Owner Dilmohan Chadha recently spoke with IRG Spokeswoman (and famed baseball announcer) Renel Brooks-Moon over Zoom to show solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement. Renel is IRG’s voice on the radio and is known for her time as a host on several SF radio stations and her social activism in the Bay Area.
Watch their conversation and access resources below.
About the Equal Justice Society
The Equal Justice Society is working to transform the nation’s conversation on race through law, social science and the arts. Led by President Eva Paterson, the Oakland-based organization aims to broaden conceptions of present-day discrimination to include unconscious and structural bias by using social science, structural analysis, and real-life experience.
Click here to learn more about the Equal Justice Society’s mission and their work.
When Blue Portifor Quartzite first arrived in our showroom in Spring 2019, it was an instant hit with the IRG staff and a dazzling favorite with customers. The slab’s light coffee and taupe background features soft hues of purple and blue with sporadic streaks of aquamarine crystallization interspersed with cool, mint green veining – the perfect shades for Spring!
This Spring IRG has brought in three more shipments of Blue Portifor from Brazil, each precisely exemplifying the beauty of variation in natural stone based on and according to its quarry. Some slabs boast royal purple veining, electric blue streaks or splashes of aquamarine. Others merge warm with cool shades, welcome surprises that allow for a multitude of design opportunities.
Simply put: Blue Portifor Quartzite is highly unique and surprisingly versatile.
Let Blue Portifor countertops highlight a modern kitchen by contrasting it with dark or black cabinetry. Or flaunt the material’s gorgeous colors by creating a butterfly effect with bookmatched slabs on a kitchen backsplash or fireplace.
Complement the rust colorations throughout the material with warm elements or woodwork of all types. Or pair it with grey cabinetry for a simple put-together bar area, as seen in IRG’s Sacramento showroom shown below:
“We don’t even know exactly what our next shipment will look like, but that’s part of the enjoyment. It’s not only a beautiful surprise to see it when it comes in, but it’s inspiring to see our clients’ creativity when developing ideas for its use,” says owner Ameeta Chadha.
Browse IRG’s inventory of quartzite slabs, including Blue Portifor,here. For more information on this exquisite material, call one of our showrooms or email us at: info@marblecompany.com.
IRG is currently taking appointments for necessary construction projects. For those who are just beginning their remodel, Blue Portifor slabs will be waiting for you when our showrooms are fully operational again.
When architect Dale Anderson began the remodel of his 1921 Russian Hill apartment, he wanted to be sensitive to the original detailing of his historic co-op building. So he never expected to be using IRG’s EPIC porcelain slabs and porcelain tile for the kitchen and bathrooms.
With his remodel completed, Dale spoke with IRG candidly about his new perspective on using porcelain slabs and tile…and how he surprised himself when came in to select material.
Tell us a about the goals for your Russian Hill remodel.
DA: The project is a 1921 apartment in a historic co-op in San Francisco. The kitchen had many of the original cabinets, with some new added in the 70s with plastic laminate countertops. The bathroom had been remodeled in the 1930’s. My goal was to design a kitchen and bathroom that was sensitive to the original detailing of the rest of the apartment, but with a functional, modern up-to-date feeling.
I wanted to bring some of the elegance of the formal rooms into the kitchen and bathrooms by using porcelain marble slabs for the countertops and large-scale running course porcelain marble tiles on the walls. I did a large-format porcelain on the bathroom floor and did real marble (3/4″ x 3/4″) on the shower floor. I used real marble on the windowsill and shower bench, to make a cleaner installation. You can’t tell which is marble and which is not.
What made you decide to use porcelain as the main surfacing material for the kitchen and bathroom?
DA:My wife and I came to IRG looking for a marble material that would fit the elegance of the apartment’s time period. As we were looking around, we found the exact marble slab that we were looking for. We thought it to be Calacatta Oro. When I went to talk with the salesperson, I discovered that the material was porcelain. I was embarrassed as an architect that I had been fooled, but was pleased with how it looked, and especially pleased with the price. We used marble in a previous kitchen and were constantly trying to prevent staining, so we were happy with the durability of the porcelain. We’ve had a couple of open houses since we moved in and everyone is really impressed with the porcelain.
Will you be using more porcelain for clients’ projects? Why or why not?
DA: So much depends on the style of the project and what the client prefers. I’ve moved away from using as much granite as I did previously and I’ve been encouraging clients to use more quartz because I like the solid contemporary colors available. I’m not really fond of the quartz materials that try to look like a natural product; I think that porcelain is much more successful at looking natural. I have also used a porcelain-like product, IRG’s Lapitec, to clad a fireplace.
Are there challenges with porcelain that you would want to disclose to interested clients?
DA: The challenge with porcelain is the sinks, because it’s not possible to do undermounts. Since so many clients really want undermount sinks, it may be a hard sell to use porcelain. IRG told me about the TopZero sink, which I used in my kitchen but it was a complicated sink installation. In the bathroom I used a vessel sink and I liked the idea of having a washbasin-type sink in a 1920s bathroom. Right now I’m working on a project with a client who has seen my porcelain and is excited to use it. So we’ll see where it goes from there.
IRG’s newest Calacatta Caldia slab is making waves – literally. Combining a centuries-old Italian marble look with modern cutting-edge technology, Calacatta Caldia Wave is an innovative product that utilizes advanced machinery to turn a traditional material into a magnificent piece of 3D art.
By precisely carving a 3D pattern onto the surface of a Calacatta slab, a design that would take months to sculpt by hand is meticulously achieved through the use of three different machines using CNC (Computer Numerically Controlled) technology and robotics. This unique and sophisticated equipment allows a 60-65 square foot slab to be produced in as little as 72 hours.
Calacatta Caldia Wave slab at IRG Brisbane warehouse.
Aside from the “wave” surface, other 3D textures can also be achieved by the technology, including the “elephant skin” technique seen below.
Grey marble slab touting “elephant skin” 3D texture.
The 3D surfacing concept originated from a team of Italian engineers and marketing experts who set out to launch a product that went far beyond typical textured stone finishes (such as brushed, leathered/satin and antique). Their goal was to introduce a hyper-innovative product that could inspire industry specialists to explore future possibilities for natural stone when modern technology is involved.
The slab (which measures 3/4” thick and narrows to .8mm at its thinnest points) can be used in a variety of ways; but it is particularly well-suited to wall applications. Architects, designers, builders and homeowners alike are discovering Calacatta Caldia Wave. From mounted artwork in a luxurious residence to making a statement in the lobby of commercial building, this new exotic-appearing slab makes waves in whatever way it is used.
Want to learn more about Calacatta Caldia Wave and other 3D surfacing slabs available for special order? Email us at info@marblecompany.com.
The IRG Blog is your resource for stone product information, ideas and inspiration. Use our informational articles, project features, and product spotlights to help create your vision, then come into one of our showrooms to bring your ideas to life!
