INTERIORS & INTERIOR DESIGN
BEYOND THE FINISH
RETHINKING THE ARCHITECTURE OF COMMERCIAL SURFACES
From bespoke material replication to the transformation of existing interiors, Novograf is helping architects and designers realise ambitious creative visions through innovative surface solutions.
The character of an interior is often defined by its surfaces. The warmth of timber, the distinctive colour of a ceramic tile, the texture of a feature wall or the way graphics integrate with the architecture can fundamentally change how a space looks and feels. Yet translating those creative intentions into a finished environment is not always straightforward. Materials that look beautiful in a design concept may prove impractical to install, difficult to reproduce or unsuitable for the demands of a working building. At Novograf, these challenges are where creative thinking, material expertise and practical problem-solving come together.
One particularly demanding project involved recreating a distinctive glossy pink ceramic tile, manufactured in a bespoke colour for a premium retail environment. The design required the appearance of the original tiling to continue across upper-level walls, window recesses, bulkheads and an integrated access door, where conventional ceramic installation was less practical. Working from the original specification and physical material references, Novograf developed a printed panel solution that carefully reproduced the colour, tile pattern, gloss appearance and contrasting grout detailing. The objective was not simply to create something similar, but to preserve the architectural character of the original finish across two different material systems. The same approach to bespoke colour and finish development has helped create distinctive
A bespoke tile-effect treatment maintains a consistent architectural appearance across different parts of a premium retail façade.
green tile-effect surfaces for premium beauty retail environments.
Material innovation becomes even more valuable when design ambitions must be reconciled with technical requirements. For a major financial services refurbishment programme, Novograf developed an alternative to an established timber-effect surface following changes to fire-performance requirements. Through physical sampling and material development, the team worked to reproduce the original grain, texture, colour and sheen while responding to the revised specification. In another flagship retail environment, a complex three-dimensional surface concept was translated into a repeatable concrete-effect architectural finish, preserving the character of the designer’ s original vision while making large-format manufacture and installation practical.
Close-up of the developed timber-effect surface, highlighting the grain, tone and finish within the live branch environment.
TK Maxx in Glasgow: A bespoke concrete-effect architectural finish replicates the texture and geometry of an original three-dimensional design, creating a distinctive and repeatable surface treatment.
An existing five-metre display cabinet transformed through specialist architectural film rather than replaced
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