Transforming a 2.000 sqm hall into an exquisite and modern showroom for Nativo – premium interior & exterior finishings distributor – has brought lots of challenges, as well as beautiful achievements to Hamid Nicola Katrib (HNK) and his team.
A creative space that gives inspiration and offers beautiful design solutions for future homeowners.
Even if the place was spacious, it had a downside – strong, metallic beams were crossing the hall, which made the design process a bit difficult. Designers and architects team have found out a creative way to hide them: making the whole space appear like a sculpture in bright colors, with many shapes and tones that show the transition from one area to another.
The most imposing area of the showroom – the reception – is easily distinguished from the rest due to the orange tiles that guide visitors’ steps to this area. The tilted angles, the rounded corners, the square-shaped office, the modern “sculpture” right in the middle, which is actually a cylindrical pillar covered in metallic strips, together with the unconventional lighting system that fills up the space – all these elements make the entrance area remarkable and unconventional.
Since the hall serves as the showroom of Nativo, a local distributor of premium tiles and exceptional flooring (among other products), the floor here should speak for itself, which is why the designers have turned it into a huge easel, which has become the main attraction of the space. For the reception, a mix of tiles was chosen that reproduce the textures of marble and concrete. This type of graphic approach to the floor, with strong contrasts and geometric lines, has become an HNK signature in terms of interior design.
Near the entrance, large, beautiful ceramic tiles that look like marble are displayed, a type of decoration gaining more and more popularity in recent years. Each tile is impressive in size – it stands 2.6 meters tall and has soft tones and textures of white, black, beige and brown. Put together and well lit, these tiles are truly eye-catching and stand out from the other areas of the showroom.
Nativo Showroom is composed of 3 areas: right at the entrance, we have the Marazzi corner, the internationally renowned Italian brand of high-quality ceramic tiles.
Then, the second area follows. Preceded by an orange wall and a long gray corridor with a single ceiling with enormous trapezoidal shapes that soften the great height of the room. A sliding system has been created for the display shelves, so that visitors can easily navigate through the multiple tile options.
The third area of the showroom is dedicated to meetings with customers. A special identity has been designed for this area, a natural oasis to animate discussions between clients or Nativo architects and consultants.
The beauty and simplicity of nature inspired the semicircular walls to be covered in Marazzi green terracotta, to complete the environment already created by the presence of palm trees in this area. Right in the center, there is a large table made of a block of natural wood. The table is surrounded by orange and green velvet chairs, in the same nature-inspired theme. The entire area is illuminated by a “shower” of horizontal lighting bodies, arranged concentrically, which emphasize the circular shape of the table and the entire meeting area.
At the end of the showroom hall, we find the parquet expo area. The display shelves are placed vertically on a metallic shaft and in the middle of this area there is another meeting table.
The transition between the parquet exhibition area and the carpet exhibition area is marked by an orange tunnel. After walking through it, customers discover two huge 4-meter Art Deco-style frames, arranged on the walls.
This is how it was decided to exhibit the carpet variety at Nativo: the hundreds of carpet textures, thicknesses and colors create two large, vivid paintings that attract attention for their complexity and uniqueness.
In the lower area of these paintings was placed custom-made HNK furniture pieces made of colored MDF, where are exposed many catalogs with moquette samples.
“If we look back now, Nativo showroom has been a test of creativity that challenged us to run away from the predictable and aim for the extraordinary. This kind of approach has been more than suitable for this client, given the fact that we’re talking about an interior design finishings showroom, which by its nature is a source of inspiration for places that look and feel like home in an original way” – explains Hamid Nicola Katrib.
Location Bucharest
Area 2000 sqm
Interior design HNK
Photos courtesy Mihai Georgiadi
