The Daltile Design Studio's exterior capitalizes on its corner l…
The Daltile Design Studio's exterior capitalizes on its corner location to showcase large displays of tile in its storefront windows.
Courtesy Daltile
One of the services offered at the studio is custom mosaic work,…
One of the services offered at the studio is custom mosaic work, done by local artisans. In this case, a photograph of a flower was blown up into a full wall mural using mosaic tiles.
Courtesy Daltile
In addition to Daltile's more traditional ceramic tile offerings…
In addition to Daltile's more traditional ceramic tile offerings, the studio also showcases a variety of slabs and engineered stone products.
Courtesy Daltile
One of the technogolical innovations of the design studio is a l…
One of the technogolical innovations of the design studio is a large-scale touchscreen computer (left), which allows clients to configure spaces according to their tastes, with hundreds of tile and grout options over a wide range of backgrounds.
Courtesy Daltile
At the center of the studio, a chandelier made from Daltile prod…
At the center of the studio, a chandelier made from Daltile products hangs from the ceiling.
Samples of the products are readily available in niches behind t…
Samples of the products are readily available in niches behind the displays, rather than being stored in a central sample library.
A solid slab backsplash steals the show in a kitchen vignette wi…
A solid slab backsplash steals the show in a kitchen vignette within the gallery.
The Dallas design district’s latest addition is a Gensler-designed showroom for Daltile. Gensler developed the new retail space that puts the Dallas-based company’s products in the forefront while using LCD touchscreens to showcase the full range of possibilities in its tile, stone, and engineered collections. Knowing that residential designers would bring their clients to the design district, Daltile researched what improvements it could make to its existing retail outlets to draw in new interest.
To maximize wall space within the galleries, project architect Glenn Isenmann designed a box within the box of the existing building shell, with the inner box slightly off-axis to provide a variety of vignette settings that highlight different residential and commercial environments, as well as spaces for product showcases and client services. Gensler design director Christopher Goggin calls the 6,400-square-foot showroom “a work studio with flexible gallery space, with floor tiles as the artwork.” Nowhere is this more apparent than at the studio’s entrance, which features a full mosaic wall—modeled after a photograph of a blooming flower—crafted by local artisans.
Deane Madsen, Assoc. AIA, LEED Green Associate, is the former associate design editor for ARCHITECT, and still covers architecture and design in Washington, D.C. He earned his M.Arch. at UCLA's Department of Architecture and Urban Design. Follow Deane on Twitter at @deane_madsen.
