The unveiling of a tile mural centrepiece at the Bolton One health, leisure and research building, a £31m leisure venue, features artwork made possible by Johnson Tiles’ unique ‘Artile’ service. Depicting Rajan, one of the world’s last swimming elephants, the giant 8m by 3m mural was designed by Bolton University final year fine art students Cat Taylor Cummins and Sandra Bouguerch, who chose the inspirational image to demonstrate that if the largest creature which walks the earth can swim, then anyone can. The town of Bolton is also closely associated with elephants – the official crest features one atop a castle and there are various elephant-themed sculptures around the town centre.
The photograph of 60-year-old Rajan, taken by renowned photographer Cesare Naldi, was digitally printed and applied onto glazed tiles by Johnson Tiles at its headquarters in Stoke on Trent. Each individual tile which makes up the mural offers the same performance as a standard decorative tile, and is fully UV and scratch resistant. But it’s not just Rajan that’s set to cause a splash with users at Bolton One. Johnson Tiles also used their expertise in pool tiling to give the tank of the pool, the pool edge, spectator seating areas and separate hydrotherapy pool a luxurious finish from their ‘Absolute Pools’ range of tiles befitting the new £31m facility.
Phil Taylor from Johnson Tiles, says: “Virtually any image type – from photographs to paintings and pencil sketches – can be reproduced as tiles using our Artile service. It gives designers endless scope to create unique, bespoke ceramic tiles, and that’s just what’s been achieved at Bolton One. It was a fantastic project to be involved in, simply because we’ve been able to demonstrate that when it comes to pool tile design, anything goes.”
Johnson Tiles operates in both residential and commercial markets and its product ranges are recognised by the industry for their excellence in quality and design. Johnson Tiles is the UK’s leading manufacturer and importer of ceramic wall and floor tiles. A trading division of Norcros Group (Holdings) Limited, the company has over 100 years’ experience and produces tiles at its Stoke-on-Trent headquarters to the highest standards.
Johnson Tiles
Tel: +44 (0)1782 575575
www.johnson-tiles.com
