Bronze Building Components · 2022
Marble Hexagon Tile Covering Material
by Celil Kilinc
- Bronze A' Design Award 2022 in Building Components
- CLIENT: Ionic Stone
- Estimated Number of Design Views: 24,422
- Verification code 1D3170B97D · Verify this award
Colors
About Marble Hexagon Tile Covering Material
Marble Hexagon Tile is a natural stone covering material produced in a hexagonal format. Traditionally, marble hexagon tiles are cut with waterjets, a slow and costly process. Ionic Stone developed a technique that cuts rectangular marble tiles into hexagonal shapes using traditional diamond disc cutting. The method holds high precision in dimensions and costs a fraction of waterjet cutting, so large volumes can be produced. Each hexagon side can measure from 15 to 30 centimetres. The aim was to make hexagonal marble tiles affordable.
About the Bronze A' Design Award
Marble Hexagon Tile Covering Material is a Bronze A' Design Award winner, a highly prestigious recognition granted to outstanding designs distinguished by creativity, ingenuity, and astuteness. Bronze winners are amply skillful and strikingly creative artifacts that authenticate the vast experience, imagination, and resourcefulness of their designers. Marble Hexagon Tile Covering Material is expected to be a highly regarded, admired, and cherished object that is notably professional and innovative. This Bronze A' Design Award-winning design incorporates best practices in art, science, design, and technology, and is excellent for its attention to detail. Marble Hexagon Tile Covering Material splendidly satisfies needs, touches desires, charms feelings, and appeals to curiosity.
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- Traditionally, marble hexagon tiles are cut with waterjets. Waterjet cutting is very expensive and takes a lot of time. Ionic Stone's R&D department developed a technique by which rectangle tiles can be cut into hexagon formats with utmost precision in dimensions, and the cost of the process is a fraction of the cost of waterjet cutting, therefore marble hexagon tiles are now extremely affordable.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- It could be any size from 15cm (one side of the hexagon) to 30 cm.
- Tags
- Marble, Chevron, Hexagon, Tiles, Innovative formats
- Production Technology
- Using traditional diamond disc cutting, Ionic Stone's R&D team came up with a technique that allows marble tiles to be cut into hexagon formats very easily and in high volumes. The cutting machine is the product of Ionic Stone's R&D department and completed it in 9 months, from conception to installation.
- Design Challenge
- Cutting very accurately in hexagon format without NC machines (such as waterjets and CNCs) is a very drastic challenge. The process, for which we applied for the patent, encompasses a very unique and simple method, is the key to success.
- Research
- Hexagons are popular in ceramic fields but they were expensive to produce with marble. Ionic's R&D division was charged with the task of coming up a method via which making marble hexagon was cost-effective. The challenge was to cut the tiles accurately in high-volumes. Many different cutting techniques were evaluated and a method using disc cutting was devised. A machine was designed and was made in 3 months. With necessary modifications it took 9 months to amend the machine. The result was perfect marble hexagon tiles at affordable costs.
- Inspiration
- Ceramic tile industries strive to imitate the look & feel of natural materials such as marble. There is a popular trend in different formats and shapes such as chevrons, trapezoids and hexagons in the ceramic tile sector, and these products are quite affordable. However, these shapes were not easily producible or cost-efficient in the marble sector. Ionic Stone's R&D team just wanted to explore if these shapes could be made using natural materials.
- Project Duration
- This line of products have been in the American, Canadian and UK markets since 2019. The first mass-production was undertaken in 2018.
- Operation Flow
- Cutting marble tiles into rectangle formats with precision is easy. However, any shapes such as hexagons are cut with CNCs-computer-controlled machines, which is extremely expensive to operate. Ionic Stone's method is to use an innovative technique that uses traditional disc cutting with utmost precision. This way, cost is reduced considerably and as a result marble hexagon tiles become extremely affordable.
- Patents
- Patent pending
- Image Credits
- Image #1: Developer Hasan Orhan, Lilia 9" Hexagon, 2021.
Optional Image #1: Developer Hasan Orhan, Warm Mix 6" Hexagon, 2021.
Optional Image #2: Developer Hasan Orhan, Lilia 6" Hexagon, 2021.
Optional Image #3: Developer Hasan Orhan, Tundra 6" Hexagon, 2021.
Optional Image #4: Developer Hasan Orhan, Island Dolomite 9" Hexagon, 2021.
