Meet Silkar

AKDO has a sister company, Silkar, or we might more accurately say a brother company, since it is our CEO Hakki Akbulak and his brother, Silkar CEO Erdogan Akbulak who co-founded the businesses together, yet an ocean apart, some 25 years ago. Collectively, AKDO and Silkar own factories, quarries and handcraft ateliers in Turkey where stone is quarried and then processed into a variety of finishes and different sized mosaics, tiles and slabs. This global partnership affords AKDO’s clientele something different. Our unique vertical capabilities make us more nimble, more agile and usually faster and more economical than other U.S. tile brands who rely on outside vendors for their primary supply chain.

The Best of Technology and Antiquity

The annual production capacity for our three factories is 2.5 million square feet of granite, marble and mosaics. This is achieved through a wonderful mix of high tech sate-of-the-art techniques and the best practices from antiquity. All of the mosaics, both our own and the many custom designs that we are commissioned to do for our clients, are hand made by highly trained artisans, as they have been done for centuries. The cutting edge equipment housed at the factories allows for countless options for customized products, perfect for large-scale projects.

Having our own production puts us in a unique position to control quality down to the last detail. Our manufacturing standards go beyond aesthetics; careful attention is given to environmentally responsible production and Silkar’s factories are considered to be some of the best in the world. Additionally, the factories have strict quality control ensuring all the products are designed with beauty and made to the highest standards.

Our Quarries

AKDO and Silkar own and have exclusive rights to several quarries. The stones from these quarries are incorporated into a wide variety of AKDO’s stocked slabs, tiles and mosaics, and are also often requested for custom products and large commercial orders. First choice stone from all of our quarries is used to complete orders for AKDO projects. Confidence that quantities will be fulfilled and delivered on time allows for specifiers to rest easy about planning for large projects. Finally, clients enjoy the substantial savings that stem from our ‘value-engineering’ the middle man right out of the equation.

Design Leadership

Our vertical nature also facilitates our design leadership. Direct access to both quarries and factories allows research and development teams on both continents to produce original mosaic collections that are highly esteemed within the industry, and coveted by interior designers and design enthusiasts from coast to coast.

Custom Capabilities

You might believe some of the requests we get, but you might not guess how quickly and painlessly we fulfill them. Here are just a few that have delighted our designer friends:

1) An elaborate seascape to wrap around 3 walls of a bath. It had to be very vivid and include rare colors of stone: blue, pink, purple and green. The bath had chroma-therapy lighting so the mosaic had tiny mirror flecks that changed with the light temperature.

2) A spa floor that looks like rain dropping into the sea.

3) An enormous map of the world comprised of more than a million tiny, hand-cut, hand placed tesserae.

Custom Colors and Sizes of Stocked Materials

We know that design-minded people hire design professionals so that they can have a fully-realized, thoughtful, bespoke interior that looks like nothing they’ve seen anywhere else. And it’s our pleasure to help designers create these spaces. Often in a hurry.

Of course designers are brilliant at mixing our products together in designs and turning them sideways and just generally doing the unexpected with stocked materials. But sometimes, no matter what’s in stock, you just want what you want. We get it! You fall in love with a stocked mosaic but wish that stripe or dot or center stone were a different color or material. We’ll happily work with you to achieve your vision. We do it every day.

Scale is often as important in a design as pattern or color – so if you love something we do and need it larger or smaller, chances are we can accommodate you.

Stone Mastery

AKDO is esteemed in Europe for its mastery of stone for complex architectural projects, and we’ve partnered on some major specs stateside as well.

Aside from our world-renowned custom mosaic capabilities, all of these things are in our portfolio of stone skills:

• Extra thick stone specs for exteriors and façades.
• Custom cut shapes and sizes of stone tile and slab.
• Custom finishes of stone.
• Stone stair treads and landings with custom slip-resistant finish details made-to-order.
• Multiples of custom-fabricated slabs and trim pieces for commercial and multi-unit residential projects.
• Thin stone laminate for lightweight (plane, elevator) or backlit applications.

Architects on Staff

A lot of tile companies have “design support” and that’s great for day-to-day project requirements. But Silkar has a staff of professional architects ready to help you with even the most challenging building requirements. Please, bring us your fiercest, most exciting challenge. Thanks to our partners at Silkar, our experts will lend their expertise to your vision and partner with you for a painless creative process and a spectacular result, much faster than you’d imagine.