Solid surface material - the only surface material for unlimited possibilities of design and colour
No other material is as versatile and has such distinctive capabilities as solid surface material. With its functional properties, solid surface material can meet the maximum requirements placed on a first-class material in kitchens, bathrooms and restaurants as well as in all commercial and residential areas.
What is solid surface material?
Solid surface material is a composite material composed of an acrylic mass, hardened natural minerals (about 75%) and pigments. The composition varies according to the manufacturer's brand. Solid surface material is versatile, hygienic, non-porous, homogeneous, resistant and easy to process and clean. In addition, plates made of solid surface material are thermoformable, partially backlit and can be combined with other materials.
Properties of solid surface material
- homogeneous
- thermoformable
- translucent
- resistant
- hygienic + non-porous
Which manufacturers of solid surface material exists?
Solid surface material was developed in the 1960s by DuPont and marketed as Corian®. Therefore, in the minds of many fabricators, architects and carpenters, the term solid surface material is still associated with the same brand, Corian®. Today, the solid surface material market has grown significantly and offers numerous other brands such as HIMACS, Avonite®, Krion®, Varicor® und GetaCore® and and many more.
Where and how can Solid Surface Material be used?
Thanks to the properties of solid surface material mentioned previously, it is not only used in the private sector as kitchen worktops or bathroom washstands and in the restaurant business, but also in areas such as hygienic zones in hospitals as multiple sinks in OP rooms or specialized containers, such as organ coolers.
Likewise, because of its superb thermo-formability, solid surface material can be used for all interior decoration – even for 3-dimensional elements. The renowned designer hotel, Hotel Puerta América in Madrid, can be mentioned here as a prime example for the interior construction of entire hotel rooms using solid surface material. The solid surface material HI-MACS® by LG Hausys was used for this purpose. Rosskopf + Partner AG worked together with famous architects, such as Zaha Hadid, Ron Arad, David Chipperfield, among others, to fabricate materials for this hotel on a large scale.
Its translucence makes solid surface material interesting for architects, whose creations include light or who simply want only to generate interesting lighting effects.
How can you process solid surface material?
One of the most important properties of solid surface material for processors is its trouble-free handling. In principle, solid surface materials can be processed like wood with ordinary carpenter tools and machinery to manufacture wonderful, individual 2-dimensional objects such as kitchen worktops or elegant washstands for the bathroom. With special tools and our expert know-how, it is also possible to thermoform solid surface material to create spectacular 3-dimensional objects. The wide colour range is another important advantage that solid surface material provides: the Avonite® colour range consists of about 20 colours, with Corian® by DuPont you can even select from 100 available colours and with HIMACS from about 90 colours.
