Our Solid Ground series, developed together with Hadi Teherani Design, has been named “Winner – Product” in the “Wall, Floor and Ceiling” category at the ICONIC AWARDS 2026. For us, the award recognises an approach that is fundamental to Agrob Buchtal: treating ceramic as a system and turning that system knowledge into architectural design possibilities.
Alfter-Witterschlick, October 2026 - Solid Ground has received an ICONIC AWARD 2026 as “Winner – Product” in the “Wall, Floor and Ceiling” category. We developed the series in close collaboration with Hadi Teherani Design.
This year, the international expert jury assessed more than 800 submissions from around 45 countries. Organised by the German Design Council, the ICONIC AWARDS span five main categories and 50 subcategories across architecture and design. We are particularly pleased to see Solid Ground recognised within this international programme.
For us, the significance of Solid Ground lies in the way the collection works as a system. At Agrob Buchtal, formats, decorative elements, stair solutions, surfaces and defined slip-resistance requirements have long been developed in relation to one another. With Solid Ground, that technical and ceramic experience becomes part of the design itself.
The collaboration with Hadi Teherani Design was central to this process. Their architectural perspective on space, proportion and material met our knowledge of ceramic surfaces, formats and functional requirements. Hadi Teherani brought a clear design position to the project: individual elements gain their full meaning through the composition of the room.
As Hadi Teherani puts it: “Only in an atmospherically perfect space, in the synthesis of architecture and design, do individual fragments become a successful composition.”
Solid Ground provides the ceramic vocabulary for that idea. Concrete and travertine interpretations form the basis of the collection. Twelve colours are arranged in corresponding pairs, while formats range from a 5 × 15 cm mosaic and 30 × 60 cm tiles to large 120 × 120 cm formats. A 145 cm travertine-look stair tile extends the system beyond the surface itself. The porcelain stoneware tiles are available with R10/A+B slip resistance, while the wall range includes 30 × 60 cm earthenware tiles in smooth and relief finishes.
The intention is not to prescribe a finished interior. Instead, architects and designers can work with a coordinated system in which colour, format, surface and function belong together while leaving room for different spatial interpretations.
That is why this award matters to us. Solid Ground demonstrates that ceramic system expertise and design ambition do not have to be treated separately. Developed together with Hadi Teherani Design, the series shows what can emerge when architectural thinking and ceramic knowledge are brought into the same development process from the outset.
We want to continue working in that direction: using our ceramic expertise as a basis for stronger design and making our design capabilities increasingly visible in the years ahead.
PRESS CONTACT
Rachel Wolf
Deutsche Steinzeug Solar Ceramics GmbH
Telephone: +49 (0)228 391-105
E-Mail: rachel.wolf@deutsche-steinzeug.de
Hadi Teherani, Architektur & Design (left) and Rachel Wolf, Marketing Director AGROB BUCHTAL