If any further evidence was needed that terrazzo is a real hot trend in global interiors right now, Nemo Tile + Stone, the well-respected US distributor with six showrooms – two in New York City, one on Long Island, one in Queens, one in Philadelphia and one in Red Bank, New Jersey – has just announced it’s latest collection: Torrone – a fine-glazed porcelain range crafted to resemble traditional terrazzo flooring.
Torrone mimics terrazzo through the use of high definition printing and detailed craftsmanship, down to the slight shimmer the marble chips give off when reflecting light. This new range is available in four colourways and durable, large format square and hexagon tiles.
Common in Ancient Greece, terrazzo was originally made from mixing chips of pottery and marble, setting these materials in a lime and clay mixture, and then sealing with goat milk.
Though technology has progressed, the on-site mixing and pouring of terrazzo remains labour-intensive and relatively costly to this day. Despite this, terrazzo’s durability and and aesthetic flexibility means that it has kept its status as a sought after flooring option.
Nemo’s Torrone obviates the need for on-site terrazzo installation through the use of high definition printing to produce tiles that are very faithful facsimiles of the material that provided the design inspiration.
A new post by Joe Simpson, Diary of a Tile Addict, March 2017.