“Walker Zanger is where design is realized. It’s a place of aspiration and inspiration. It’s a place where interior designers, architects, and homeowners can go to discover the finest materials in the world —or find an expert who can guide them toward new materials, styles, innovations and specialty surface products.” — Jonathan Zanger
One of several flagship showroom locations featuring expansive tile, stone and designer collections and curated indoor slab gallery.
How does a premier brand stay relevant in the design world, where everything is special (and nothing is)? It’s a question that drives Walker Zanger forward in 2020. For over 60 years, the renowned tile and surface brand has maintained its iconic status by pushing the boundaries of what’s possible. Their brand formula is simple in theory, yet virtually impossible to replicate. In their pursuit of what is authentic, original and inspirational, the family-owned company has established straight-to-the-source supply connections around the world and exclusive designer collaborations that reinforce the Walker Zanger allure.
Their roster of high-profile projects—spanning from residential to retail, hospitality, and museums—speaks to their ability to deliver beautiful materials on a massive scale and the expansive nature of their product line. Their 13 showrooms and slab galleries are known as epicenters of inspiration; even if there is not a showroom in a designer’s city, there are 200 authorized Walker Zanger dealers nationwide (whose businesses are often elevated simply by their association with the brand) ready to spark creativity.
An artisan makes tiles in Walker Zanger’s San Miguel de Allende, Mexico factory.
The Italian office at Walker Zanger oversees the entire sourcing process of beautiful natural stone materials; working with second and third generation stone experts to ensure only the best quality stone materials are shipped. All of this has reinforced their enduring reputation as not just highly regarded importers and distributors of the world’s finest stone and ceramic tile, but also design’s leading influencers and tastemakers. Relevance is leadership.
Walker Zanger’s 127,000-square-foot headquarters in Los Angeles.
Trendsetting
Since Walker Zanger is often the first to discover new materials, styles, innovations and specialty surface products, the company recently launched a new campaign called “Design Realized.” They announced four styles and trends influencing the design world, along with a curated selection of products. The idea behind the campaign was to spark imaginations, and guide designers and homeowners towards the ultimate goal of “Design Realized.” As marketing director Erika Egede-Nissen noted: “Walker Zanger is the only tile and stone company that assists clients on their design journey, by helping them find and express their design style.”
Front Lines of Design
Apple Store project in Chicago.
Walker Zanger’s front line to design begins with their relationships. Their connections run deep—sometimes spanning over generations—from the people running ancient stone quarries to tile craftsman and their families and even to the tight-knit world of today’s top designers and architects.
The company’s longstanding relationships with the fabled stone quarries in Italy and throughout Europe have allowed the Walker Zanger team to have first access to excavations. With a geologist’s eye, they approach the entire process as an art form, first carefully selecting the untouched megalithic stone blocks that come right from the excavation site and overseeing the sectioning or mapping of the stone, to ensure the natural stone’s beauty as well as integrity is preserved in slab form. Walker Zanger owns several quarries, including a limestone quarry in Oklahoma—ensuring that they always have access to the finest, most original stone in the world.
The breccia caparia quarry in Italy.
Their search for authentic craftsman who could hand-press and finish ceramic tile led them to Cerámica Antique, a 120,000-square-foot facility in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, where some of Walker Zanger’s most popular ceramic tile collections—including Studio Moderne by Michael Berman, Vibe, Ceramica Alhambra and Mizu—are produced today. Walker Zanger acquired the facility in 2009 to “ensure the viability of the long-term ceramic supply chain, guarantee timely production and provide a facility where we can experiment with future product collections,” said Jonathan Zanger at the time. To this day, the facility is one of the world’s largest artisan ceramic tile manufacturing sites and one of the largest employers in the area.
Iconic Brand Status
Having such exclusive access to quarries and crafting sites provide Walker Zanger with the ability to create original products that truly stand apart and express a style that is wholly unique to Walker Zanger. This has been one of the reasons why some of design’s most influential minds have continued to lend their aesthetic vision to Walker Zanger products over the years. Famed interior designer Michael Berman and AD100 architect Robert A.M. Stern have also collaborated on popular Walker Zanger collections. Australian designer Pietta Donovan recently launched an exclusive collection of cement and ceramic tiles that pay homage to the 1970s psychedelic wallpaper as well as the colorful landscapes of Australia. Many of these designers have been working with Walker Zanger for years, and understand the company’s thoughtful sourcing and commitment to quality. They are proud to lend their names to a brand that has a cachet all on its own.
Walker Zanger received the 2015 Grande Pinnacle Award from the Marble Institute of America for the stonework they supplied in the Park Hyatt New York hotel.
Walker Zanger products have graced many famous places and cultural landmarks, including the Getty Villa in Malibu, California, Bergdorf Goodman in New York, Apple Stores in Chicago and New York and the Park Hyatt in New York. The sheer scope of these multimillion-dollar projects, combined with the fact that they span across a variety of building categories, underscores the strength of the Walker Zanger brand. As importers and distributors, as design collaborators and as trailblazers, Walker Zanger has a tremendous influence on what today’s interior spaces look and feel like. walkerzanger.com
Location
6719 Schoenborn St
North Hills, CA 91343
Headquarters:
Los Angeles, California
Scope:
13 showrooms and slab galleries, 200 authorized dealers nationwide and 120,000-square-foot ceramic tile manufacturing facility in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico
Showrooms:
North Hills, California
San Francisco, California
Tustin, California
West Hollywood, California
Atlanta, Georgia
Las Vegas, Nevada
Perth Amboy, New Jersey
New York, New York
Port Chester, New York
Charlotte, North Carolina
Dallas, Texas
Dallas DesignDistrict, Texas
Houston, Texas
Notable Projects:
The Getty Villa, Malibu
The Prudential Tower, Newark
Bergdorf Goodman, New York
600 Madison Avenue, New York
The Apple Store
Chicago and New York
Tumi Store, New York
The Viceroy Hotel, Anguilla
Bellagio Hotel, Las Vegas
*Custom Content
