Kerakoll - The GreenBuilding Company

A global leader in GreenBuilding solutions

At just 29 years of age, Romano Sghedoni founded Kerakoll in 1968 in Sassuolo, Modena. The company went on to become a leading manufacturer of materials and services in the applied chemical sector for building applications.

The first single-component adhesives for ceramics, designed and produced in his garage, were the result of his passion for construction and chemistry, combined with a huge love of engineering.

His insight and amazing determination drove him in a continual pursuit of innovation, inventing one new product after another, each one with a unique technology and ease of professional application to make laying homogeneous tiles and natural stone easy, whatever the circumstances.

The global partner

The constant growth that followed enabled the company to extend its operations into the restoration sector, where it turned its attention to tackling waterproofing problems, the deterioration of concrete mistakenly considered indestructible, and the restoration of buildings plagued by damp.

Sghedoni also applied his innovative approach to building a motivated team with a shared mission, vision and values. The strong corporate culture that resulted led to the foundation of Kerakoll Global Service in 1990, establishing Kerakoll as a leading name in the consultancy and end-to-end technical support field.

The same level of dedication and commitment is being continued in the next generation as his children, Fabio, Gian Luca and Emilia have encouraged the process of internationalisation within the company with the building of an international team, as well as innovatively increasing the value of the brand and being more environmentally friendly.

In September 2000 and April 2006, Kerakoll increased its stakes in SLC and Rankover, both leading European manufacturers of ecological adhesives and water-based varnishes for hardwood floors, and eco-friendly, natural decorative paints for GreenBuilding and Historical Restoration.

Kerakoll today

• employs more than 1,100 people with an average age of 35;
  
• has 12 branches in the world;
  
• exports almost 40% of its products to more than 100 different countries;
  
• supplies 20,000 builders merchants and 5,000 wood flooring centres worldwide;
  
• serving the nigh on 2,000,000 building professionals who choose Kerakoll products every year.

From the outset, the pillar of the Kerakoll vision has always been to make the difference through sustainable innovation. This belief led first to the launch of Biocalce and Healthy Building in April 2005, i.e. the new take on sustainable building in which the focus is to safeguard health and improve the quality of life, and Kerakoll Design in February 2007, the new contemporary resin surfaces that are a particular favourite with architects, design engineers and interior designers.

Over the years, Kerakoll has built up a unique legacy of technical know-how and skills that have allowed the company to carve out a leading place in the worldwide market for GreenBuilding construction materials, becoming the partner of leading design engineers, specialist distributors and corporate clients such as McDonald’s, Armani, BMW, Ferrari, Zara, Diesel, Ikea, Mercedes, Dolce & Gabbana, Swatch and Coca Cola.

Kerakoll was Technical Supplier for key building projects such as:

• the 2010 Green Point Stadium in Cape Town
• the 2008 Olympic Stadium and the Beijing Lufthansa Center – which won the Lubian Award, the highest national recognition awarded by the Chinese Ministry of Construction
  
• Valencia’s City of Arts and Science
  
• the London and Tokyo underground systems
  
• the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg
  
• the Music Park Auditorium and Museo Maxxi in Rome
  
• the Houston Design Centre
  
• the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao
  
• the World Trade Center in Bahrain
  

and restoration of pieces of world heritage such as:

• St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice
  
• the Verona Arena
  
• the Palazzo Pitti, Palazzo Vecchio and Corridoio Vasariano in Florence
  
• the Reggia di Venaria Reale, the biggest restoration project in Europe.

Products, services and specific know-how formed the basis of Kerakoll’s rise to become the GreenBuilding Company, the only company to provide a global GreenBuilding solution that aims at designing, building, and living in harmony with the environment and in healthy spaces.