Natural recreation ... Graniti flooring
The Dubai-based Graniti Buildings Materials has set up a design division to cater to the demand for the exclusive ceramic products it supplies. The company, set up in 1993, is the sole agent of Mirage Granito Ceramico in the UAE and the Gulf area.
Mirage Granito Ceramico's products are now highly recommended in commercial and residential buildings, airports, shopping malls and villas because of its excellent quality and advantages, says managing partner Carlo Nassif.
Explaining the production process of this patented product, Nassif says various mineral powders and rocks are extracted from mines and deposits around the world and transferred to Mirage's factory in Italy.
"Minerals are ground to fine powders, separated from all impurities and coloured by metal oxides. Coarser multicoloured grains
and mineral powders are then combined in a perfectly natural way, pressed as slabs under considerable hydraulic pressure, and fired at a temperature of 1250 deg C until they become perfectly vitrified and virtually impervious," he says.
He continues: "Since impurities are eliminated prior to pressing and since colour distribution is regulated by computerised devices, Mirage's Ceramico Granito slabs have extremely low porosity, perfect colour consistency, extremely accurate sizing and absolute imperviousness to acid, pollution attacks and frost.
"Mirage Granito Ceramico is not an imitation but a perfectly natural recreation of marble and granite, obtained with the use of fine minerals from around the world, processed with in-house developed and patented machinery. There is no addition of resins or adhesives."
The products come in 79 colours (pastels, fine-speckled, large-speckled, veined); nine sizes (from 15 by 15 cm to 60 by 120 cm); five surface textures (natural, split-stone, polished, honed, slip-resistant); eight thicknesses (from 8 mm to 30 mm); and 39 trim pieces.
The product, according to Nassif, can be used for a virtually unlimited range of applications.
Some of the applications include:
Along with a person-to-person marketing approach, the company conducts seminars regularly in the UAE and other parts of the Gulf in order to make known the qualities, advantages and different applications of this product, says Nassif.
Last year, the company sold 240,000 sq m of porcelain tiles in Dubai and the Gulf. Major projects Graniti Building Materials has supplied include Emirates Towers - podium; and the Abu Dhabi, Doha and Sharjah international airports.
The company stocks about 120,000 sq m of tiles at its warehouse in Al Awir industrial area.
Though the construction scene is on the downhill, competition is getting steeper and there is rampant copying of our collections, we manage to remain competitive through hardwork and dedication to our customers," he says.
