Jaguar Landrover Showroom project 2014
A while back Kinorigo got involved in a challenging project. Land Rovers are the vehicles of dreams for some of us, as are Jaguars – their exhibitions are a major showcase for these cars and are undoubtedly always a focal point of any motor event. The brief was succinct and very stringent to fit in with the rest of their stand which as always is a masterpiece.
Jaguar Land Rover needed a product that had many qualities. The tiles needed to be lightweight as the exhibition stand was due to tour through a lot of shows in many different countries, this meant the floor needed to be simple to transport, as well as quick to dismantle – without breakages. The requirements included the need for the tiles to be fixed to a special base which would be compatible with the rest of the stand. And then the obvious challenge – bearing the weight of the cars.
For the research and development stage of the project, Kinorigo needed to test the breaking and cracking point of the porcelain tiles. We tested the chosen tile in many ways and conditions. For the cars to drive over the stand the tiles need to be incredibly strong but flexible enough to take the impact of the movement combined with the weight. One of the heaviest vehicles being over 7500KG – the weight of an armoured Range Rover. We set up the tiles on the special raised flooring that was to be used on the stand and drove a Land Rover over them, the tiles flexed about 5-10mm but didn’t break, the forklift truck then cot involved and it was loaded up with pallets to add to the weight, the tiles still stood up to the pressure!
Tests for scratch resistance and graffiti were also carried out, the tiles were drawn on with permanent marker and left overnight to clean off in the morning, it all came off with just a bit of soapy water.
So now you’re wondering what was this amazing thin lightweight tile that can take the weight of an armoured Range Rover, the answer is Suite. Suite is an ultra thin porcelain in our Panorama range, with 18 different colours to choose from. The thickness of the tiles is 3.5mm and the colour used for the show was Suite Snow.
Stay tuned – soon there will be more ultra thin panorama tiles in the range!
To finish with, here is a feedback quote from the Global Project Executive:
‘Hi Guys, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all very much for all your efforts to help make this project possible, the stone flooring was a resounding success.
The conclusions from Geneva indicated that the stone sheets remained intact and unbroken, even though cars of all weights and sizes were driven all over them. The stone cleaned up well, remained flat, and appears to be durable, it even withstood pallet truck traffic, with minimal surface protection.’