Then-And-Now: Transformed showroom inspires customers

Taking a tired but successful showroom that targeted contractors and turning it into a destination for architects, designers and consumers was a bold decision for Olympia Tile International at its flagship outlet in Toronto, Ont.

“We’ve made it twice as big,” according to Olympia Tile International vice president George Gal. The old 16,000 square foot showroom now features over 37,000 square feet of space open to the public.

Project designers of the project, and co-founders of II By IV Design of Toronto, Dan Menchions and Keith Rushbrook worked with Olympia Tile to meet its updating and expansion goals.

“This was a renovation of an existing space with construction phased in over a period of 18 months beginning mid-2013. Given the size of the space and high-demand nature of Olympia Tile’s business, they could not afford to completely shut down during the renovations,” says Menchions.

“Working within a building of this sheer size there were some obvious challenges we faced, which included lighting, HVAC and space planning, so that the volume of the space was intuitive to navigate.”

The design queues that II By IV Design took were decidedly modern for Olympia Tile’s traditional hard surfaces. “The overall aesthetic is contemporary; we drew inspiration from high-end retail fashion and European art galleries to create an upscale aesthetic that would appeal to individual home owners and the A & D (Architecture and Design) community,” says Rushbrook. “Previously Olympia Tile’s clientele had a primarily builder/construction focus.”

According to Rushbrook, “A large variety of ceramic, porcelain, glass and natural stones in many styles, shapes, sizes and finishes are displayed throughout the showroom — somewhere in the neighborhood of 300 different collections in total.

“The showroom needs to capture everything that is available from Olympia, so the complete range of products were used in the initial design with the ability to easily switch out display panels for new products as the product offering changes. On the actual floor throughout the showroom, classic styles were used in both porcelain and marble tiles. The choices created a timeless look, with a high contrast of Geotech White unglazed porcelain tile and a beautiful dark Nero honed marble.”

Menchions notes that the previous surfaces were a mis-match collection of porcelain tiles in different sizes and colors, as well as slate tiles and mosaic — there was no consistency and it felt disjointed.”

Gal and Olympia Tile are quite satisfied with the project results. “It’s mainly an architectural design community but we also have the public coming in,” Gal says. “Of course they are extremely impressed and feel very comfortable — and awed by it as well. That evolves into and translates into sales.”