Although the domestic interiors market has been badly hit by the economic downturn, with the failure of high street showrooms dragging some of their suppliers down with them, including masonry companies who made the worktops, quartz composite has retained its popularity among those who are buying.

More brands have been introduced to the engineered quartz market this year, including two from South Korea – one at the top end of the market from Samsung and one at the economy end from Luna Stone. For many parts of the country, Okite is also new as the UK company set up by Italians Seieffe go national, having previously supplied only the South.

First Samsung. The massive and diverse Korean group with interests ranging from plant construction to fashion, although they are best known among consumers for their electrical goods, have introduced a quartz range called Radianz.

They have a good reputation for their products and it was because they did not want to compromise that reputation that they took so long to launch a quartz composite, they say.

They wanted to be sure it would enhance their reputation, not compromise it. For that reason the range was launched without a pure white, although it is coming, probably early next year.

Radianz is being made in Korea by Samsung Cheil Industries, part of the Samsung group involved in the chemicals industry. They already made products that include the resins used in quartz worktops.

Radianz was launched in 30 colours, in standard and ‘Jumbo’ slab sizes and in thicknesses of 12, 20 and 30mm. At the top of the range are five Noble colours, which give Radianz the novel feature of a product made using a technology that coates the quartz in metal and results in a 3D depth to the surface.

Radianz distribution in the UK and Ireland is through the Thomas Group in Manchester and Ashlar Masons in London. Both are already established distributors of stone and quartz products but were impressed with the Koreans’ range and their marketing plans – Samsung say they quickly intend to establish themselves as market leaders and to that end have launched the range at a price point just below Cosentino’s Silestone.

The significant spend on consumer and trade advertising by the major manufacturers is one of the reasons the names of quartz composites have become established as brands and why they have sold so successfully.

The addition of Samsung’s contribution to that marketing effort can only add to the market share of the worktop market that will be taken by quartz.

The Thomas Group and Ashlar Mason have both been selling slab for 15 years. Lately they have been stocking up with Radianz and only this month (August) completed that process.

The Thomas Group, who previously exclusively supplied Quarella (which they are still supplying), now have 18 container loads of Radianz in their warehouse while Ashlar Mason have 2,500m2 of it in stock.

Jamie Thomas from the Thomas Group told NSS: “Samsung are the sixth biggest brand in the world. To have a household name in the stone industry is unheard of, really. It’s something we’re very excited about.”

Just to appease DuPont, who also like to consider themselves a household name, we should mention that they supply the Zodiaq range of quartz. Their latest launches came last year and included a toe-dipping recycled slab, Earth Brown. They have no more launches planned until next year, when they say they will be adding more colours using recycled materials.

But back to Samsung. Ashlar Mason continue to sell CaesarStone and Silestone as well as taking on Radianz. Nick Troy, Ashlar Masons’ Key Accounts Manager, told NSS: “We have been in the market for 15 years selling quartz. We know the market and we really think Radianz is something good.”

The Okite quartz from Seieffe is going national from next month (September). Seieffe UK, set up in 2007 with an 800m2 warehouse in Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire, aim to open a warehouse in the North as soon as they have found suitable premises.

In Italy, Seieffe have nine collections in 90 colours, but have so far only brought 45 of them into the UK. They include the Benati marble effect slab pictured above. As with marble, the veining is random and unique to each slab but the slab is still produced in the same way as other quartz slabs.

Seieffe have patented the mixes used to create such finishes. “We may not be the biggest,” says Marco Cioffi, Director of the UK company, “but we are certainly number one in research and development.

“We try to keep the quality right at the top, so Okite costs a little bit more. But once you have installed it, it will last for ever.”

Like most of the quartz suppliers these days, Samsung and Sieffe are offering limited warranties on the range – in Samsung’s case 15 years for domestic use and 10 for commercial and in the case of Seieffe 10 years wherever it is used.

Some makers are even offering ‘lifetime’ guarantees, whatever that may mean. The warranties are limited essentially to manufacturing faults because the makers don’t want to have to replace all their worktops just because customers decide they want a change.

Quartz products may have been slightly oversold in terms of their superiority to granite, but they are essentially strong and durable and ought to be able to survive for many years – probably more than they will actually be required to because most domestic kitchens are replaced in less than 10 years, and in restaurants and cafes worksurfaces will typically be replaced even more frequently.

The only manufacturing fault normally found with quartz is the occasional air pocket that can compromise the integrity of the slab.

The manufacturing process developed by Breton, who make the lines used in the production of quartz slabs (except in China), involves vibrating the mix and forming the panels in a vacuum before they are ‘cooked’. The process is designed to remove any air, which it nearly always does, although just occasionally an air pocket is left.

Breton have patents on the process, which is why they supply the lines used to make quartz slabs. European manufacturers are marketing themselves by emphasising the quality of their brands, as they always have. The guarantees are one way of emphasising that quality.

Breton agreed with European quartz manufacturers not to sell their plant to China, so China has developed its own plant for making the material. That material is now beginning to make its way into the UK.

The Luna Stone from South Korea is one of the ranges that is not made on a Breton line, although MI Interiors of Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, who introduced it two months ago, say they also offer a 10-year warranty.

There is a limited range of 12 colours available in slabs of 12, 20 and 30mm thicknesses, like most others on the market, and sizes up to the ‘Jumbo’ 3.2m x 1.6m, although MI Interiors are also offering to cut it to any size for customers so they do not have to buy waste.

MI Interiors Director Johnny Benbassat says: “We didn’t want to be in the company of Silestone and Caesarstone. We’re at the other end. We’re the cheapest in the market – £90/m2 at 30mm. We are especially competitive on the Starlight range of mirror quartz.”

Ecology is beginning to form part of the marketing mix of some of the quartz producers with Cosentino, makers of Silestone, as ever at the forefront with the launch of their Eco range last year made using 75% recycled material.

This year, Cosentino have also continued their geographical expansions with new headquarters and depot in Hook, Hampshire, and a new depot in Ireland, in Dublin.

The new 4,000m2 headquarters represent an investment of more than £500,000 and include a large warehouse that will carry more than 4,000 slabs, including Silestone quartz worksurfaces, Sensa Granite worktops and Eco slabs.

Cosentino have also made a one-piece sink, called Integrity, of the same quartz composite material that Silestone is made of so it matches perfectly with the worktops. It is available in a choice of 21 colours.

Quarella have gone one better with the Evo Surface they launched last year, which they say is manufactured using what they describe as their ‘Q-Zero’ manufacturing process. It means that there are no CO2 emissions resulting from their manufacture of Evo.

Evo is made on a Breton line in the same way as any quartz composite, but it is made in blocks of 3060 x 1230 x 750mm, rather than slabs, then sawn into the required thicknesses and polished. The process allows for a more marbled finish to the material – and it is sold at a budget price below Quarella’s Living range of quartz that used to be called PianoForte. Granite Granite in Essex are main distributors of Quarella as well as the Thomas Group.

CaesarStone, sold in the UK by CR Laurence (previously Ebor) in Rochdale, Manchester, have added a 13mm thick slab to complement the existing 20mm and 30mm thick slabs in their range.

The 13mm slabs are available in six colours: Dusty Stones, Black Rocks, Buttermilk, Organic White, Oyster and Mink. One advantage of 13mm quartz is that it can be heated to create curves.

CR Laurence have increased their stock-holding of CaesarStone to 3,500 slabs in 30 different designs and colours ready for quick delivery to fabricators all over the country. And they promote its ‘green’ credentials – they say Caesarstone is the only quartz to be manufactured to ISO 14001.

Compac have added two new colours – Botticino and Pierre Bleue. The Compact range continues to be stocked and sold by stone wholesalers MGLW in London as well as from Compac’s own two depots in the North and South that they opened in 2008.

Rogerio Moutinho, who runs MGLW, says they are still happy with the range so see no reason to change. He says people choose to come to MGLW to buy it rather than going directly to Compac in Heston, Middlesex, because often they not only want a quartz, they also want the granite or other stones that MGLW stock and Compac don’t.

Rogerio says: “We’re finding that in bigger kitchens designers are choosing a nice big island using a feature stone but are putting plain grey or beige quartz surfaces on the wall units.

“I think we are coming to maturity in quartz now. It’s popular, but it has probably reached its peak.”

Brachot-Hermant, whose UK depot is in Erdington, Birmingham, are now offering their Unistone range in ‘Jumbo’ slabs of 3m x1.65m as well as slabs 12mm thick.

The Jumbo slabs mean kitchen design can make islands up to 1.65m wide, while the 12mm thin slabs satisfy fabricators’ requests for a lightweight material that makes handling, and therefore installation, easier. Earlier in the year Brachot also introduced the ‘Galactica’ range of mirror quartz.

B-Stone, with a warehouse in Northamton, sell Diresco and Technistone quartz. Diresco, the only manufacturers of quartz in the Benelux countries, have a major shareholding in B-Stone. The quartz is available in three finishes – Polished, Easy Clean (honed) and Anticato (shot-blasted), although not all colours are available in Anticato.

They have introduced two new colours this year, Premium Dolphin Grey and Premium Cobalt Grey. They have also developed a range of sinks in the same quartz materials.

Technistone, which is made in the Czech Republic, have introduced an exterior range of quartz facing tiles for facade systems in 17 colours with a polished finish and the ‘slate’ textured finish that the company introduced to their worktops last year.

The fabricator’s perspective

Fred Snowdon of fabricators and installers New Image Stone in Staines, Middlesex, looks at issues to be considered when choosing or specifying engineered stone. www.newimagestone.com

As members of the Stone Federation Great Britain, New Image Stone are committed to promoting the use of natural stone, but quartz allows us, as a fabricator and installer, to offer clients lighter colours – whites and creams – for kitchen worktops.

These lighter colours were previously only available in limestone and marble, which are not ideal for kitchen worktops.

Compared with granite, quartz is typically at the higher end in terms of price, especially the main brands. We see interest in many brands of quartz but for us the three most popular are Zodiaq, Silestone and CaesarStone.

Most quartz composites now come with warranties, some even with ‘lifetime’ guarantees. And there are products available with added values such as Silestone’s antibacterial ingredient, for instance.

From our perspective, we work the material in much the same way as we would granite. Slab size is an industry standard, which makes pricing easy and accurate. There can be issues with batch variation, so care must be taken when large quantities are required to ensure they come from the same batch. Because quartz is generally a flat colour, slight differences are easily discernable.

Although quartz is hugely popular as a material for kitchens, we work with it mainly in commercial projects – reception desks, tea points, counter tops and the like – where its hard-wearing qualities make it an attractive option.

Quartz is an important part of our product offering alongside natural stone. The two materials complement each other and we do use them together. Sometimes we pair pure white quartz with high-end marbles such as bookmatched Statuario. The resulting installation is high-impact, attractive and hard-wearing where it needs to be, delivering on all counts.

And, of course, by specifying materials of differing prices, it is possible to achieve a dramatic look at an affordable price.

At New Image Stone, the traditional skills of the stonemason are combined with the latest technology to realize the unparalleled beauty and versatility of stone. From the company’s purpose-built facility in Staines, the team identify and source material, design, fabricate, install and maintain it, offering a comprehensive service from concept to completion… and beyond.