It might sound like the title of a science fiction novel but this is the cutting edge of the stone industry in the 21st century at Planet Granite near Coventry.

In a room that wouldn’t look out of place at the Kennedy Space Center, Steve Murphy, of Planet Granite and the new company Planet Sculpture, and his 17-year-old son, Stevie, look out of long windows on either side into workshops where three hefty ABB robots (that they have named Raphael, Michelangelo and Leonardo) are shaping stone.

The workshops that house the robots were put up by Steve and Stevie during the Covid restrictions. The control room houses the almost floor-to-ceiling supercomputers that run the robots and isolates the computers and the operators from the work areas.

Steve Murphy is impressed with the way his son has mastered the programs that run the robots – so impressed that he nominated him for an Emerging Talent Award at the Natural Stone Show, which took place at ExCeL London, 6-8 June. Stevie was one of the 10 winners of the Award.

Planet Granite exhibited at the exhibition to explain the capabilities of the robots. Terzago Robotics also exhibited at the Natural Stone Show.

Both Steve and Stevie went to Terzago in Italy for instruction on how to program the robots, although they have had to hone the process of putting it into practice by learning as they go in the Planet Granite workshops.

Stevie started studying engineering at the MTC college in Coventry after leaving school  but found the pace pedestrian after what he had learnt at Planet Granite, so he has quit to work full time in the family business.

One of the first major stone projects they attempted was cutting the bigger than life-size Batman pictured above into a block of granite that had stood for years outside the Planet Granite showroom a few hundred metres from the workshops. A natural fissure in the stone has left Batman with a dramatic gaping wound in his arm.

The finished sculpture was at the Natural Stone Show and afterwards was put back in front of Planet Granite’s new showroom. More drama has been added by a 100,000 lumin torch shining the Bat sign into the sky at night in the same way as the authorities of Gotham City call Batman when they need his help.

The robots previously belonged to J Rotherham in Yorkshire, which went into administration in 2020. The Administrator was going to be charged for storing the robots and was keen to avoid that expense. As a result, Planet Granite obtained four robots and all the tooling for significantly less than the tooling alone would have cost to buy new. The robots are now being operated as a separate company called Planet Sculpture.

Three of the robots are housed in the workshops either side of the control room, while the fourth is a saw jet on a 10m run – the same saw jet that had been shown at the MarmoMac exhibition in Verona, Italy, with a price tag of €1million. Named Scarlet after Steve’s daughter, it is housed in the workshop next door.

“Rotherham paid £4.7million for all this,” says Steve in his new workshops. “I saw the receipts.” In comparison, he considers the price he paid was a bargain.

Computer-controlled machinery needs to be programmed digitally and the most direct way of gathering digital data from existing objects is to scan them – as many worktop companies have discovered with wire or laser digital templaters.

Most of Planet Granite’s business is worktops – and it will continue to be because the robots come under a separate company called Planet Sculpture.

Customers of the robots will be different from those on the worktop side of the business, probably involving artists and designers looking for something made especially for them. To capture digital information for the robots, Steve has a high definition 3D scanner. They cost £35,000 each, but enable 3D scans of solid objects to be transferred to code so the robots can produce a sculpture of the object.

Steve admits there was a fairly steep two-year learning curve to program and use the robots and is grateful to Stevie, his son, for his contribution. “Once he had left college, within six weeks he had sorted everything out here, mostly teaching himself. He’s not a computer geek but he’s good at maths and was interested in physics at school. He ripped everything out and built the control centre. I had had two years of despair. I made mistake after mistake after mistake.”

Taking a punt

Steve admits buying the kit was a punt because although he has CNC machinery, including a waterjet, at Planet Granite, he did not know how to use robots and was not oblivious of the difficulties some people had found with them. “When I bought this kit everyone said I was mad,” he admits.

Initially he had put in a bid for just one of the robots. “I thought maybe I could handle that.” But the Administrator was keen to clear all the robots out to avoid the cost of storing them and accepted what Steve offered for the lot, including nearly £1million-worth of tools.

Steve did not know how he was going to use the robots but felt the technology was sufficiently advanced and interesting to give him an advantage.

Asked now what his customer base is going to be he is frank: “I have no idea.” Which is why he is exhibiting at the Natural Stone Show in London and has also employed a company to make 15-minute podcasts for him to promote the business.

But he is so impressed with what the robots can achieve he believes customers will emerge, on the basis of Ralph Waldo Emerson’s principle that if you build a better mousetrap the world will beat a path to your door to buy it.

In the meantime, he has also been building a new showroom, with more examples of how stone can be used for interiors and a display he designed himself for showing whole slabs of materials to help customers visualise what their homes will look like with it, which is difficult with 50mm square samples. Planet Granite likes people to visit the showroom because when they do they generally become customers.

The showroom is on two floors, joined by a spiral staircase, which demonstrates another aspect of Planet Granite’s skills. And in one of many examples of attention to every detail, it has a banister that is connected to the steps using a fastener engraved with the name of Planet Granite.

Luke Conlon of Cotswold Natural Stone wants to elevate the status of the stone he sells and is doing so by re-branding and opening a one-acre stone centre with a Stone Gallery in Scrubbs Lane, Shilton in Oxfordshire, near the company's quarry.

The Natural Stone Gallery was opened with three days of celebrations on 20-22 June. 

The site shows different styles of building stone and stone walling outside, with landscaping that uses stones from the quarry, including a bridge, and various sculptures by local artists, which are also for sale. 

Inside the gallery there is stone flooring, fireplaces, and furniture, using Cotswold Natural Stone's and other British and European stones.

The low carbon footprint of natural stone is emphasised with a commitment to achieving Net Zero on the wall of the Gallery outside.

Amir Reske, who has been Managing Director of premium surface specialist Caesarstone in the UK since it opened its own warehouse in Britain in 2016, is leaving at the end of August.

Amir joined the company in 2016 (read his comments at that time here) and was responsible for establishing Caesarstone in the UK and Ireland, opening three distribution centres – in London, Manchester and Dublin.

He will now return to his native Israel to take on a new role.

Amir says: “Caesarstone gave me an opportunity to build a business from the ground up, set and implement the growth strategy, and promote it as a leading UK brand – and for that I will always be grateful. I have been privileged to work with a brilliant team, some of whom started with me at the very beginning and are still employed by Caesarstone, and I am very proud of the culture that we created within the organisation.”

His replacement is yet to be announced.

The Mineral Products Association's lime producers have launch an ambitious plan to deliver ‘Net Negative’ carbon emissions by 2040.

Spearheaded by the industry’s trade body, MPA Lime, the Net Negative 2040 Roadmap explains how the sector can go beyond Net Zero a decade ahead of the UK government's 2050 target by deploying technologies such as fuel switching and carbon capture, as well as employing lime’s natural carbon-absorbing properties.

The sector’s two main products – high-calcium quicklime and dolomitic lime (dolime) – are versatile and vital to numerous everyday essentials from the manufacture of metals, glass, plastics and building materials to the purification of drinking water, treatment of sewage, control of air pollution, animal welfare and production of many food staples including eggs, sugar, and dairy products. Lime mortars and putties are also produced.

Used around the world for millennia, lime is made by heating quarried limestone or chalk to above 900°C to trigger a chemical reaction known as calcination. Around two-thirds of the industry’s carbon dioxide emissions arise from calcination, with most of the remainder resulting from fuel combustion.

Since 2005, action and investment by British lime producers has already resulted in a reduction in absolute carbon emissions of around 25%. Now the industry’s Net Negative roadmap identifies further technologies and infrastructure to enable it to fully decarbonise, as well as outlining the enabling actions required by government and other industries in the supply chain.

In addition, research by the European Lime Association confirms that around one-third of the carbon dioxide from lime production is naturally re-absorbed from the atmosphere back into lime products – a process known as carbonation – although this has yet to be recognised in carbon accounting methodologies.

Combining the industry proposed developments with the enabling action by government and the natural effects of carbonation, means the production of British lime could become Net Negative by 2040 and make a positive and ongoing contribution to addressing climate change.

Richard Stansfield, chair of the MPA Lime management committee, says: "The British lime and dolime industry has already achieved remarkable progress in both business commitment and tangible actions to decarbonise and play its part in tackling climate change.

"The publication of our Net Negative 2040 Roadmap is a milestone on the journey and serves to communicate, as well as incentivise, the changes that are essential for the future. The pace of change must accelerate, and we are jointly committed to ensuring that it does. Importantly, we can’t achieve this alone. Reaching and exceeding net zero will also require some key enabling action by government and others."

Earlier this year Italian adhesives and grouts company Mapei started launching carbon neutral tile fixing products on to the Italian market. Now those products are coming to the UK, starting with UltraColor Plus.

For Mapei, “zero impact on climate change” means that CO2 emissions measured throughout the life cycle of products from the Zero line – using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology, certified with environmental product declarations (EPD’s) – have been offset through the acquisition of certified carbon credits in support of renewable energy and forestry protection projects. 

UltraColor Plus is Mapei’s signature anti-efflorescence, quick-setting and drying polymer-modified grout, featuring water-repellent DropEffect and mould-resistant BioBlock.

In the UK, zero-line adhesives will follow in the future.

Internationally, the product line includes Keraflex Easy S1 Zero, Keraflex Extra S1 Zero, Keraflex Maxi S1 Zero and Ultralite S1 Flex Zero adhesives as well as Ultracolor Plus grout.

Marco Squinzi, Mapei CEO, says: “At Mapei, the road to carbon neutrality is, first and foremost, through the optimisation of formulations to offer products with a smaller carbon footprint and, at the same time, high performance properties.

"Ten years’ ago we were the first to introduce the offsetting of CO2 emissions with the introduction of Keraflex Maxi S1 Zero, our best-selling cementitious adhesive for ceramic tiles. And, in 2022, thanks to the decision to also include our Ultracolor Plus among our offset products, we presented the first ever carbon-neutral system for installing ceramic tiles. Now, we are taking a further step by introducing an entire Zero line and we will carry on paving the way for the entire construction chain.”

Francesco Stronati, corporate product manager of the ceramic line, added “At this historic moment, where sustainability is no longer a choice but a necessity – as can be seen with the development of various environmental protocols for the classification of buildings – we want to bring our real contribution to the ceramic and construction sectors.”

Mapei’s commitment to 'corporate environmental sustainability' at its Corporate Research Centre in Milan means development is focused on the environmental sustainability of products and processes. The team measures the impacts of products on the environment throughout their life-cycle using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methods. The results are included on an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD). Currently, more than 80% of Mapei products are covered by EPDs.

The team works to create products with an increasingly lower impact on the environment by researching, right from the initial formulation phase, solutions to reduce consumption of raw materials and extend the use of recycled materials even further.

The team is also responsible for identifying carbon offsetting projects and other methods to mitigate the impact production processes have on the environment, while continuing to guarantee the quality and durability of products.

zero.mapei.com

Before Joe headed off for visits to three of the World’s major ceramics exhibitions he contemplated the trends he was expecting to see. Now he’s back he says that five of the trends were particularly prominent and likely to be of significance to the tile and porcelain sectors in the years ahead. Below is what Joe says...

The top 10 trend predictions for the Coverings exhibition in Orlando that I laid out in the previous issue of Natural Stone Specialist proved to be pretty close to the mark. Having now carefully scanned Cevisama (Spain), Revestir (Brazil) and Coverings (USA) for the latest in ceramic designs, I have sighted each and every one of the Top 10 predicted trends many times over.

However, my take from these exhibitions – especially Coverings – is that there are really five design directions shaping the world-wide ceramic tile market right now.

The most obvious (crystal clear at all three shows) is that green – as the previous article predicted – is today’s dominant accent colour. Of course, green comes in many shades and it is safe to say that a great many different green variants have made their way on to a tile this year.

But 2023’s verdant victors appear to be rich, deep, and restful rather than sharp. Here we are talking about Moss, Sage, Calke, Olive, and Avocado, rather than bold and bright Lime, Celadon, Neon, or Chartreuse.

What is unusual about this colour trend is that it features across so many different types of tile and decorative devices. So these three exhibitions abounded with small rectangular field tiles in various plain green tones, with gloss, satin, or matt glazes.

They were realised on smooth and bumpy biscuit, or as a coloured textured relief tile. Green was also a powerful design thread in stone-effect tiles, from the veins of marble-looks through to dramatic onyx effects. And green was an emerging pace-setter in the porcelain worktop sector – something that really came to the fore in Orlando.

In my judgement the most beautiful tile range at all three shows was The Log by Peronda’s Harmony brand. This featured green as one of the six colour options (the others are white, sand, taupe, silver and anthracite).

The Log, created for the brand by Alt Design, is directly inspired by woodworking techniques. The curved part of each tile echoes wood-turning, while the ends evoke mitres, or the oblique cuts made to fell a tree. The grooved texture is reminiscent of bark. The overall effect is subtly tactile and, like many great designs, simple, versatile, and utterly original.

Dominant trend two is all about format – bricks and small elongated rectangles. These classic small tiles are seen currently in plain and bumpy biscuit, single or multi colours, gloss, satin and matt finishes, natural or polished effects. 

The appeal is that they can be used as a module for creating different compositions. They can be stacked horizontally or vertically, or used in monochromatic or mixed colour patterns. They work as a stripe, chevron or herringbone. They also speak to the overarching value currently placed on heritage and authenticity. 

Many of these small tiles are carefully mass-produced to look as though they have been lovingly hand-made in an artisanal studio. They feature craquelle effects, deliberate surface imperfections, multiple different moulded faces – all devices to create the illusion of being hand made. And I have to say, in many instances the results look convincingly authentic. The distributors report solid and rising sales.

Tactile appeal is important, not least with natural stone effects, and many of the recent tile launches use texture to provide visual and multi-sensory appeal. With digital decoration allowing sophisticated glaze effects to be applied to 3D surfaces, ripples, waves, grooves, and other delicate surface details are all now possible and the leading manufacturers have taken full advantage of that.

The next trend is the ’70s revival. At all three shows tiles recalling the best (and the worst) of 1970s design were much in evidence. There were two-tone browns, ‘groovy’ curves, and psychedelics. Above all, ’70s design was about fun – and if its revival is encouraging home owners in 2023 to be bolder in their choices then it’s good to see it returning.

In case you’re too young to get the reference, the 'rest your eyes in shades of green' headline on this article combines both green and the ’70s in the words from the Small Faces hit Itchycoo Park from the psychedelic era of peace and love... man.

Finally, Coverings in particular really showed how sophisticated gauged porcelain panels and worktops have become in today’s era of continuous pressing, digital decoration, sinking inks, and digital glues.

Some of the marble-effects, complete with subtly defined recessed vein patterns and metallic embellishments, are simply breath-taking. The choice of striking book-match designs grows every year, and the potential for impactful hotel receptions, corporate offices, and domestic bedrooms is now almost limitless.

Factor in the growing options in ceramic wallpaper and furniture facings and we are not so much looking at a key design trend as a range of new markets and applications. 

On the commercial front, the tile sector appears to be bouncing back from the pandemic, escalating energy prices, clay shortages, and a lack of skilled installers.

Coverings 2023 exceeded expectations, with a 50% year-on-year increase in attendance, attracting 27,000 visitors to the Orange County Convention Center.

Buoyed by pavilions from the USA, Italy, Spain, Brazil, Turkey, Portugal, India, and China, international exhibitors made up 74% of 1,000-or-so exhibitors. Most visitors (77%) were from the USA.

The show floor at Coverings 2023 featured the Art Tile Village, an area dedicated to artisans who keep old-world traditions alive with hand-made specialty tiles. This zone featured a dynamic range of imaginative tile art from American studios.

Coverings also provided its usual extensive offering of educational sessions focused on three tracks: Installation & Fabrication, Materials & Trends and Workforce & Profits. As well as the latest information about ceramic tile and natural stone installation, these sessions offered ideas for growing sales during the coming year.

One thing that Coverings, in particular, showed was the emerging strength of the Indian tile sector.

Punitive anti-dumping tariffs have severely impacted Chinese tile sales to Europe and the USA and it is not surprising India has stepped up to fill the void. Although the rapidly expanding domestic market in India has hoovered up most of the country’s production during the past 10 years, manufacturers have been investing in the latest production technology, so that now Morbi is emerging as a ceramic production hub to rival Castellon in Spain or Sassulolo in Italy. 

In Orlando, top Indian brands displaying their sophisticated wares included Exxaro Tiles, Varmora Granito, Italica Tiles, Sunhearrt Ceramik, Simpolo Vitrified, Sparten Granito, Nexion International and Bluezone Vitrified.

As recently as 2018 India did not export tiles to the USA. Today it accounts for 13% of sales by volume. And that figure is growing fast – up over 30% in the past year. It is providing strong competition for Spain, Italy and Mexico, currently the three largest tile exporters to the USA.

The steady development of the USA’s own tile hub in Tennessee will also impact the market dynamics in the years ahead.

Given the close historical and cultural ties between India and Britain, it seems inevitable that Indian ceramics will have a similar impact in the UK. In fact, they are already starting to.

A resounding success. That’s how Stone Federation Great Britain described the Natural Stone Show’s return to ExCeL London 6-8 June after a four-year gap due to Covid.

Previous shows have been held in April but this year’s was put back to June to make the most of the final tweeks being made to the Elizabeth Line crossing London. The line makes access to ExCeL even easier and quicker for more people. It had a minor problem with a signal failure during the Show but was a welcome additional route to the venue.

Undoubtedly the world has changed as a result of the Covid pandemic, notably with an acceleration of digital communications and use of social media. Some of the machinery that would normally be seen at the Show was there in digital format only – on the Breton stand you could spin the Genya to view it from every angle with the stroke of a finger on the touch-screen. And the range of machines sold by D Zambelis – including Omag, Emmedue, Terzago and Achilli – could all be viewed on a touch screen only.

Others preferred to have the metal on the Show floor. On Point was showing a Thibaut T812 CNC, a TC625 saw and Rex4 edge polisher, all on their way to Stone & Ceramics in Belvedere, south-east London.

The same company had also bought the Aquafil water treatment plant on the On Point stand – Aquafil being the recycling system now being sold by On Point.

Salvatore Caruso had a Donatoni Jet on display under the name of his new company, Stone Automation, that he set up when he took over the agency for Donatoni last year. The saws had previously been sold by Intermac, which did not exhibit at the Natural Stone Show in London this time.

Stone Automation also sells Bodiam diamond tools, which were on show, and has taken over distribution of Slabsmith, the inventory control system. Bill Elliot came over from America, where Slabsmith comes from, to talk about the system on the stand.

Salvatore said he had expected there to be plenty of interest in the tools and machinery, as there was, but a surprise to him was the high level of interest that was being shown in another of his stands – Italian Luxury Surfaces, which sells Stone Italiana.

Stone Italiana is at the top end of the engineered stone price range and Salv said he thought fabricators were resisting the race to the bottom with Chinese quartz and looking for more exclusive materials offering a better margin.

In interiors and hard landscaping, in particular, most of the stone is imported and there was plenty of imported natural and engineered stone to be seen at ExCeL, both in the Natural Stone Show and the Hard Surfaces exhibition running in conjunction with it. Turkey, China, India, Spain, Portugal, Italy and other countries were all represented in natural stone, quartz and ceramics.

There was less British stone on show this time, although Colin Keevil, owner of Doulting Stone, said at the end of the first day of the Natural Stone Show it was the best day he had ever had at the Natural Stone Shows in London – and he has been at most, if not all, of them – with top quality enquiries.

It was a sentiment echoed by many of the other exhibitors throughout the show. Gone are the days when stone firms shut down to bring their whole teams to the Natural Stone Show for a day out, but those who attend do so because they are looking for answers. As Sherrie Knight on the Clay International stand in Hard Surfaces said: “The quality of the people who have come here has been superb.” Clay International sells top quality Infinity porcelain slabs from Italy.

There will be a report from the Natural Stone Show and Hard Surfaces in the next issue of Natural Stone Specialist magazine. In the meantime, you can take a quick tour of some of what was at the Natural Stone and Hard Surfaces Shows by watching the short video below. And you can see the full list of exhibitors in the Official Catalogues of the shows that can be downloaded from the links below the video.

Two more stone carvers are among the latest craftspeople to be sharing nearly £300,000 from the Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust (QEST) to further their education.

The stone workers are Rasha Obaid and Dan Russell. Their Scholarships will enable both of them to study at the world famous Florence Academy of Art (FAA) in Italy.

Rasha Obaid’s primary area of interest is figurative sculpture and the restoration of historic stone sculptures.

She has a good foundation in carving and modelling from City & Guilds of London Art School, and is now seeking additional expertise in capturing the human form in clay and drawing by attending the FAA.

The QEST 2023 Scholarship will support Rasha during a year-long sculpture programme focusing on anatomy, gesture, and the capturing of human form in clay and drawing.

Rasha believes that supplementing her architectural stone carving foundation with specialised training in modelling the human form will position her to build a career in figurative carving and restoration in stone when she returns to the UK.

Over the next five-to-10 years she also plans to work with recent UK immigrants, aiming to increase their awareness of and engagement with the UK’s abundant artistic and heritage resources.

She says: “I’m interested in the creation and restoration of art in public spaces that engages with the narratives and identities of the local communities and represents a sense of beauty and harmony.”

Dan Russell is a classically trained stone carver, letter cutter, draftsman and sculptor. He studied sculpture at The Heatherley School of Fine Art and gained a First Class Honours degree in Historic Stone Carving from the City & Guilds of London Art School.

Dan’s QEST Scholarship will fund his third year on The Florence Academy of Art Sculpture Programme, advancing his education as a figurative sculptor.

Dan says: “By combining craftsmanship and the wonders of the natural world I strive to create an artistic expression that surpasses mere imitation, offering a unique perspective that resonates with both tradition and innovation.”

QEST accepts applications for its scholarships and apprenticeships twice yearly. The next round of applications opens on 10 July and goes through to 14 August.

The Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust (QEST) has also introduced Emerging Maker Grants for the training and education of talented craftspeople who are at an early stage in their career. Applications for this also open on 10 July.

The Emerging Maker Grant is a new funding opportunity providing up to £10,000 to committed makers who have been practising professionally for up to four years and who have a strong connection to materials, technical skills and processes.

The funding specifically supports training and education programs to help makers enhance their craft skills and advance their careers. The training can take many forms, from traditional college courses to vocational one-on-one learning with a master craftsperson or a bespoke programme of short courses.

To find out more about QEST funding and to apply for grants, visit the website: www.qest.org.uk.