Parkside celebrates 40 years at Clerkenwell Design Week

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 in style, at this year’s Clerkenwell Design Week…

two people looking at tile samples on display in the parkside showroom during 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 completed another successful Clerkenwell Design Week.

“We’re delighted to have taken part in another fantastic Clerkenwell Design Week,” said James Journet, Sales Design Director, Parkside. “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.”

Parkside showroom with sample tiles and a table full of food for party at CDW

Image credit: Parkside

The company 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, the transformation into a tile specification company began. 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 per cent recycled content tile. Made with recycled materials from post-consumer glass and pre-consumer vitrified ceramic, every square metre of Principle diverts eight kilograms 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 per cent 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 2000 kilograms of carbon per load from transportation alone.

Parkside is one of our Recommended Suppliers and regularly features in our Supplier News section of the website. If you are interested in becoming one of our Recommended Suppliers, please email Katy Phillips.

Main image credit: Parkside