sebastian herkner

Area Pro Grid for Agrob Buchtal (2020)

Area Pro is the new tile programme for the project sector of Agrob Buchtal, one of the leading suppliers of architectural ceramics. The floor series offers an exceptionally comprehensive range of colours, formats and slip-resistant surfaces. The look, inspired by fine-grained limestone, with its warm earthy tones and finely nuanced shades of grey, conveys a timeless and yet unmistakable impression. In order to meet its own claim of combining high functionality with sophisticated design, Agrob Buchtal hired our studio. We created a completely new design for the surface of the highest slip-resistance class. The result: the Grid.

Area Pro is the first tile series on the market which also includes large-size tiles in 60x60 cm with slip-resistance class R12V4. Due to new building regulations, this attractive solution now can be used e.g. in commercial kitchens in combination with line drainage. Area Pro turns this rather technical topic into a visual highlight thanks to a special design of the internationally renowned product designer Sebastian Herkner: "Tiles are very functional elements - for me a great opportunity to work on a design which combines functionality and beauty, and this in areas where aesthetics is not necessarily the main focus", explains Herkner. "I was looking for a pattern which looks spontaneous and yet has a certain logic. That's how I came up with the repetitive, trapezoidal rectangles and the pattern which can be continued in all four directions. For the design, I had to use my math knowledge from school to calculate the depth of the relief and the size of the raised areas. The result is a symbiosis of creativity and physics."

producer: Agrob Buchtal 

2020