Neolith, the sintered stone company that opened a warehouse in Harlow, Essex, at the start of this year, is just putting the final touches to a showroom at the Business Design Centre in Islington at the heart of the international design elite area of London. It should open next month (August).

Neolith has taken over the showroom previously used by UK distributor QF Distribution, which also distributes Quartzforms (hence the QF). Neolith is made by The Size. Its operation in the UK is run by Shaun Hopkinson, previously at Levantina, Frank England (the memorial wholesaler), and Granite Granite, and the UK Business Development Manager, Marco De Grazia.

Neolith Krater in the Riverwashed finish.

Ahead of the opening of the UK showroom, Neolith won an award for a new design at the Muuuz International Awards, presented at the InterContinental Paris le Grand in France in June. The winning design is called Krater, with a dark, swirling pattern reminiscent of soapstone.

Krater was created in response to the popularity of Neolith’s Nero Marquina (which received a Muuuz International Award a year ago) and what the manufacturer sees as a growing design trend for darker shades and tones across the board in commercial, retail and residential settings.

There were more than 2,200 new products entered in seven categories of the Awards. Krater was entered in the 'Materials' category and proved to be a favourite.

Krater associates itself with soapstone to draw on the stone's heritage in uses such as Rio de Janeiro’s Christ the Redeemer.

Krater is offered in Silk and Riverwashed finishes in 6mm and 12mm thicknesses. It is available in 3.2m x1.6m and 3.2m x 1.5m formats. At 12mm, it is used for worktops, while the 6mm is used for flooring and wall cladding.