At the 2019 Ceramics of Italy Tile Competition, three Canadian projects were selected winners, and honorably mentioned, among North American based architecture/design firms and students.
An international jury of design experts selected eight projects that demonstrated a creative use of Italian ceramic and porcelain tiles. Jury members selected five winners and three honorable mentions from three built categories – residential, commercial, institutional – and one student category.
Dubbeldam Architecture + Design, Jill Greaves Design and Dialogue 38 received a Commerical Honorable Mention for their Walper Hotel project in Kitchener. Snøhetta’s Central Public Library project in Calgary won the Institutional category, and Aylin Askarihosseini from the Visual College of Art and Design (VCAD) was the Student Winner for the Sweet Pastel Caffe project in Vancouver.
The prize package for built project winners included $3,000 in cash, and an expenses-paid CEU-accredited trip to Bologna, Italy to attend Cersaie, an exhibition of ceramic tile and bathroom furnishings.
COMMERCIAL HONORABLE MENTION
Firm: Dubbeldam Architecture + Design; Jill Greaves Design; Dialogue 38
Project: Walper Hotel
Location: Kitchener, Canada
Tiles: Casalgrande Padana; Edimax Astor; Atlas Concorde
Distributor: Stone Tile International
Contractor: Trisect Construction Corporation
Since 1893, the Walper Hotel has played a pivotal role in Kitchener’s social and cultural scene. Dubbeldam Architecture + Design, Jill Greaves Design and Dialogue 38 set out to transform the Walper Hotel into a modern boutique hotel while preserving its historical details. The scale and nature of the project required resilient and uniform finishes, so Italian tile was chosen to provide a durable and appealing flooring solution in high traffic areas throughout the hotel. Dialogue 38 redesigned the hotel lobby using Atlas Concorde’s Marvel PRO mosaic decor. DA+D and Jill Greaves Design collaborated on a full refurbishment of the guest floors, introducing Edimax Astor’s Marmocer mosaics on the bathroom and shower floors, and Casalgrande Padana’s white Architecture tiles on the walls.
Firm: Snøhetta
Project: Central Public Library
Location: Calgary, AB, Canada
Tile: Casalgrande Padana
Distributor: Pro Tile Distributors
Contractor: Tate Raised Floor Inc.
Providing 240,000 sq. ft. of functional and flexible space, Snøhetta designed the Central Public Library for the Calgary community. Home to a physical collection of 450,000 books, the library holds more than 30 free community meeting areas, a performance hall, café, outdoor plazas and more. The Central Public Library required specific color, texture and exact manufacturing standards for interior surfaces. Casalgrande Padana’s Cemento tiles met all requirements for this project, adding a minimalistic design for the floors throughout the building.
Entrant: Aylin Askarihosseini
University: Visual College of Art and Design (VCAD)
Declared Major: Interior Design Project: The Sweet Pastel Caffe
Location: Vancouver, Canada
Tiles: Marca Corona; Ermes-Aurelia; Abitare La Ceramica
The Sweet Pastel Caffe is a warm, colorful spot that utilizes ceramic tiles with bold colors and varied designs in the heart of Vancouver. Aylin Askarihosseini of VCAD specified Marca Corona’s Bold tiles in yellow, Ermes-Aurelia’s cement-look Soho tiles, and Abitare La Ceramica’s Novecento patchwork tiles for this vibrant cafe.
For more information on all the 2019 Ceramics of Italy Tile Competition winners click here.