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TINO takes on its Asia Pacific expansion from a base in China


The Spanish firm TINO Stone Group, specializing in the production and distribution of textures in natural stone, has presented in Shanghai the most spectacular of its twelve showrooms throughout the world. This new establishment was designed by the Malaga architect Ángel Asenjo, who has created a building with irregular shapes, giving the offices and showroom an avant-garde exterior. The interior exudes a very bright atmosphere with large glass windows. 

The office building and showroom are supplemented by the rest of the Spanish multinational’s facilities in Shanghai, which also include a stone treatment centre and a logistics centre, inaugurated last July. The new TINO Stone Group business complex, situated in the Free Trade Zone, an international business park in the city of Zhangjiagang (near Shanghai), marks the first stage of the start-up of the Asia-Pacific subsidiary, which hopes to represent around 30% of TINO’s overall turnover by 2010.

A unique building in which the showroom and offices play with space, stone and glass
The building was designed by the Malaga architecture studio of Ángel Asenjo, and the exterior cladding and interior were created by Ramiro Álvarez, TINO’s Director of Image and Design. It is a clear example of the company’s enthusiasm for innovation in both design and sales policy. With a usable area of 3,000 m2, the TINO headquarters forms a single block made up of four buildings interconnected by means of a spectacular glass structure.

The four buildings are constructed using various materials: steel, glass, and of course, stone, which plays a key role in the architectural work and the interior, where the display space is located. To cover the exterior structure of the four modules, the choice was the new TINO ventilated facade system, with stone panels 4 cm. thick, 1 m. high and 1.66 wide. Each structure is made up of a large glass-covered steel framework and the main façade has a large pyramid-shaped steel canopy which gives the building an aerial view.

The showroom is a large space on the cutting edge of design.
The ground floor of the building, to be used for the showroom, houses a large 900 m2 auditorium and 700 m2 of display space. All of the furniture bears the personal mark of TINO. With steel playing the starring role, both the design and making of each of the pieces were artisanal and they were created to suit the decorative and functional needs of the company. Given the great height of all the spaces, lighting is the absolute star of the entire building’s interior design, with a plethora of technical and aesthetic resources employed to create different environments.

The group of structures is framed by a special green space with gardens lit up using the very latest on the market: lights which recreate and project the slope of the buildings and outline a very avant-garde atmosphere.