Marble coverings for stores, gris pulpis pillars for an internationally famous brand

Producing a modular element in marble with a high aesthetic value, which was practical to install and at a reasonable price: this was our brief, which we carried out in close collaboration with the designers, to make marble pillars with a trapezoid section.

Such elements, used as an outer covering for the store facades of an Italian luxury brand with stores worldwide, immediately highlighted a characteristic which we had to take into account both during the production phase and, most of all, during installation, agreeing with the designers on the need for our on-site support to achieve the standards required: the heavy weight per piece.

The architects asked for a ‘pillar’ in solid marble, with a decorative function, as the steel sub-structure supported the static weight. It was a single or double element in Gris Pulpis, over three metres long, which lined the frame of the entrance to the store and bordered the store window on the facade. 

The focus of the preparatory phase was on sizing the anchors and on the way to make handling and installation of the manufactured items as simple as possible, ensuring an extremely secure mechanical hold, while keeping production costs down.  After having studied the design specifics with our technical department, we looked at solutions that took into account the features of marble, together with the dimensions requested. We produced a feasibility study, together with 3D designs, drawn up after simulations carried out with our CNC machine, and submitted it to the designers..

The final solution, which we sized, was agreed upon and validated by the architects, involved six bushing holes on three different planes of the element; 4 to fix the sub-structure and 2 for cranes on the building site. 

To create these solid pillars in Gris Pulpis we used our latest generation CNC machines, and decided to bore the holes to house the bushings during the production phase on the machine, ensuring a constant level of precision in all the elements that was much higher than by hand.

The pillar met the design criteria perfectly and was easy to transport, making it possible to use the same supporting structures in all the chain’s stores worldwide, with easy installation and at a reasonable cost.