The Groninger Museum, designed by the Italian architect and designer Alessandro Mendini, was thoroughly renovated in 2010. One of the pavilions that Mendini had had clad in large, colourful laminated sheets had become so discoloured by UV light that they had to be replaced. Because glazes generally are unaffected by discoloration, Koninklijke Tichelaar Makkum was asked to develop ceramic plates for this purpose.

Architect Alessandro Mendini provided a new design for tiles of 1200 by 1200 mm, in which the form and colour combinations were different from the original design. The company had never before produced tiles of this size, and after a long period of development the design was applied to large ceramic plates by silkscreen printing.

Both the architect and the museum management were pleased with the result. One of the major advantages of ceramic tiles is the permanence of the colours. The new cladding can withstand the harmful effects of UV light and the environment, so that the radiant colours, one of the chief features of Alessandro Mendini’s design, remain undiminished. Mendini: “I wish I had met Royal Tichelaar earlier in my life.”