Constantly developing new countertop and surface designs, the in-house team at Wilsonart set out to capture a luxurious look and feel that could work in an array of environments but also continue to blend in no matter what the current trends are. That’s how the Timeless Luxury collection first came about. Senior Product Designer Paul Mikulencak recently spoke with Architizer about the efforts that went into the latest release for this collection of solid surfaces and the six ways it lives up to its name.
From left: Arctic Dune, Arctic Dune Translucent
1. Understanding the New Meaning of Luxury
Mikulencak and his team delved into research about luxury and what today’s customers really consider to be luxurious. The results seemed to prove that, in the modern world, luxury has taken on a new meaning. “Luxury is not about needless consumption,” Mikulencak says, which may seem counterintuitive to those of us who still think of luxury as anything opulent and excessive. “[It’s] about making thoughtful choices and using materials that are easily maintainable and have a lasting quality to them. It is about you showcasing your personality in a space.”
With that as a guiding principle, Wilsonart has crafted all of its latest collections to allow designers and customers the most freedom to use these products to express their vision. “This idea of the ability to create a space that showcases your unique personality is one of the main themes of ‘Timeless Luxury.’”
2. Choosing Complementary Designs
For Mikulencak, this approach to luxury comes from blending elements to tell a story. It’s a process his team used to create the Timeless Luxury collection and to ensure that clients would be able to seamlessly blend them with other Wilsonart designs. “By designing in this way, we ensure our products complement each other and give our customers a wide range of design possibilities,” says Mikulencak. “For example, in our Quartz launch, you will see some themes similar to those in solid surface or laminates.”
In other words, the Quartz collection offers palettes and styles that visually work layered or mixed with Wilsonart’s solid surface designs to create unique and engaging looks. This process, called “Material Mixology,” allows for new levels of personalized texture and color without sacrificing cohesion. “Understanding and crafting a story is always a major focus for Wilsonart,” says Mikulencak. “When a designer goes to select Wilsonart products, be it solid surface, quartz or laminate, they will find colors running throughout the collections that all work well together.”
Grey Beola (also shown at top)
3. Introducing Patterns with a Natural Feel
Wilsonart’s research into current trends and new ideas about luxury led the company to linear patterns and woodgrains as graphic elements that still managed to feel natural and warm. A perfect example comes from the white and charcoal Grey Beola countertop in a vein-cut stone. “It is a really striking linear pattern that mixes warm and cool colors and has subtle particulates to give it a natural feel,” says Mikulencak. And, in keeping with their mission of overarching stories and complementary designs, Grey Beola also clearly references its quartz inspirations.
4. Using Translucency to Be Creative
Two of Wilsonart’s most exciting new designs are the Arctic Dune and the Luminous White surfaces, both conceived to be backlit for an alluring translucency. Mikulencak explains that this added feature gives designers creative freedom to play with how the material should be used and how it can change to meet different atmospheres. “Both designs give you a strikingly beautiful look if used in a traditional way,” he says. “But by adding the element of translucency, it challenges designers to rethink how and where they use solid surface.”
5. Looking for Unexpected Inspiration
Kimberlite, Brooklyn Concrete and Tumbled Stone all use colors commonly found in concrete — a material not often used as a countertop. These colors mean flexibility for Wilsonart customers, according to Mikulencak. “Concrete is a material that has been around for a very long time. It has, more recently, been celebrated and highlighted in interior spaces.” He attributes this reinvention and new celebration of concrete to its flexibility, texture and solid colors.
After considering the ways that interior designers have recently been pairing concrete with hardwood to create engaging new furniture and decorative items, the Wilsonart team knew that something concrete-inspired should play a part in the Timeless Luxury collection. “This idea of using a quality, easily maintainable material in a new way to help tell your story is a perfect example of Timeless Luxury. Concrete fits perfectly into this story, and therefore we drew upon its attributes when working on these three new designs.”
From Left: Kimberlite, Brooklyn Concrete
6. Focusing on Durability and Easy Maintenance
From a usability perspective, all of the Solid Surface designs are nonporous, rendering them stain-resistant and even resistant to light scratches that can be buffed away on the spot. What’s more, the material is Food and Drug Administration (FDA) compliant, which means it’s safe for food preparation and, therefore, ideal for the most active of kitchens. Along those same lines, inconspicuous seams give the look of a single piece while also making it easier to clean and keep free of mildew.
Out of all the ways that the new collection helps designers redefine luxury for their clients, Mikulencak always comes back to its ability to fit into a specific design story, emphasizing that each solid surface countertop can be cut and formed into dynamic shapes, elegant inlays and an abundance of custom design options. But, no matter what one person’s design story entails, with every piece of the Timeless Luxury collection, they can find “performance combined with technology that materializes into a beautiful and durable surface.”
