Last September the Porcelanosa group opened its flagship store in Manhattan’s buzzy and bustling Flatiron district, at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and Broadway, with all the glamour and high style that the Spanish Brand is famous for.
The new store is situated in the iconic, neoclassical 1919 Commodore Criterion building. More than 700 guests attended the opening party, among them many members of key US architecture and interior design practices, as well as well-known faces from the worlds of culture, cinema and international society.
The interior of Porcelanosa’s six-storey, 2,000-sq m shop has been redesigned by Foster + Partners, the practice of Norman Foster, winner of the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 1999 and Prince of Asturias Award in the Arts Category in 2009. Foster + Partners has restored the original facade and created an innovative, versatile interior, now recognised internationally as a high-profile project. The building’s lower floors are used to display the products of Porcelanosa’s eight brands, from ceramic floor and wall coverings to kitchen and bathroom fittings and building materials. On the top floor are offices, meetings rooms and plenty of space for holding lectures, seminars and exhibitions.
The Porcelanosa group is a leading, globally renowned company in the ceramics sector, which began its expansion into the US market 30 years ago. The new Manhattan shop aspires to be an iconic, corporate urban landmark in the Big Apple, where Porcelanosa already has two shops. The brand has around 500 shops all over the world, 25 of which are in the US, along with over 500 authorised distributors.