‘Gelato’ is a brand of tiles and sanitary ware with bright, vivid, fun and bold character. If we dig deep into the behind-the-scene, there are hundreds of stories hidden under each tile, with ‘Boonthavorn’, an expert in the tile industry, as a supporter pushing for the Gelato brand to help residential and commercial spaces such as coffee shops, hotels, and department stores show their true colors.
Khun Mom – Sutthiphansa Nusong, New Product & Business Development Manager, World Ceramic Center Co., Ltd., has invited us to experience the Behind-the-Scene with the origin story of Gelato, pieced together to become the brand’s identity.
“The Gelato brand is a tile brand that radiates a fun, cute and bright sensation to meet the needs of the new generation and pushing the limits in design, giving everyone a space to express themselves.”
In addition to creating fun which highlights the brand’s identity even more, adapting to changing trends and the way of life of Thai people is still matters that the brand meticulously fits into every tile.
“Gelato is Boonthavorn’s brand, a distributor of construction materials with years of experience in the tile industry. With this, we know exactly which factories are specialized in certain areas. We research design trends, the changing way of life of Thai people. We strive to discover and develop tiles to meet the needs of people’s lives.”
Gelato and its debut at Architect Expo
Let’s first clear up some of our questions for Gelato, which is participating in the Architect Expo for the first time. Why did the brand decide to be at the fair in 2024? We are so excited that it’s impossible to contain our curiosity of this question. As soon as we sat down with Khun Mom, we dropped this question right away.
“The reason for joining the Architect Expo is because it brings together people in the design-construction industry or even architects in Thailand alone. Gelato sees the architects or designers as influencers in selecting construction materials.
I think that meeting our peers in the industry allows us to discuss, exchange ideas, and think that Gelato’s own products would be another interesting option that makes architecture or design more beautiful”.
From visiting Boonthavorn and exploring Gelato’s products, we can only say that decorating your home or residence will be more fun. As Khun Mom said, Gelato will make the design more beautiful and we would like to affirm this statement as well.
Flexible design ideas with just one tile
Each tile imported to meet the lifestyle of Thai people comes from partners all over the world with the expertise to create one tile that can expand the limit of design ideas endlessly.
“We have factories and partners all over the world to collaborate for tile design. The joint development process starts with researching design trends, both designers’ own preference and end-users who would actually use the products, such as home builders and people who want to open a business and need a place to operate. The design should reflect the identity of the business and its owner.”
Having talked about partners, we would like to inquire whether the use of tiles in Thailand is different from that of other areas. As you know, the weather conditions in each country are different. Therefore, such would influence the selection of home decoration materials.
“Our country (Thailand) prefers to use tiles because it is hot and humid, using tiles is therefore appropriate. In addition, tiles are easy to care for, do not absorb water, do not swell, so they are continuous developed to replace other materials that create an impact on the environment and are difficult to maintain.”
Answering the needs of people of all ages, caring for every living thing in the house
Choosing floor and wall decoration materials that are appropriate for houses with elderly people is an issue that must be carefully considered. Which qualities of decorative tile that the Gelato brand thinks are important, before deciding to pick up some tiles to be part of your residence?
“Once we build a house, we want it to last until the last days of our life. Therefore, you should consider the matter of non-slippery flooring materials or use anti-slip tiles with a high R (slip resistance rating) and must be easy to maintain.”
What if the house does not only have human occupants, but also other creatures as well? Can tiles satisfy this requirement in the same way as the elderly group?
“Actually, we are concerned about people’s lifestyles, maybe it’s not just a matter of the elderly, but also other household members.
We will launch a new collection to meet the needs of family members who are pets. It’s currently in the development stage and should be launched at this event. If pets are safe, owners would definitely be safe.”
For pet lovers, don’t forget to keep a close eye on the launch of this collection at Architect’24, because every space in the home should be safe for every life.
View of future home decorating trends from the perspective of ‘Boonthavorn’
With Boonthavorn’s longstanding position in the tile industry and changes in tile trends to create something new in the design world, how has this trend changed? We think Boonthavorn will have a better answer to this question than our own assumptions.
“The first thing that can clearly be recognized is the size. Tiles used to be smaller, but now they are larger. Areas that emphasize luxury will use a larger size. Presently, there is a size called big slab, but small sizes are still available because it gives a feeling of closeness and handicraft.
In terms of colors, there are more varieties. In the past, some colors couldn’t be made because of the cost. Now there have been developments to have more shades. There’s also inkjet technology that can print anything very realistically.
Lastly, the matter of various surfaces, in the past, there were gloss and matte. Presently, tiles come in semi-glossy, semi-matte, smooth, which are all very similar to genuine stone. These textures are so fun and every factor of tile design has evolved a lot.”
When combining the tile trend with the home decoration trend, what do Boonthavorn and Gelato see from the past to the future? Khun Mom also gave us a clear picture that,
“When it comes to home decorating in the future, it must respond to the needs of our ever-changing lives. Since the emergence of COVID-19, we have been living at home, which was a good thing, since we can spend more time to take care of it.
As I have said, there has been a development of tiles for pets. Nowadays people like to have fewer children and have more dogs and cats living with them. We developed this product to fulfil that need. Therefore, trends follow people’s lifestyles.”
When trends follow lifestyles, we also have to follow the highlights of Gelato that will happen at Architect’24.
Discover inspiring new ideas at Architect’24
In addition to the new collection that meets the needs of pet lovers, the brand also comes with sanitary ware that is ready to mix and match with tiles for every mood and tone. All Gelato products are equipped with complete services for designers and architects, especially customized tiles and sanitary ware.
“This year marks the first time that Gelato participate in the Architect Expo. We plan to launch products that better meet your life needs. We have materials ready to support no matter how absurd or challenging the idea is. Gelato is ready to service, develop, and take care of customers, whether designers or homeowners to feel that the area is a real-life challenge.”
Explore inspiration that meets your lifestyle needs with Gelato at booth No. S111 at Architect’24, the 36th ASEAN’s Largest Building Technology Exposition during 30 April – 5 May, 2024 from 10:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. at IMPACT Muang Thong Thani.
