Burlington Stone - Premier Slate/Stone Manufacturer

Based in the Lake District National Park, Burlington Stone operate six quarries yielding an array of natural colours and textures. Their team of skilled craftsmen use modern machinery to produce slate and stone products of the finest quality.

Most slate and stone specialists go down one road and only work in one field of the industry. However, Burlington Stone work on projects that enable them to work on roofing, cladding, flooring, landscaping and interiors.

Burlington Stone have six quarries in Nothern England in the Lake District. The slate is taken from these quarries and then turned into luxurious and prestigious natural stone by highly skilled engineers. These skilled craftsmen manipulate the slate to create a range of colours and patterns into the stone which are truly bespoke pieces of genuius.

With a choice of five sumptuous stones and two sublime limestones, together with a range of smooth and textured finishes, Burlington's products provide the ultimate finish to any home, landscape, building or garden.

The example above shows just how exquisite their aggregates are functional and decorative for any medium or kind of hard landscaping design. Available in a multitude of sizes from dusts and fines, to mulches to paddlestones, they have been traditionally been used for a variety of applications including the creation of garden paths driveways, ponds and water features.

When placed in the tradtional bathroom or toilet, Burlington's stone creates a statement of enduring quality and represents the pinnacle of timeless luxury. A choice of natural pastel colours that include greens, silver/greys and blacks, together with two complementary limestones, ensures authentic period elegance can be achieved.

Whilst cladding and lining are often regarded as two dimensional, natural stone remains a material with three dimensions, and this basic of properties can be used to dramatic effect. The cladding series by Burlington Stone provides a perfect backdrop and one that remains highly visible whether used within the interior or exterior environment. The stone is perfectly aligned to the exact requirements of today's modern construction industry.

Symbolic of the Lake District and an integral of its unique landscape, walling stone has been used for centuries - which today is just as popular as a high quality internal decorative finishing material as it is structural. Burlington now offers modular unites of split faced walling stone that are simple and easy to install whilst continuing to deliver that authentic random look.

'If you can imagine it, We can produce it.'

Site: http://www.burlintonstone.co.uk
Tel: 01229 889661
Mail: sales@burlingtonstone.co.uk

Parapan - High Gloss Acrylic

We have all visited our favourite designer stores and outlets or seen a recent movie with the "new york office" style setting - where the "boss" works in a space boasting luxury and sophistication. His desk shines every silhouette of the New York sky scape and the walls reflect your image of consciousness.. in most cases, the material used in this context is Parapan - the "High Gloss Acrylic".

Parapan® is manufactured to the highest possible specifications which means that solid colour runs all the way through and the high gloss is on both sides. Because Parapan® is durable and moisture-resistant it is especially suitable for kitchens and bathrooms. It is now regularly being specified for commercial applications as well as specialist furniture pieces.

Available in both 18mm and 4mm thicknesses panels and doors are made to measure and are perfect for all vertical applications from drawer and cupboard fronts to wall cladding. Parapan® is also extremely workable as it can be thermoformed into curves and machined like wood. The below image demonstrates The Hamburger Union restaurants, and there use of the Parapan application.

Parapan®: for style that’ll last a lifetime… we’ve got it covered.

Parapan®, Thistle Way, Gildersome Spur, Wakefield Road, Morley, LEEDS, LS27 7JZ

Tel: 0113 201 2240
Fax: 0113 253 0717
email: info@parapan.co.uk

DuPont - Corian Specialists

DuPont are the leading manufacturers and designers for a solid surface offering superior design possibilities and excellent long-term performance, known as Corian. It is composed of acrylic polymer and alumina trihydrate. It is not a thermosetting plastic, but can be thermoformed by heating it to 300°F (149°C), allowing unique shapes to be created.

The tiling system above is called the Voronoi. These dramatic wall-mounted textures and aesthetically satisfying three-dimensional design patterns are based on the visually complex genius of some of history’s most famous mathematical concepts – all thanks to an award-winning collaboration between DuPont’s Corrado Tibaldi, and external consultants Alessio Erioli and Andrea Graziano.

But what mathematical concepts are there that could possibly create a wall mounted texture you may ask? The Fibonacci wall mounted panel is devised around the famous Finonacci spiral(hence it's name) and Phyllotaxis pattern using two sets of spirals revolving in opposite directions.

DuPont have also used the material in retail spaces like the in the Jacob & Co. store in New York (A luxury jewel and watch specialist). Corian combines versatility with practicality. Because it is formable, it can be thermoformed to fit tight areas or create dramatic impressions. Because it is solid all the way through, it can be inlaid or carved to showcase store logos. Because it is translucent, it can be backlit to add visual impact.

DuPont are also known for manipulating their innovative material into functional products like this fruit bowl shown above and this cutting edge chopping aboard shown below.

For all the film fanatics out there, some of you may wonder how Tron's sets were created in order to maintain that futuristic effect and became so successful. And it was in fact, DuPont, that worked in collaboration with the designers and organizers to create a must see exhibition at the 2011 Milan week of design (the most important venue for design companies and professionals from around the world). Tron's DVD and Blu-Ray versions will be showcased within the exhibition and movie-inspired design show.

Site: http://www2.dupont.com

Mykon - Aluminium Honeycomb Panelling

Mykon believe that 'light is vital not only in its ability to transform space but also due to the different appearances and contrasts it can produce'.

They appreciate how valuable light is as a resource and using this philosophy now manufacture panels, sliding doors, internal hinged doors, flooring, ceiling tiles and bespoke furniture.

So what is this honeycomb panelling exactly? Typical panelling is usually made out of plywood, plasterboard or aluminium profiles. Mykon have manipulated the usual materials and combined these into a more three dimensional form to create something not necessarily new, but clever and innovative.

The image above shows just a few of many applications that this material can be used for. The panelling is made up of a series of thin aluminium hexagonal formed shapes most probably manipulated by the use of a simple jig. This form is then faceted in a layer of glass either side to protect them as well as create the finishing layer ready to be applied to its function.

Site: http://www.mykon.com
Tel: 01480 415070
Mail: sales@mykon-systems.com

The Architect's Archive hits the Surface Design Show...

Every year, The Surface Design Show throw a massive exhibition of new innovative companies and products on the market and this year was by far the most exciting so far. The show is a must attend event for specifiers looking for the latest surface solutions, incorporating brand new feature areas and an opportunity for you to network with the crème of this precious industry. This year saw the likes of ACTiVE, Caesar, Mykon, Parapan, Burlington, Arpa, LED LightSheet, Levantina, Quantum Glass, Muraspec and Benchmark.

We will be spending the next few days or so uploading posts that feature examples of the products and companies that stood out the most to us individually at this prestigious event and with information about the company websites, you will be able to see just how the materials can be applied to their full potential.

Four little architects from Farnham...

The Architects Archive is a brand new interior architectural blog written by a small clan of students from the UK. We are hugely passionate about architecture both locally and worldwide and we want to share our discoveries with you all. We are specifically stimulated by three dimensional forms and our blog will concentrate on this aspect of design.

Not only will we promise to share innovative and new designs with you, but our aim is to review as many references as possible giving our thoughts and opinions - there are simply just too many blogs out there who concentrate too much on posting hundreds of images every day without explaining why they should be appreciated. On the other hand, there are some truely great examples out there in which we aspire to.

We will be up and running as soon as possible with a series of posts to wet your appetites - we hope that you will be just as staggered and blown away as we are. And If we in some way have helped out with research of your own, then we have succeeded in our job.