Industrial-Look Quartz Worktops
Industrial-look quartz worktops are the up and coming thing in the UK solid-stone worktop market. White marble-look quartz worktops are still the biggest area of development, but more and more effort is going into capturing the grungy look. We have seen this in recent installations, and have tried to reflect it by installing the stunning Caesarstone Excava in our showroom.
Caesarstone Rugged Concrete – image from the Caesarstone site
On of the first materials to really define the industrial-look trend was Dekton Trillium. Of course, this product isn’t a quartz worktop at all. They call it “sinterised particle technology” – I call it a kind of ceramic, with all the strengths and weaknesses you might expect from a ceramic worktop.
This Dekton Trilium installation near Horsham pairs the grungy, “rusty steel plate” look of the Dekton with white, high-gloss units. The result is a kitchen which is as striking as it is practical. This installation was by our good friend Martin Nott of blue2blue.
Cosentino, makers of Dekton, have other industrial-look materials in the pipeline, following on from the success of Trilium.
Dekton Soke
Dekton Lunar
Dekton Laos
Dekton Kreta
But you don’t need to go to Dekton to get the industrial-look. More and more quartz manufacturers are making worktop materials with this kind of look. Dekton is amazing when it comes to scratching, staining and heat damage – but it doesn’t behave like a steel plate when you hit it hard. Quartz is often a better all-rounder when it comes to ALL the potential challenges and threats a kitchen worktop faces. (See our article here.)
Arenastone have been hard at work making quartz materials with the industrial-look. We have found them to be a relatively economical alternative, at a decent level of quality and liveability. Ask for their various shades of concrete-look materials.
Arenastone Grigio Concreto in an artfully simple kitchen
Image from Sustainable Kitchens of Bristol
Caesarstone Turbine Grey
But probably the champions of the industrial look are Caesarstone. Naomi and I were at a big kitchen show around the time that Excava was being launched, and I can remember the buzz. They seem to have got the double trend just right – both to a grungy, steel/concrete thing, but also to some warmth and a return of cream/gold/copper tones. Excava is just one of a range of industrial quartz worktop materials from Caesarstone.
Caesarstone Excava, as fitted in our showroom. The copper sink and tap are by the 1810 Company.
A full case-study is forthcoming.
We are Affordable Granite, the leading installer of granite and quartz worktops in Surrey, Sussex and across the South East. For questions, queries and quotes connected with any aspect of worktop installation or kitchen design, please don’t hesitate to contact us on 01293 863992 or by email on sales@affordablegranite.co.uk/ .