Solus doubles down on Birmingham with reimagined showroom

Solus has opened a new showroom at its headquarters in Tyseley, where the company has been based since 2008. Eighteen years on, the investment represents a renewed commitment to Birmingham’s industrial heartland and a belief that well-considered design should be encountered where work, making and trade already happen.

Tyseley is a district shaped by manufacture and infrastructure, long defined by railways, factories and workshops rather than retail gloss. The decision to create a carefully designed showroom here is deliberate. Rather than separating design from industry, the new space brings them into closer alignment: placing ceramic surfaces, material intelligence and craft within a working context that has always understood production.

For CEO Marcus Bentley, the project did not begin as a refurbishment exercise. “I didn’t wake up one morning and think, that showroom needs to be renovated,” he says. “I initially wanted to bring more people through the door.” As discussions evolved, it became clear that the existing space needed a rethink. “The old showroom did not reflect the brand that Solus had become. It’s our head office. We should really have an amazing showroom here, and we didn’t.”

Local design firm, 2G Design & Build were brought in to deliver the project. The brief settled around four aims. The first was retail: to create a compelling environment for the retail customer and showcase products in an unforgettable way. The second was luxury residential: to create an appropriate space to discuss the needs of clients.

Third, the showroom needed to serve architects and designers across the Midlands as a credible destination. And finally, it had to work for the team. “When staff enter the building, you want them to feel the brand as they walk through the door. You want them to feel the position Solus has in the market. That’s achieved now.”

The layout is organised around the customer journey. Visitors arrive at a calm welcome area with soft seating before moving to a reception desk formed from Spolia: crushed samples and sections of the old showroom floor reassembled into a single surface. Embedded within it are keys from the original building, folding Solus’ own history into the new space.

The visual anchor of the showroom is the slab wall. “There are 110 large-format slabs, all angled,” Bentley explains. “You only see a snippet of each as you walk past. When you come in and see it, it’s pretty jaw-dropping.” Materials are grouped by aesthetic family rather than brand: marble, stone, terracotta, wood, concrete and decorative collections. Alongside the slab wall are units with clapper and drawer displays. Free-standing cross displays demonstrate materials which work well together. Room sets further clarify how different products might look in a variety of contexts.

All samples are QR coded, giving instant access to technical and product information. Once decisions are reached, a dedicated pricing area supports specification, with approved fitters listed by postcode. A bar area nearby reinforces the idea of the showroom as a place to linger, not rush.

The refurbishment extends through the building, including staircases, landings and facilities. Where full-weight slabs proved impractical, lightweight three-millimetre porcelain ‘skins’ were used to maintain visual continuity. Along the stairwell, Solus’ three pillars, People, Product, Planet, are illuminated against a slab backdrop. “Every time staff come into the office, they walk past our three pillars,” Bentley says. “I think that’s wonderful.”

The showroom opened to customers in mid-February, with launch events scheduled throughout March. Its impact will be commercial, cultural and internal: driving footfall, properly supporting luxury residential clients, offering a destination for architects and designers, and boosting team morale.

By investing in Tyseley, Solus is reaffirming its belief that design and industry are not opposing forces. The new showroom does not attempt to disguise its context; it builds on it. In doing so, it makes a clear case for keeping design grounded in the places where things are made, specified and put to work: firmly within Birmingham’s industrial fabric.

The new Birmingham showroom is the result of collaboration across Solus’ wider network of partners and teams. Solus’ factory partners helped shape the material palette, including Pamesa, Marazzi, Mirage, Casalgrande Padana, Refin, Iris Ceramica, Florim and Quiligotti. Their products form much of the material language of the space.

Design and delivery support came from a range of partners including J Adams, Arcitile, Ken Plants, and our very own Mark Williams, alongside the work of Solus’ Sample Department and Merchandise teams, whose coordination ensured the space could operate both as a showroom and as a working specification environment.

Within Solus itself, key contributions came from Jev, Nick, Sarah, Lara and Isabella, supported by the wider team across the business.