One of the highlights of Coverings every year is the Installation Design Showcase and this year’s showcase promises to be as beautiful and exciting as ever. Three ingenious design ideas incorporating tile and stone will come to life before the eyes of Coverings 2012 attendees over the course of the show.
The Installation Design Showcase is a combined live-action demonstration and exhibit and it underscores how critical skilled installation is to realizing any design project.
The construction gets underway a day prior to Coverings’ opening and the designs will be finished by Wednesday, April 18. However, the exhibit will remain in full view through the show’s closing on April 20.
Three distinguished designers have been matched up with three outstanding installation teams thanks to The National Tile Contractors Association, a Coverings co-sponsor that
helped originate the Showcase three years ago. To participate, installers must have NTCA Five Star Recognition, the association’s highest ranking, and be certified by the Ceramic Tile Education Foundation. The collaborations between these professionals will result in an outdoor living area, a master bathroom and a hotel guestroom where tile and stone have star billing.
The designers participating this year start with Joan DesCombes, a nationally known kitchen designer who has her own practice in Winter Park, Florida. DesCombes is dreaming up an outdoor living area that she describes as ‘a personal pamper patio?a tranquil retreat where one can escape, reflect and relax.’ Cox Tile and Marble, of San Antonio, Texas, is assigning the team that will make Joan’s design a reality.
The second featured designer is Orlando native and president of Gribble Interior Group, Grant Gribble, ASID, IIDA. He is planning the ‘Mod Squad of master baths,’ drawing inspiration from 1960s and 1970s fashion. Helping his retro vision evolve into an energetic yet elegant vignette is Collins Tile and Stone, Arlington, Virginia.
Finally, the acclaimed firm tvsdesign, Atlanta, is sending senior associate Foreman Rogers, ASID, who has envisioned a ‘sophisticated and luxe’ look for his hotel guestroom. It’s a space that aims to highlight tile as ‘much more than just a practical material but as a true art form.’ David Allen Company, headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina, will be providing the installation expertise to this project.
In addition to shining light on the participating designers and installers, the exhibit will highlight some of the latest tile and stone products and essential installation elements from Coverings 2012 exhibitors, including Crossville, Ceramics of Italy, Florida Tile and Metropolitan Ceramics. Furthermore, QEP, Rubi Tools USA and European Tile Masters, Inc. will provide the necessary tools to construct the exhibit, while H.B. Fuller Construction Products, MAPEI and USG Corporation will supply the basic building needs. TOTO is also supplying products for the master bathroom space.
‘The Installation Design Showcase exemplifies the true mission of Coverings: to bring all segments of the tile and stone industry together and amplify how these materials can transform both our living spaces and our world,’ said Bart Bettiga, executive director at National Tile Contractors Association. ‘The fact that the Showcase will be completed over the course of the show, right on the exhibit floor, offers attendees the opportunity to witness the process firsthand, and to interact directly with the designers and installers. It’s yet another example of the kind of innovative, value-added programming that makes Coverings such an incomparable experience.’ According to Bettiga, many of the materials and products featured in the Installation Design Showcase will have an afterlife benefitting Tile Partners for Humanity.
On Thursday, April 19 at 2:45pm, the Installation Design Showcase Roundtable conference session will take place right on the show floor in the Installation Design Showcase space, booth 943. This is a terrific opportunity to talk to the design and installation teams directly to see how they pulled these three vignettes together in just five days.
Come check out the Installation Design Showcase and everything Coverings 2012 has to offer by registering today for free!
