Mapei Specification Centre in London
A Centre of Excellence right in the heart of London devoted to cutting-edge design for building projects worldwide.
The Mapei UK Specification Centre of Mapei has been successfully operating for over a year, and is situated in the district of Clerkenwell, London. This new facility owned by the British subsidiary of the Group, is entirely devoted to the world of design, a sector that is really booming in the United Kingdom. Indeed, London has now gained a worldwide reputation as an international centre of modern architectural design: more and more skyscrapers and towers are spiralling up into the London skies, often designed by famous international architects - The Shard by Renzo Piano, The “Walkie-Talkie” by Rafael Viñoly Beceiro, the Gherkin by Norman Foster, and many others.
An unstoppable trend: lots of new futuristic projects are on the way, not just in the city centre but also out in the suburbs. Old buildings and residential estates will soon be replaced by large-scale architectural projects featuring extremely tall towers in many new opportunity areas. This race to project London “upwards” is clearly a symptom of an extremely dynamic property market, on which major construction companies operate, which has resulted in the sale of a dazzling number of apartments. All of this is thanks to British and international investments, which place London as the focus of the world of architectural design and experimentation.
WORKING FOR LONDON, THE UK AND THE WHOLE WORLD
As the district of Clerkenwell boasts an extremely high concentration of design and architecture firms, the new Mapei showroom and specification centre clearly has an international vocation. Here, architects and designers from all over the world can draw on permanent technical assistance, full information about innovative products, practical solutions to every possible issue in the realm of building, and support with design work and drawing up specifications.
The facility, designed by the architect Marco Manzoni working for the mother company Mapei SpA, is concrete evidence of just how important the Mapei Group considers the relationship between designer and manufacturer. A relationship that can produce important synergies on technical levels is vital for innovative solutions to be supplied nationally in the UK, as well as across the world.
Expert Mapei technicians are available all year round in a special area of the showroom, ready to provide dedicated training and practical and theoretical support in choosing, applying and looking after Mapei products. There is an extensive schedule of training events covering a wide array of issues: quick-to-apply screeds, solutions to the most common problems associated with installing ceramics, the preparation of the substrates, and effective waterproofing.
All 15 lines of Mapei products are on display at this new facility in the form of textured samples, progress slabs, panels and images of prestigious international projects the company has been involved in, backed up by video clips and technical documentation.
All this is designed to provide architects, contractors and designers with precise guidelines and all the information required to include Mapei products in their specifications. There is also a model at the centre of the showroom clearly showing the different realms of application for Mapei products in various sectors of the building industry.
On 2nd July, 2015 the opening ceremony for this new design facility was held in the presence of members of the Mapei Group’s Board of Directors, Mapei UK’s staff and British authorities and VIP, such as the Italian Ambassador to London, Pasquale Terracciano, and Lord Digby Jones of Birmingham Kt, a former British Minister of State for Trade and Investment.
The Mapei UK Specification Centre has been busy since the day of its opening with training sessions, meetings and special events, such as those organized last spring by the Group’s British subsidiary.
Mapei World takes Centre Stage at Clerkenwell Design Week
THE MAPEI SPECIFICATION CENTRE IN LONDON OPENED ITS DOORS TO DESIGNERS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD DURING THREE DAYS DEVOTED TO DESIGN.
Beside being the cradle of modern architecture, the Clerkenwell district in London is also one of the world’s leading design centres with one of the highest densities of creative people on the planet.
Lots of buildings have been converted into showrooms for famous design and architecture firms in an area where craft workshops, printing works, clockmakers and jewellers used to be located.
Each spring, this dynamic and creative neighbourhood celebrates by opening its doors to thousands of visitors from all over the world: this is Clerkenwell Design Week (CDW).
This year it was held from 24th to 26th May: around 90 showrooms, 150 local businesses and over 300 brands met visitors from over 70 countries, 65% of whom were architects and designers, to take part in over 400 events organised especially for the occasion.
“Conversations at Clerkenwell” was a series of meetings that drew crowds to meet with celebrities from the world of architecture and design, such as Daniel Libeskind, Patricia Moroso and Tom Dixon.
Some of the most eye-catching events were organised by Mapei through its British subsidiary, Mapei UK.
MAPEI WORLD IN LONDON CITY
To inform designers, architects and specifiers about its innovative solutions, Mapei UK opened the doors of its own Specification Centre for three busy days holding events strategically linked to the wide range of products available to customers.
For Mapei’s first Clerkenweel Design week event, the British showroom paid homage to its Italian roots by holding a “Taste of Italy” event on 24th May, showcasing solutions for the food and drinks industry.
Progress slabs, panels, colour samples of various products, brochures and special leaflets focused on Mapei systems designed for those industries involved in manufacturing, conserving, processing, distributing and consuming food were on display.
A lavish buffet of Italian delicacies was a hit with visitors with over 400 people tooking part in the event and showing a keen interest in all the products, particularly the range of cementitious and resin floors and materials for installing ceramics.
The next day attention turned to an event devoted to top-class design. The architect Ian Hunter, previously of Foster & Partners, led a seminar about “Marvellous Materials” and how to create extraordinary effects to a high quality.
The event attracted plenty of architects and designers, who were educated about the benefits of using Mapei products, such as ULTRATOP LOFT, a trowellable cementitious paste for decorative floors, and KERAPOXY DESIGN grout for joints embellished with MAPEGLITTER.
The interest aroused by Hunter’s presentation then allowed Mapei UK’s Technical Services Department experts for the range of cementitious and resin floors, to provide a more detailed overview of ULTRATOP LOFT’s technical features and potential uses.
A guest presentation on large-format thin ceramic tiles by Alan Collie, Domus’s Commercial Director, was well attended and reflects the popularity for this recent trend.
On the penultimate evening (25th May), the Clerkenwell Design Week re-opening of the Specification Centre took place as part of an “Evening with Mapei” event. The evening exceeded all expectations with over 700 guests attending the event, including a number of important architects and designers, as they welcomed the chance to meet Mapei UK’s technicians, sales representatives and Product Managers.
On 26th May, the final evening saw a focus on Mapei solutions for sports surfaces and facilities, most notably the MAPECOAT TNS System. As well as dedicated informative progress slabs, panels and brochures, a mini golf course was set up in the Specification Centre allowing visitors to play for prizes of vouchers to be spent on golf products.
Again the figures speak for themselves: over 400 visitors attended the evening event.
Mapei UK also organised a special draw throughout the whole of Clerkenwell Design week, with the main prize being a professional cycling jersey with the Mapei logo being awarded to a member of staff from architect practice Foster & Partners, further proof of the kind of qualified people who visited the showroom and all the opportunities for Mapei UK that emerged during the busy schedule of events.
