With a fabulous cocktail party and the Parkside 40 Years x Lois O’Hara commission, Parkside marked its 40th year in the tile specification business with quite some style at this year’s Clerkenwell Design Week.
The Parkside 40 Years x Lois O’Hara commission wrapped the Parkside Sustainability and Design Studio in the Brighton artist’s colourful graphic print throughout the three-days of Clerkenwell Design Week. Alongside, the tile specification business also held Brunch & Mimosa sessions and inspiring talks from designers and material innovators. With hundreds of visitors through its doors to begin conversations and discover a growing range of sustainable material choices, Parkside has completed another successful Clerkenwell Design Week.
Parkside was founded in 1983 by Peter and Georgina Edmonds with a Leicester showroom. When Peter and Georgina’s daughters began customising tiles with Parkside’s own kiln and expanding distribution sales, Parkside began its transformation into a tile specification company. In 1985, it started directly importing tiles from Spain and Italy, ordering with Telex machines. Fast forward to 2023 and Parkside is now a Carbon Balanced business with a range of more than 20,000 commercial tiles, including some of the most sustainable tiles in production.
Dr Alasdair Bremner talked through the development of one such tile, Principle. This is the world’s first mass produced 91% recycled content tile. Made with recycled materials from post-consumer glass and pre-consumer vitrified ceramic, every square metre of Principle diverts 8kg of waste from landfill. Parkside also continued its ongoing association with Planq as the sustainable furniture brand explained how it’s taking old textiles and denim and transforming them into a sustainable material with numerous applications.
Founder of interior studio, LA VILLIANE, Mathilde Le Villian also came to the Sustainability and Design Studio to moodboard with visitors and give a glimpse of her soon to launch tile collaboration with Parkside, Sotho Tile. Other new products including stunning British made Ethical Terrazzo from Ethical Stone. The 100% British terrazzo uses aggregates from across the island and binds them with a next generation low-carbon cement. Made in Manchester, Ethical Terrazzo saves just shy of 2000kg of carbon per load from transportation alone.
James Journet, sales design director, Parkside, says: “We’re delighted to have taken part in another fantastic Clerkenwell Design Week. With a cocktail party to celebrate our 40th year, cheese and wine with Planq and The Mosaic Factory, as well as serving brunch and mimosas every day at 11; the studio welcomed in people from right across the design and specification industries. It was a great atmosphere and felt hugely positive, we’re already looking forward to doing it all again.”
For further information, 0116 276 2532, info@parkside.co.uk, www.parkside.co.uk
