Porcelanosa Copenhaguen CEO: “By opening the first Porcelanosa associate in Scandinavia we will strengthen Porcelanosa brand in all the Nordic countries”

The new Porcelanosa associate in Copenhagen opened the doors of the new showroom last summer. A few months after starting his project together with the Porcelanosa Associates Program, we spoke with its CEO, Mads Olambeck & Eilif Rosenkilde, about the firm’s landing in Scandinavia. Also, they offered us an interesting photograph of the sector and the history of design in Denmark.

Established 20th century designers such as Arne Jacobsen, Jacob Jensen and Verner Panton, design firms such as Bang & Olufsen, Lego or HAY … There is no doubt that Copenhagen has been and is one of the European capitals of design and the avant-garde … In this context so powerful from the point of view of creativity, Porcelanosa’s presence seems almost organic. How was the opening of Porcelanosa Copenhagen forged and how did you find out about the Associates Program?

Copenhagen is a city with important architect companies and designers who has helped to put northern furniture and interior style on the map. It is a natural step for Porcelanosa to strengthen our position in Copenhagen, by opening the showroom with the first associate in Scandinavia. Through the past 45 years, Porcelanosa’s has made itself known worldwide as a market leading company in terms of innovation, quality and sustainability. I believe with our almost 5.000 staff and presence in nearly 150 countries, we have the experience, international recognition and business strategy and products to succeed in Copenhagen. With our new Associate and showroom, we have a strong partner with many years of experience and knowledge about the Nordic market and customers.

Our new associate was well aware of Porcelanosa and have visit our showrooms in different countries in the world. Latest our showroom in los Angeles, and after visiting our factories and seeing our showrooms in Vila-Real the interest grew bigger. After learning more about our Associate Program he was onboard and now him and his company is a part of the Porcelanosa family.   

Danish society must already know a lot about Porcelanosa and its eight firms. How do you think the store will be received? What products do you think stand out from the Danish customer?

Porcelanosa is known worldwide and of course there is people who know about Porcelanosa in Copenhagen. But people don’t know the full capacity of the selection we offer. Most of people who have heard about Porcelanosa, know us as a tiles manufacturer. Today Porcelanosa is known for much more than a tiles manufacturer, all thought tiles it is still at huge part of our DNA. Our tiles have created the base for our success and are world-known for their unbeatable quality, cutting-edge technology and innovate designs, which has made it possible for Porcelanosa to grow and make us become who we are today. Our company’s eight firms today offer a much wider range of products, from kitchen and bathroom fixtures and fittings, to technical materials and advanced construction solutions for temporary architecture, just to mention a few.

The people of Copenhagen and Denmark in general, have always appreciated quality, exclusive designs and I think that is why there is a place in the market for Porcelanosa. By opening our new showroom, we will strengthen our brand and name in Copenhagen and in the Nordic countries in general. I think the private consumers will appreciate and recognize us as the brand we are known to be around the world. Once they get easy access to our products and see everything we offer, they will fall in love as we have seen in happen in many other countries.  

Architects and interior designers around the world, work in close contact with Porcelanosa. Our wide range of products, makes it easy for them to work with us. They have one point of contact, who can help them in most parts of their projects. They know that by using Porcelanosa, they benefit from the quality of our products, their projects will stand for many years and they will have happy customers in the end. With our facades and other technical solutions, they will be able to play with the exterior as well as the interior and gain recognition for their projects.

I think the same will happen here, once we are settled in the market, our business model will help us to grow and we will be one of the first point-of-contact, for the architects and interior designers in Copenhagen. 

Another thing worth mentioning, is that in the building industry and amongst the architects in Denmark, there is a huge focus on sustainable solutions and buildings. Denmark is one of the leading countries in the world on sustainability and therefore the sustainability subject has had a big impact on the industry in recent years. I think this subject will continue to play a big role and as we in Porcelanosa always have been a front mover and with our innovative spirit, we will be able to offer new innovative materials for the Danish market. The architects will always be able to find something new and exclusive to work with in our catalogues, that can help them to win their projects. 

What is the Porcelanosa Copenhagen showroom like? What spaces and environments do you find most interesting?

The in Copenhagen is a “shop-in-shop”. In a small area we were able to fit a mixed selection of our products. From kitchens to tiles, sanitary/brassware, bathtub, mirrors, table, chairs, bathroom furniture, natural stone, mosaics our general flooring with our bestseller Bottega Caliza. I am mostly excited about our entrance kitchen, the tiles library and our setting with our thin natural stone product “Airslate”, which is always something people show interest in. I am also happy about the settings with our stone-looking tiles such as BUTAN BONE, KARACHI GREY and NOIR CALIZA.

The showroom also includes a technical area with a worktop table, where we can invite architects, interior designers and private customers to come and feel and play with our products. 

I think they way we will stand out for the Danish customer, is by having more than our competitors and that the customers will value the quality of our materials. They can get exclusive and beautiful solutions for their homes and find products they cannot find anywhere else.  

The Nordic style has conquered the world of interior design for approximately 15 years. How do you think it will evolve in the future?

In the Nordic countries, wood as a material has always been a big part of our style and choice when building and decorating. I believe that we will keep seeing that, but as Copenhagen is getting a more and more international city, we will see other materials taking over some parts, as people get inspiration from other countries. As the technology keeps evolving and the tiles become more and more natural looking, I think people in the Nordic countries will increasingly see the benefits of using those compared to the natural wood.

When we look at the kitchen-dining area, in the recent years we have seen how it is playing a bigger role in the Danish households. It is the area where people spend a lot of their time and invite friends and family over. In the past vinyl, laminat and wood was the most common floor covering material, but today we see that many more are picking tiles. As the technology and designs in the tiles have evolved, people are understanding the benefits of using tiles in terms of quality, maintenance and beautiful clean aesthetics.

There is another important thing changing when we look at tiles in the Nordic countries. For many years the smaller 10×10,15×15 or 20×20 white tiles have been the go-to material when we have been decoration our bathrooms. Now we see that the bigger sizes are beginning to take over and people are getting more interested and curious in playing with the colors and surfaces. Through pictures from social media’s as Instragram and Pinterest, people are beginning to open their eyes and see much more possibilities and see the tiles as a way decorating, more than just a way to cover the floor or wall. Another point in the past years is people are travelling more and more. The Danish and Nordic people love to go to the Mediterranean and in hotels and apartments, they see how the bathrooms play a bigger role in the Mediterranean. Historically in Copenhagen the bathrooms have been small and not a big part of the apartments. Many apartment buildings were actually sharing bathroom in the cellar of the building. Now that is changing and more and more people appreciate a nice bathroom and after being in the Mediterranean increasingly the people come home and seek the same “luxury-spa-like” experience in their own bathrooms.

It is hard to tell how the Nordic style will evolve in the future. The Nordic style is known to be clean, simple, minimalistic and functional without sacrificing beauty. I think the ground principals will remain the same, but the designers might increasingly inspired by what they see from other countries.

As we in Porcelanosa is always in front in developing new materials and products, I believe we will have good possibilities to work in close contact with the Danish designers and offer them what they need.