Cambria Joins the River North Design District

The River North Design District (RNDD) is excited to welcome our newest member to our design community: Cambria.

Cambria quartz countertops combine innovative design and durability for a lifetime of beauty. Headquartered in Minnesota, Cambria is sold through an exclusive North American network of premium, independent retail and trade partners. Cambria is a stain resistant, nonporous, natural quartz stone surface that is harder, safer and easier to care for than other stone surfaces. Its nonabsorbent nature protects against more than just stains – it’s also extremely hygienic. Cambria’s industry-leading design palette has captured the attention of the industry and the imagination of the client. Cambria continues to push the envelope of innovation by developing additional designs to meet the demands of the most discerning designers, architects and specifiers.

Cambria formed the Design Channel in April of 2019.

The mission of the Design Channel is to ensure that Cambria is at the helm of the world for stone in Design, Craftsmanship, & Innovation.

The Design Channel will influence the A & D community to become loyal specifiers, and furthermore, will leverage the prominence and prestige of Residential Designers to influence the global market. This advocacy will be accomplished through the published work of the Residential Designer in both Shelter & National publications influencing the market, as well as through social platforms celebrating, endorsing and promoting Cambria.

The Design Channel will create a luxury experience for the Residential Designer, enabling them to specify and purchase in the way they are accustomed. We will also create a luxury experience of unparalleled service throughout the sales cycle from conception to installation, guaranteeing retention on specification, and create a seamless journey at every interactive touchpoint with Cambria.

Who’s Behind the Design Channel

The Design Channel’s initiative is to create a National Sales Team that is vested in and passionate about Design, Architecture, the A & D community, and they are ambassadors for the Trade in the Stone World. This Team understands how the A & D community transacts in business and can speak their vernacular to maintain existing relationships, as well as cultivating new relationships. Through this understanding the Design Channel will act as a support to the Community, not only for their project needs, but additionally by giving back through their volunteer efforts, trade organization and initiative participation, sponsorships, as well as being a conduit of information and a liaison of connectivity within the A & D community.

Courtney Genovese, V.P. of Sales –  Design Channel

Courtney Genovese joined Cambria as V.P. of Sales of the Design Channel in April of 2019. Her vast industry knowledge and experience makes her the ‘taste maker’ behind the Design Channel concept, strategy, and mission. Her career has been entirely design centric and focused exclusively on the A & D community. Throughout her career she has worked for companies that are solely to the Trade, such as The Rug Company, Luxury Living Group, & Sherle Wagner. Courtney has served on the Board of the Institute of Classical Architecture & Art and the LaCienega Design Quarter, and is also a member of the Design Leadership Network. Courtney also has taken an active role in spearheading the Paris Soiree, which takes place annually every year during Deco-Off in January in Paris and this year Cambria partnered with Jiun Ho Inc., Sandra Jordan Prime Alpaca, & Lance Woven to host the Third Annual Paris Soiree at Versailles. Courtney’s objective is to create a Trade focused company within Cambria and this year she will build a Team consisting of fourteen Sales Directors throughout the Nation who will facilitate a luxury level of white glove service and experience from concept to installation to support the A & D community. Additionally, Cambria through The Design Channel will support a plethora of other initiatives by sponsoring local Showhouses, such as Kips Bay Dallas & the Lake Forest Showhouse, supporting local organizations, such as Saving Iconic Architecture & Designs For Dignity, and creating a Trade program which will allow Designers to specify and purchase in the way in which they are accustomed.

Ryan Morris, Regional Director Design Channel

Ryan Morris joined Cambria in November of 2019 as the Regional Director of The Design Channel based out of Chicago. Ryan has a background in Interior Design and Interior Architecture with a degree from University of Houston and The Interior Design Institute in San Francisco, lending him to be a true design aficionado. Ryan has a sincere passion for all things design. Starting his career as a Designer and having an extremely creative, yet analytical mind, he slowly transitioned his career to Trade Sales working for luxury manufacturers, such as House of Rohl & Materials Marketing. Ryan prides himself on being a connector in the Industry and a resource for all creatives. He currently serves his community in acting as Co-Chair for Designs For Dignity’s Associate Board, Board Member of Power House Smart, Member of River North Design District, Member of ASID Illinois Chapter, and Member of IIDA Illinois Chapter. Ryan will continue to partner with and support the A & D community throughout the Midwest in his capacity as Regional Director for the Design Channel at Cambria.

The Design Channel Palette

Since the founding of Cambria 187 designs have launched and never has a single design been retired. The Design Channel has curated a specific palette consistent of light and dark solids, as well as bold & subtle veining, to be relevant to the residential designers we work with in reference to what they typically would specify for their clients and also to what we feel lends itself to the aesthetic of a firm’s brand. Condensing the Design Channel palette down to 43 designs from 187 makes the specification process more efficient and distinctly curated to the A & D community, as opposed to the appeal of the mass market. All of our designs come in two finishes, polished and matte, as seen below.

This California kitchen belongs to the prominent Interior Designer, Julia Wong of Julia Wong Designs. Here Julia specified Ironsbridge for an organic, durable aesthetic. Ironsbridge has similar attributes that can be seen in limestone without the maintenance component as Cambria is extremely hard, completely non-porous, and stain resistant.

Our stones are designed with versatility in mind. Clairidge’ graceful striations of tan, walnut-brown, cream, black, and gray flow in parallel layers with dark veins that cut across the grain. This design as you see here is perfect for a feature in your minimalistic kitchen design, drawing in and connecting all of the elements in the space.

Charlestown is a part of our 2020 Design Launch, comprised of 20 new designs for our 20th anniversary. It’s smooth charcoal tonality creates the perfect canvas for the subtle grey and white veins rippling throughout this beautiful stone. This stone reflects the beauty and depth of a Soapstone, without the worry of etching and staining.

Left: Clairidge, Polished | Right: Charlestown, Matte

Also a part of our 2020 Design Launch is Bridport and it’s incredibly organic vein variation wisps across our Jumbo size slab size: 11’ x 5’.5’’ or 132’’ x 65.5’’. This installation showcases our product not only as a vanity top, but an additional application as well as large format wall cladding.

Rose Bay reflects an aesthetic commonly seen in Italian marble, such as Arabescato. This bathroom show stopper is complemented by French brass faucets and dimensional chevron subway tile.

Left: Bridport | Right: Rose Bay

In addition to our residential projects an ever growing part of our business is Yacht & Aviation design. We have perfected our technology to meet the varying requirements for weight & thickness for these types of applications, manufacturing our product down to as thin as 3MM for aviation applications & 6MM for yacht design.

This champagne bar was designed by Kitchen Designer, Jim Dove of The Dove Design Studio, for the 2019 New York Kips Bay Decorator Show House. Myddleton is one of three of Cambria’s designs that can be backlit in either 1CM or 2CM. Additionally, Baybridge and New Brighton are our other designs that can be backlit as well taking into consideration the kelvin temperature and lumen output to prevent distorting the overall aesthetic and any hot spots. We typically recommend our Designers use Tresco Lighting.

A sedate, cream background intermixed with splashes of pale blue, navy, and gray is accented with a brush of tan and taupe throughout.

Peaceful, neutral and simple, Devon is unmistakably the new black.

Left: Mayfair, Matte | Right: Devon, Polished

2020 marks our 20th anniversary upon which we launched 20 new designs for our 20th design launch at the beginning of the year at KBIS, which is the most significant design launch in the history of Cambria!

Please join us in welcoming Cambria to the RNDD Community!