C-Next Designers Europe hosted by Cosentino is forging the future of the interior design industry

In partnership with Cosentino

In the dusty haze of early autumn when most of the Mediterranean coastal communities were winding down for the season, the Spanish beach city of Almeria was gearing up for one of the biggest events in its professional calendar. C-Next Designers is hosted by Cosentino, the family-owned global leader in sustainable surfaces for architecture and design, whose headquarters and manufacturing facilities are based in Cantoria, just north of Almeria. In just its second edition (13-16 October 2024), C-Next Designers Europe has carved out a reputation as one of the most important and entertaining gatherings on the interior design circuit.

Coachloads of industry professionals arrived at the Cabogata Beach Hotel on the Sunday afternoon, and gathered for an opening gala that evening with platefuls of jamon, a mountainous cheese buffet and skewers of grilled meats, with introductory speeches by our Cosentino hosts including EVP Global Sales, Eduardo Cosentino.

Proceedings got properly underway the next day with a visit to Cosentino’s headquarters in Cantoria, where designer Michael Anastassiades delivered a rousing keynote to set the tone for the following days of discussions.

We were introduced to Cosentino’s management leaders, including Pilar Cosentino, EVP Deputy Chairman, and given a lively and comprehensive insight into the various pioneering brands that Cosentino has introduced to the market, such as Silestone, Dekton and Sensa by Cosentino. In the somewhat overwhelming realm of surfaces within the design industry, nothing beats seeing and learning where and how a material is made and manufactured by the experts who brought it into existence.

An ‘All White’-themed gala dinner that evening under a canopy festooned with a firmament of fairy lights felt like a surreal wedding, augmented by a rather persistent, post-hurricane wind that brought hair and napkins to life. We were joined by the local mayor, who thanked Cosentino for promoting Almeria around the world with such a stellar event.

Day two consisted of a series of short lectures and panel discussions by individuals of note with different experiences of design. These took place in Almeria’s beachside conference hall, which felt (and sounded) like a beautiful mash-up of a lecture theatre and a nightclub.

Discussions tackled material usage and slow luxury, the future of contract furniture and the importance of lighting within spatial design. Speakers included Ben Depuydt, Creative Director of B Brand; the Danish architect Frederikke Aagaard; Tom Faulkner; architects Olly Bray and interior designers Mauro Brigham, Patricia Bustos and Josephine Malling, among many others.

Alongside the speakers and audience, it’s worth noting the calibre of sponsors Cosentino brought together in just the second edition of C-Next Designers Europe. That Dornbracht, Gaggenau, Actiu, Next125, Vibia and Planika – to name just a handful – were all actively involved not just as attendees, but as panellists, event hosts and workshop demonstrators, suggests the wider value of this gathering as a collaborative industry venture, not just a solo brand exercise, is well-understood.

C-Next Designers Europe ended with a gala dinner held in the spectacular cloister of Almeria’s Cathedral. By this stage, new friendships had been forged, experiences exchanged, opinions and learnings imparted and digested over food and wine, day and night. Such is the important alchemy of an event of this nature: bringing people together to discover, share, discuss and build connections is what generates progress within any industry. It is the incidental and ephemeral moments of being together in person that foster relationships of far greater value than 30 minutes on Zoom – and ultimately this is the magic that C-Next Designers is harnessing. Jamon certainly helps, too.

cosentino.com