In recent years Diespeker has seen a resurgence of interest in Palladiana, a style of terrazzo that offers a stylish, contemporary look, even though it has been in use for many hundreds of years. The design often resembles a puzzle of giant pieces, with each surface totally distinctive.
As a choice of flooring for offices, restaurants, retail stores and hotel concourses or countertops for commercial premises and residential kitchens, Palladiana is really worth consideration.
Palladiana is thought to have first been used in ancient Rome, and the style remains much in evidence in the city and elsewhere in Italy. The name was derived from Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio who was renowned for his work building villas, palaces and churches in Italy during the 16th century.
While chunks or chippings used in regular terrazzo are up to 25x25mm in size, those used in Palladiana range from 25x25mm to 300x300mm – and in theory even larger. Some Pallidiana is almost all ‘chunk’ and very little cement or resin, a style sometimes seen on pavements in Italy. The pieces of marble are usually irregular in shape, but they can also be symmetrical, often rectangular or square.
Clearly, this is no ‘ordinary’ terrazzo! Making Palladiana is time-consuming and labour intensive, as every chunk is individually placed by hand. For floors, each piece is set in place in the floor before the cement or resin is poured on. With countertops, individual pieces are bonded into the mould. Clients of ours often get actively involved in putting the chunks of marble in place for their floors or kitchen countertops, giving the end product a definitively personal touch.
Diespeker always tests the boundaries of possibility with the materials we work with. One example is the addition of chunks of glass and smaller pieces of terrazzo to the cement or resin bonding the larger chunks (an unusual concept we call ‘terrazzo in terrazzo’) resulting in a visually stunning design.
It’s also possible to create contrasting designs within the terrazzo, ideal for motifs, logos or simply for creative effect. This is another complex process but offers unique possibilities for branding or artistry.
For clients with a marble floor that would benefit from an update to create a contemporary, bespoke surface, Diespeker can repurpose the existing floor by cutting the shapes into it, pouring in cement – with or without smaller pieces of marble – for a truly exclusive finish.
We have superb credentials for the creation of beautiful Palladiana floors and countertops. With impressive stocks of marble slabs at our London and Italian premises, we can work quickly and cost-effectively. As with all bespoke products, Diespeker will make up samples to ensure we match client design aspirations exactly.
