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Important Factors to Consider When Choosing a Stone Reception Desk

26 March 2021

Before installing a stone reception desk in the front area of your office suite, there are several major factors to consider. Natural stone is elegant and durable as long as it is treated well. You can have slabs of marble, granite and other stones custom-cut to align with the room’s spatial requirements. Since natural stone is available in many varied colour combinations, veining patterns and surface qualities, every preference and need can be satisfied. There is truly an ideal choice to enhance virtually any style of office reception interior decor.

Although some materials are less likely to dull or scratch slightly than others, most quality slabs of popular stone make strong, attractive desktops. A reception desk with a countertop of stunning marble, granite, quartz, quartzite or Caesarstone takes centre stage in the “meet and greet” area of your business office. The luxurious colours and surface patterns serve as an upscale, sophisticated introduction to your entire office setting.

Important Features and Factors to Consider When Selecting a Stone Reception Desk

Before making your purchasing decision for a beautiful and practical new stone reception desk, there are some important factors to consider. To obtain the best advice currently available, you can consult our natural and engineered stone experts at Hans International in Sunshine North, Victoria. By comparing the unique features and qualities of different highly desirable stones like the following, you can make an excellent choice:

  • Marble. Elegant marble is the first choice of many commercial businesses for tabletops and desks. The many varied colour combinations found in marble and its attractive veining patterns make it an extremely popular choice. Marble slabs often display subtle yet complex mixtures of varied shades in yellow-gold, green, blue, pink, cream, cocoa and grey.

However, marble can show scratches and signs of wear more frequently than its man-created imitations do. This vulnerability results from the fact that marble is a metaphoric type of rock. It is composed of limestone that is heated naturally, creating crystals of calcite, which is a semi-soft mineral. This softness serves as an advantage, making it easier to cut and shape marble for making customised desks or countertops.

  • Granite. This lustrous natural stone is also a favoured choice for desktops and counters in office reception areas. As a crystalline formation, granite has very small pits or tiny spaces between its different mineral crystals. These tiny pits are not identifiable as spaces when a granite slab surface is well polished. Yet most granite also has naturally occurring markings that can look like cracks. However, they are not defects and do not lessen the sturdy structure of the stone.

Granite often exhibits bolder, brighter colours and tones than marble, such as turquoise, orange and black. It is an extremely weighty stone and is the least likely stone to experience scratching or scarring among the popular natural stone choices today. In fact, with good care and treatment, a stunning granite reception desk will retain its original lustre indefinitely.

  • Quartz. As a highly attractive engineered stone, quartz is first moulded and then baked into slab form. The finished product is composed of approximately 90 to 94 percent quartz stone that was mined from underground sources. In other words, quartz is a man-made material that is 90 to 94 percent natural, while the remainder of its contents is man-created polymer and pigments.

One major advantage of using quartz for desktops is that it is available in myriad colour variations due to the pigments added during the engineering process. Quartz can also be processed to exhibit identical patterns on each slab as needed. Even in office environments, it is good to remember that quartz can be damaged by heat. It can show signs of melting when exposed to extreme heat since it is produced using plastics. One advantage, however, is that this makes quartz somewhat flexible and less likely to dent or chip than quartzite.

  • Quartzite. As a completely natural stone formation, quartzite is extracted directly from the earth and cut into slabs for use in interior building and decor. It forms beneath the surface of the earth when sandstone with high contents of quartz is exposed to hot temperatures and pressure. It is then transformed into what we know as quartzite.

Limited in colours, quartzite is usually white or grey and often displays patterns that vary across a slab, similar to the varying patterns of marble and granite. This gives quartzite a more natural appearance than quartz displays. Quartzite is extremely durable and is not normally damaged or dulled from exposure to high heat. Although it is generally thought to be harder than granite, there is a slight chance that quartzite may dent or even chip.

  • Caesarstone. This material is composed of about 90 percent quartz that is mixed with pigments and polymer resins, and it is used frequently for desks and countertops. Caesarstone is resistant to scratching, staining and cracking, and it is non-porous, requiring very little maintenance. It is available in a wide array of colours, patterns and finishes, making this material popular for designing attractive reception desktops.

Costs for stone reception desks can vary according to the size and style of each desk. However, in general, marble is the most expensive natural stone, with granite costing somewhat less. However, quartz, quartzite and Caesarstone can cost more than some granite slabs.

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