With shifting design tastes, we have found that granite has a perception problem, thanks to 1990s kitchen renovations, which could outlast us all. However, our close proximity to granite leads us to appreciate its versatility and range. Not to mention its story which, spanning over billions of years, earns it a little more recognition.
Born from the Earth’s Core
Granite makes up the majority of the Earth’s upper continental crust, and forms the cores of mountain chains such as the Andes, Himalayas and Sierra Nevada. Its distinctive crystalline surface is caused by granitic magmas which form by melting at the base of continents, slowly rising through the crust, before solidifying into massive bodies of rock over millions of years.
With these origins, granite is heat and etch resistant, with a density suited to both indoor and outdoor applications. When properly sealed, it’s created to do its job in the harshest of conditions.
A Stone to Outlast Human Life: Granite in Ancient Egypt
The ancient Egyptians were skilled in quarrying granite, sourced from the surroundings of Aswan, the Eastern Desert and the Sinai Peninsula. A symbol of power and permanence, this natural stone was used to line many of the pyramids, the sarcophagi of pharaohs, and statues of kings and queens. The King’s Chamber at the heart of the Great Pyramid of Giza (also known as the Pyramid of Khufu) is built from Aswan granite, pointing to its authority and durability.
Cleopatra’s Needles, a pair of ancient obelisks now split between Central Park in New York and the Victoria Embankment in London, are carved entirely from red Aswan granite, prized for its deep tone and the way quartz and feldspar cause it to glitter in the light. That they still stand, largely intact, after thousands of years of exposure is perhaps the most compelling case for granite’s longevity that exists.
The Granite City: Aberdeen, Scotland
On a clear day, the buildings of Aberdeen sparkle. Nicknamed The Granite City, the Scottish city’s architecture from the mid-eighteenth to mid-twentieth centuries was built almost entirely from locally quarried grey granite. In direct sunlight, the effect is striking.
Grey granite from Rubislaw Quarry, worked continuously until 1971, was used to construct some of Britain’s most significant buildings, including the Houses of Parliament and Waterloo Bridge in London. Back in Aberdeen itself, the same stone runs from the kerbstones underfoot to the city’s ornamental monuments overhead.
The Versatility of Granite
The range of granite is easy to underestimate. Polished to a mirror finish or left raw and textural, it comes in black, grey, white, red, pink, blue, and multicoloured varieties. Each slab is unique in its patterning. It resists cracking, scratching, and fading. And its density has made it the material of choice for some of the world’s most significant memorials and monuments: Mount Rushmore, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C., and the Brihadeeswarar Temple in India, as shining examples.
Granite in the Contemporary Home
A stone of permanence and authority, but also one of genuine beauty. In the contemporary home, granite’s density and resilience make it well suited to the surfaces that see the most use: kitchen benchtops, bathroom vanities, outdoor entertaining areas, and flooring. Far from dated, it is a material that rewards those willing to look past the clichés.
Available in tones and finishes that sit just as comfortably in a considered modern interior as they do in a heritage setting.
View our full granite range online and come visit a showroom in Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane.