Surfaces form a hefty chunk of construction materials needed in a project, and consequently, longevity constitutes a crucial deciding factor in specifying them. If luxury and rich tactility is also warranted in surfaces, the name of Cosentino is inescapable, and if you’ve heard of Cosentino, you’ve heard of Dekton by Cosentino.
Dekton by Cosentino is the only cradle-to-grave Carbon Neutral surface in the market. It is also ultra-compact and comes in a variety of grains and finishes. Out of the two new Dekton collections – the rugged and rustic Pietra Kode and poetic and organic Onirika – Love That Design got to lay hands on the latter with Elias Bshara, Senior Interior Designer, B8 Architecture and Karim Karam, Managing Director & Founder, Imperium Group.
“Designed by Nina Magon, it can be said that Onirika is a thing of dreams – that was literally the inspiration behind it. We wanted to create surfaces that one dreams about while not compromising on the material’s performance or life. Designers dream about delivering something that satisfies the client’s requirements while relieving their itch for aesthetic superiority, and we wanted to give them just that”, revealed Marta Barragan, Marketing Coordinator at Cosentino Middle East.
Let’s get into the nitty gritty details of Dekton Onirika…
The Review Crew
From left to right: Elias Bshara, Senior Interior Designer, B8 Architecture; Karim Karam, Managing Director & Founder, Imperium Group
Super-Transfixing Beauty and Ultra-Reliable Properties
Inspired by dreams and made for aspirational interiors, a large part of Onirika’s appeal is its hyper-realism. If one touches the veins of the surface, it feels exactly like the crack of marble under the fingertips. “The design is very minimalistic, but we have a range of designs for all kinds of purposes, from the subtle Neural to the more dramatic Awake that can be used for a feature piece in interiors. Especially with Awake, we know that clay is very on trend, so we came up with a marble-inspired look that appears as if it underwent a breakage inside the soil”, says Marta.
Evidently, Cosentino does their homework and addresses the demands of the hour. The brand is also familiar with the struggle of sizes and joints that designers face while specifying and on-site. Not just Onirika, but the entire Dekton range is available in various thicknesses (30, 20, 12, 8 and 4 mm) and sizes (from 71 X 71 cm format to 320 X 144 cm format). “What’s unique is that if you want up to four slabs one after the other, it won’t look like four copy-pasted patterns; instead, the lines will continue from the previous one.” Marta continues, “Considering one specifies our largest format slab of 144 cm, a total of 6 metres of seamless design can be achieved.”
Properties such as low water absorption, heat and fire resistance, and scratch, stain and impact resistance make Onirika a hard-to-refuse choice for kitchens and bathrooms. Marta illustrates, “It’s an ultracompact surface; we compact it with 25,000 tonnes of pressure. We have used it in Michelin stars restaurants. We have used it in totally careless kitchens, as well. The surface still remains untarnished.”
Elias: “Aesthetically, it is quite pleasing because it’s unlike any porcelain tile you see in the market. Neural, especially, has this 3D effect that is really good. It’s on point; it stands out.”
Karim: “It’s very impressive, I would say. When you see these kinds of super high-quality lines, and then you see that going to be continuous for six metres, that’s going to give us an amazing and luxurious look and feel for the space. Especially if it’s dark and you see this on the floor or even the wall for a long, long span, no cut – it will be beautiful.”
Elias: “I love doing porcelain for countertops and kitchens because they have a lot of durability, and the look looks very neat. You can still use it for floors and glazing cabinets. It’s better than marble for cabinetry because it’s so thin – it’s four mm.”
The Cradle-to-Grave Sustainability
Cosentino is establishing itself not just as a design-forward but also as an environmentally-friendly brand. The beautiful Onirika comes with Cradle-to-Grave Certification. A ‘cradle-to-grave’ evaluation considers the effects throughout every phase of a product’s existence, beginning when raw materials are obtained and treated and then proceeding through each production stage, transportation, product consumption, and finally, disposal.
Considering that Consentino owns the second biggest private solar park in Europe, and their manufacturing unit in Almeria, Spain recycles 98% of the water used in the processes – there certainly is thought in every process of Onirika’s production.
Elias: “It’s not easy, especially, for porcelain factories to be zero emission. It’s really hard work and commitment to achieve that. When I heard that this collection has zero carbon footprint – I was mind-blown.”
Karim: “Yes, I agree with him. All the clients are looking for sustainable features, and even with the commercial project to get the LEED certificate, these materials will help a lot.”
Customer Experience and the Near Future
Dekton collections, both – Pietra Kode and Onirika – have Abu Dhabi and Civil Defense Approval for facades. Cosentino also offers a 10-year warranty on them. Even acquiring Onirika is pretty straightforward. “We need to bring a fabricator on board to understand how much material a designer needs. Then we have a pricing department in Spain to which I will give a specific price. The entire procurement process takes up to six to eight weeks in all”, specifies Marta.
Soon, about six months from now, Cosentino will launch full-body ranges for Dekton to aesthetically uplift its look across multi-applications right from countertops to facades.
