A Few Treats at Design Helsinki

Last month the Finnish capital hosted a Scandi wonderland of design, offering us the perfect excuse for a mini-break punctuated with a few tile showrooms. Between the 24th and 25th of August Design Helsinki (a sister show of Clerkenwell Design Week) opened up the doors of the city’s countless brand showrooms, an international design pavillion, and a few delicious places to eat.

For us, searching amongst the stylish seating, fabulous fabrics, luxurious lighting, and gorgeous home goods, were a couple of companies right up our street. Our first stop was ABL-Laatat, a family run company founded by Tiina and Ralf Forsman.

What started as a passion for Finnish architecture has developed into a curated selection of some of the worlds loveliest tiles. With 3D tiles from Senio, unique motifs from WOW, and statement pieces from Mutina, ABL-Laatat’s showroom was scattered with familiar faces. Combined, mixed, matched, and paired amongst themselves the company’s personality and eye for design shines through.

We followed that tile-tastic visit with a company we’ve been following for over three years. This recycled plastic, terrazzo-effect, multifunctional colour-forward surface can be thermoformed into almost any shape. Durat‘s vibrant and varied selection of shades offers up design solutions for any number of projects, from entire bathroom suites to the subtlety of serving boards. Delighted to finally see the surface in person I can confirm it is as soft, smooth, and pleasing to the touch as it is to the eye.