The Work
Floor-to-ceiling, heat-safe, nearly seamless — the fireplace is where large-format porcelain does its most dramatic work.
All porcelain →A fireplace is the one surface in a house where every quality of porcelain lines up at once. It's the focal wall of the room, so you want drama and continuity — and porcelain's large-format slabs let us run stone floor to ceiling with almost no seams, book-matched so the veining opens like a butterfly across the wall.
Porcelain is heat-proof, will not scorch or discolor, and comes in large-format slabs that can cover a surround with very few seams. It is also thin, typically 12mm, so it can be mitered to look thicker where an edge shows.
Calacatta Gold in Chicago: a single slab floor to ceiling, with the firebox opening cut from the face and the hearth cut from related material so the veining matches. Chosen over marble for its heat resistance.
Honed Sahara Noir in Park Ridge: a fireplace and TV wall, with the slab oriented so the strongest white veining centers behind the screen and the matte surface reads like artwork against walnut paneling.
Polished Sahara Noir in Northbrook: a pass-through surround, with slabs cut to wrap both sides and seams placed at the corners. A polished finish is handled carefully through install, because scratches show on a glossy surface.
In Western Springs, two Calacatta porcelain slabs were sequenced at the warehouse so the bookmatch aligns at the centerline, with a hearth mitered from 12mm material. See more in bookmatched slabs.
Polished or honed: polished shows the veining most; honed hides fingerprints and scratches better on a wall people touch.
