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Henley Tiles: Inspiration brought to life

Balineum presents an exclusive range of ceramic tiles: the Henley collection.

Two years in the making, Henley's groundwork was laid when founder Sarah Watson decamped to Brussels for a long weekend of design trekking. She popped into the Horta Museum and was immediately smitten with an impressive display of tiles decorating the dining room.

"I loved the sheer expanse of it, the mix of full and half brick field tiles lining the walls and ceiling. It felt unique and I came away truly inspired by that," she says of the Art Nouveau installation.

Back home in England, Sarah began noticing similar tile on building facades throughout the city, from countless pubs and 19th century office blocks in Soho to the iconic Liberty department store. Taken out of context, and with refined proportions, she thought these simple glazed tiles would lend themselves perfectly to the bathroom.

Sarah sought out local British makers in Stoke-on-Trent to fabricate this exciting new line. The artisan studio handcrafts each tile using English white earthenware clay that's then glazed in a spectrum of colours, from chalky pastels to rich jewel tones. As the tiles are hand cut in wet pliable clay, each one bears the wonderfully subtle markings of a handmade object, be it slight irregularities in shape or subtle variations in shade. You may even spot the tile-maker's fingerprints on the underside!

Henley comprises 12 colours across twelve configurations, including 6 x 21cm field tiles along with half bricks, baseboards, liner tiles, trim and bullnose versions. Use them in any number of formations, be it the chevron we previewed at Decorex or a Horta style twist on subway.

T: 0207 431 9364
W: www.balineum.co.uk

2nd May 2014