Lapis. Antibacterial stoneware with a natural stone look
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Appiani – a company founded in 1873 is one of the brands of the Bardelli Group – is a historical brand in the context of its own region and in the Italian and international panorama of ceramic, with an aesthetic value recognized in the world of mosaics.
Appiani recently introduced to the market its Lapis collection of ceramic mosaics. Inspired by ancient, authentic, precious and durable suggestions, the Lapis collection was born from the collaboration between Appiani and Studio METCO, a specialist in the insertion of silver particles. With this production innovation, aimed at identifying a silver-based ‘zero bakter’ additive that could come into contact with the ceramic body to give life to the exclusive Appiani Bio Shield+, the company offers a material such as high-performance porcelain stoneware and makes it ‘technical’ by giving it specific characteristics such as an anti-bacterial effect and an effective stain-resistant protection.
Tests have confirmed that the inclusion of this additive adds resistance to fungus and mildew, making Lapis particularly suitable for bathroom environments and wellness and pool areas. The additive not only eliminate 98% of bacteria but also fights the viral element – the product is ISO and ASTM certified.
Regarding the material aspect, with the Lapis collection, Appiani has developed a technical material with the characteristics of porcelain stoneware exalted by anti-bacterial additives, which is close to natural stone at the sculptural level and the strong aesthetic impact can replace it for uses in spas, swimming pools and, more generally, in contexts related to hospitality.
These market segments are literally conquered by this intelligent material, which is distinguished, both by the use of Bio Shield+ with anti-bacterial function and a low water absorption, impossible for natural stone with its high coefficients. If this is combined with a contained cost scale, it is understandable that the product can be offered in a wide and diverse range, of indoor and outdoor environments.
This wide range of uses finds an answer from an aesthetic point of view with important research of Appiani to give porcelain stoneware mosaics an aspect that reminds the natural stone both in terms of color and feel, generating a pleasant impression of naturalness. The internal production presses are set up to give all surfaces a more stone-like texture.
This product is an innovation also for its higher performance. In fact, while its surface texture looks like stone, the specific and critical issues of stones are eliminated, such as pores or small spots where dirt can insidiously lurk during the cleaning phase.
The Lapis collection is composed of nine complementary colors, which are declined on the tones of gray, brick and taupe in three strands that can in tun be interpreted vertically with three tones. The choice of the limited number of colors available was made according to the color distribution of the natural stone, to develop strongly evocative colors.
Sizes are 25x25 or 30x30 standard as the most commercial size for covering very large areas. On this basis it is possible to create mixed compositions developed on precise standards, while in the world of custom-made, the architect can mix, at will, different types of color not necessarily similar to the basic schemes suggested by the company.
In this way, Appiani gives the product an added value and enriches the “ceramic” material with the new finish specially designed for the light-colored mixture, the result of research into innovative solutions on the surfaces and in thickness.