The Italian Antolini company (it has dropped the ‘Luigi’ second part of its name) has opened a new uber-stylish Antolini Stone Gallery at its headquarters in Italy.

It opened the spectacular new showroom in time to take some of its customers to see it while they were visiting the Marmomacc exhibition in Verona at the end of September.

Antolini has a reputation for finding particularly spectacular stones – such as the Fusion Wow Original multicoloured quartzite (pictured right) on which it has just gained exclusive global rights to market.

To make sure those stones are always seen in the best light, the new showroom not only has a glass roof to allow daylight to stream in, it also has hi-tech LEDs fitted with sensors to adjust the lighting to keep the illumination at a constant level, 24 hours a day, whatever the conditions outside.

This means visitors to the showroom can appreciate and evaluate the stones under constant conditions.

Another strength of the new gallery is the intelligent way the needs of architects, planners and designers have been taken into account, allowing them to handle and experience the natural stone from the concept stage of a project through to its handing over to the client.

There are two meeting rooms, created in Plexiglass and each in two different stones. One (pictured here) has green Irish Connemara Marble with a white reception desk, the other is in Brèche de Vendôme furnished with a black desk. These settings allow visitors to immerse themselves in the material, seeped in an instant visual contact that provides a source of inspiration.

The new Gallery also offers two new ideas for bathrooms, built with stones from the Natura Collection with Antolini’s Mangrove and Fingerprint designs on the marble.

Outside the gallery is a permanent installation designed by architect Claudio Silvestrin, a series of mythological creations formed from Jurassic Brown limestone.