Creating iconic surfaces – Part 2: Looking deeper at the possibilities of design

Since the mid-1980s, Caesarstone has been on a journey of innovation and reinvention based on a passion for craftmanship and design. The next chapter in the brand’s history sees the launch of ICON crystalline silica-free technology, and an aesthetic exploration of the possibilities ahead.

Caesarstone’s new proprietary ICON technology is the next step in the brand’s story of material innovation. Well-known for offering superior surfaces that outperform natural stone, the new technology sees the surface leader reinvent the category with a crystalline silica-free (CSF) formula that substitutes quartz with high-quality, post-industrial recycled materials.

“As well as providing technical challenges in ensuring that the new material base delivered the same superior performance that the Caesarstone brand is renowned for and is relied upon by the KBB community for the most discerning of clients,” explains Jonathan Stanley, VP of Marketing and Customer Service at Caesarstone UK & Ireland, the new technology also provided new opportunities for the brand’s in-house design team.

“Our brand has been built on a blend of investigation, interpretation and a good helping of imagination”, enthused Stanley. “Our designers seized the opportunity to devise an aesthetic that harnesses transparency, depth and textural dimensions.

“This concept corresponds perfectly with today's design trends, which have shifted towards luxury that champions simplicity, authenticity and a connection to nature.”

Caesarstone’s Head of Design, Mor Krisher agrees: “As we always do with any product launch, we left the design labs to research new possibilities in the world outside our window.

“For us, we see this discovery stage as an adventure into the unknown, collecting unique samples of natural materials that captured the transparencies and depths we were looking for, finding dramatic onyx minerals, explored unique calacatta marbles, and discovering sea rocks covered in moss and algae on the spectacular shorelines near our development facilities.”

Back in the Caesarstone R&D labs the design team combined these diverse and thought-provoking materials samples with the technical possibilities afforded by the Caesarstone ICON material base, formed of ~80% recycled material content.

Utilising the brand’s in-house prototyping equipment and material expertise, it became clear to Krisher and the team that ICON provided an ideal canvas for unlimited creativity – especially in terms of new colours and patterns. 

“The surfaces market is dominated by black, white, grey and beige,” explains Krisher. “While the wonders achieved with these colours are often mesmerising, we embraced the opportunity to incorporate shades that deviate from the norm – including sea greens inspired by ocean environments and vibrant oranges that takes a cue from natural clays. These choices seem bold, yet they are ideal for our newest Caesarstone ICON surfaces, as they emanate a sense of natural authenticity due to unprecedented translucency and multi-layered depth.”

“In recent months, we’ve been previewing early design concepts of these new designs to trade partners across the UK and Ireland,” explains Edward Smith, Managing Director for Caesarstone UK & Ireland. “The response to ICON has been phenomenal. In particular, the reaction to Ocean Sage has been incredible, with designers applauding the unusual sage base elevated by creamy, foamy undertones and etched with dark algae green veins. The feedback has been universal: there is nothing else like this available on the market!”

The exploration of light, through the shared concepts of translucency and luminosity, inspired the alluvial layers of 8151 Moonflow, with broad areas given depth and movement as the design is built up with bone-white based tones accentuated by beige and clay highlights.

As well as exploring new possibilities, the ICON technology has also facilitated a re-examination of long-established designs, added Smith:

“We understand the market demands for increased recycle material content, and the need for suppliers across the industry in every category to work harder in creating a fully realised circular economy. Caesarstone’s unique ICON advanced fusion technology helps support a safer, more sustainable product, and we are committed to a crystalline silica free portfolio in the medium term.”

Long-established, signature products such as Cloudburst Concrete, Airy Concrete and Black Tempal are already now available using Caesarstone’s ICON formula with the brand promising an expanded portfolio of CSF surfaces with the new additions regularly introduced into the UK and Ireland market over the next 12-18 months.

It is evident that research, design and technology are all significant pillars of the Caesarstone brand story, and nearly forty years of revolution and reinvention clearly comes at a cost, but Smith highlights the efforts the company is taking to change not just the way they do business, but the way the sector operates:

“When we first introduced our ICON CSF technology to the UK market, one of the first questions asked by some of our partners was ‘what’s the cost?’ – our partners recognise the significant investments we make but too often sustainability and safety has been seen as a premium or a luxury that can be disregarded in the race to the bottom, and I think there was an expectation of an uplift in pricing.

“For us, there shouldn’t be a price premium in doing the right things,” explains Smith. “There is no additional charge for these more sustainable surfaces, with these comfortably aligning within our existing price groups. Already, we have ICON models at three different point prices following our radical pricing restructure earlier this year.”

Smith promises that ICON technology will be available at the most accessible entry points into the Caesarstone portfolio as more colours complete the transition to the new formula:

“When we redefined our pricing strategy to offer increased value to fabricators and studios, we knew we were mere weeks away from officially unveiling ICON, and the response to this approach has been inspiring. Our partners have recognised how we’ve insulated them from the costs involved in more environmentally conscious manufacturing, a statement of our intent to, again, reinvent the expectations of the wider industry.”

In fact, due to the brand’s pricing restructure, low-silica and ICON crystalline silica-free products, such as Rugged Concrete, are actually more competitively priced than before.

For Caesarstone, innovation is never complete; there is a sense in speaking to the passionate team at the brand that they are only weeks away from their next new idea. With a heritage of continuously reinventing the art of the possible in the KBB space, breaking conventions and stimulating designers and homeowners alike over the decades, each of the team gently hint that there’s more the brand is keeping under wraps for now, but will surely be as imaginative, and unexpected, as prior innovations.

“For us, ICON represents a long, and ongoing, journey. The journey of minerals through time, as they are impacted by air, moisture, heat and countless other natural elements. The journey of our design team, who routinely venture out to unfamiliar environments in the pursuit of discovery. And finally, the journey of the Caesarstone brand itself – an evolving company that embraces new materials to break new ground in terms of aesthetics and sustainability,” summarised Stanley on what ICON means for this perpetual innovator brand. “We can’t wait to show the industry what’s next…”