermeability and, in aesthetic terms, allow designers to choose from among numerous different effects and hues exploring the full potential of "classic" colours.

This is the case of the traditional colours in the Roads series, a line of FMG porcelain surfaces responding particularly well to the needs of public places and accommodations facilities such as hotels, residences and wellness areas.

Composed of 8 colours inspired by earths, stones, cements and asphalts (such as White Purity, Sand Hearth, Turtle Blaze, Pearl Mind, Grey Calm, Coffee Truth, Dark Depth, Black Intensity), Roads is perfect for covering both walls and floors, divided among 3 types of surface:

* framed: a textured non-slip surface particularly recommended for outdoor floors and walls;

* natural: a natural surface for indoor and outdoor use;

* smooth: a honed finish primarily for indoor use.

Some varieties of Roads, particularly Dark Depth, are most naturally applied to architectural projects for public spaces such as residences, hotels and spas.

Dark Depth is a dark tile which stands out when used alone or in contrast with other tiles (particularly with White Purity), in a contrast of uncommon expressive power.

Over the years, Dark Depth tiles have been laid in the Hotel Kumpeli in Heinola (Finland, arch. Jaakko Puro); in the Chiar di Luna housing development in Polignano a Mare (Bari, Italy, arch. Monica Alejandra Mellace); and in ME Milan - Il Duca di Milano (Arassociati Studio di Architettura with Alvaro Sans and Nicola Gallizia Design).

These very different projects all share an intention of creating welcoming, refined spaces in which surfaces (from the bathroom to the wellness area and the hall) contribute to the search for balance and ongoing architectural dialogue between indoor volumes and outdoor spaces.

Marco Privato

GALLERY