Dezeen promotion: Italian ceramic tile manufacturer Iris Ceramica Group has transformed an office space in Clerkenwell, London, into its first showroom in the UK.

Iris Ceramica Group has opened the showroom to mark its surface collections being brought to the UK for the first time.

Iris Ceramica Group is a leading brand in the design, production and distribution of high-quality porcelain and ceramic products for residential, commercial and industrial architecture.

Having recently opened showrooms in Berlin and New York, the new London opening is a continuation of the company's move to expand its group throughout Europe.

Located in Old Street, the ceramic tile-covered showroom, in the bustling design district of Clerkenwell in central London, was formerly an office space.

It now gives visitors a glimpse of some of Iris Ceramica Group's collections, from porcelain stoneware flooring to home wall coverings and ventilated walls.

The industrial-style showroom has been designed as a flexible co-working space, which can be easily adapted to host events or conferences, with each floor boasting its own unique design.

"The space has been conceived as a meeting place, somewhere members of the public can use to work independently, to co-work or to enjoy a coffee and relax with free wifi, whilst enjoying the luxury design aspect of Iris Ceramica Group," said the company.

The brand hopes that its new space will encourage interaction between visitors where they can share information and spark inspiration and creativity.

The ground floor offers a "city boutique hotel" atmosphere, where floor-to-wall ceilings allow plenty of light to illuminate the space in a bid to bring the outside in.

A striking white staircase leads to the top floor, which hosts Iris Ceramica Group's Diesel Living collection of contemporary floor and wall tiling solutions inspired by the industrial and metropolitan world. This "business-oriented" area is also suitable for co-working and studying.

Down in the basement is a more private space, which boasts a "spa-like" layout with a backdrop of traditional tile formats and a water feature. Private booths around the edges of the room make this floor ideal for independent working.

Federica Minozzi, the daughter of Iris Ceramica Group founder Romano Minozzi, now acts as the company's CEO. "Their mutual passion for the brand is evident from both a design perspective as well as a business one," said a spokesperson for the company.

"They hope to keep the company within their family for many years to come, in order to maintain their brands key ethos," they added. "Having been in the business for almost 60 years, they are excited to bring their collections to the UK for the very first time."

Iris Ceramica Group places an emphasis on sustainability within its design processes, and has been operating a zero-impact production process since March 2018. This is achieved by using abundant raw materials such as clay, feldspar sand, silica and quartz in its products.

In addition to this, materials are taken and transported from only a few miles from the factories in the city of Sassuolo.

Iris Ceramica Group consistently carries out studies and innovation activities, including research into a production method that involved applying titanium dioxide to ceramic slabs to make them anti-pollutant and anti-bacterial, which works with the help of light and water.

"This amazing technology makes it possible for indoor and outdoor spaces, and also the interior and exterior of buildings, to actively help create a better environment and improve the quality of life," added the company.

The group has also created a "Design your Slab" technology – a digital decoration service system that allows you to apply any image or illustration to large-scale ceramics.

Find out more about Iris Ceramica Group on its website.