Shop Here: Cosentino
Editor’s note: This feature story was published in spring 2015. For up-to-date info, refer to our Cosentino store listing.
Though new to Toronto, Cosentino is no stranger to the surfacing-material game. In fact, a timeline on one of the Spanish company’s uptown showroom walls summarizes its 80-plus year history as an innovator in stone countertops.
Much like a Silicon Valley start-up, Cosentino is always pursuing the next big thing – experimenting to create more durable and more expressive materials and finding new applications for natural resources. Recent innovations include Suede, a matte-finish of the Silestone quartz material that mimics the luxe texture of leather, as well as Eco, a tree hugger-friendly surface made out of recycled porcelain tiles, sinks, toilets and non-leaded mirrors.
Throughout its new 930-square-metre space at Castlefield Avenue and Caledonia Road, Cosentino Surfaces proves to be just as innovative with its store environments. At the front, a half-dozen sinks and countertops showcase the vein consistency and large slab sizes possible with quartz – from standard island dimensions to mural proportions. Further in, an eye-catching display panel presents a flat inukshuk made entirely out of Cosentino materials, with each “rock” done in one of the six colourways that make up the Silestone Ocean series. A gleaming demo kitchen at the back – high-end Miele appliances are paired with a marble-like Silestone Lyra countertop – hosts in-store cooking lessons that prove the product’s durability.
Shop Here For: Surface materials reflective of serious R & D investment. Cosentino’s signature granite line, SenSa, is treated with the company’s proprietary SenGuard technology, which penetrates stone and bonds at a molecular level to provide much better stain resistance than the topical sealers more common in the industry. The super-resistant product comes with a 15-year stain warranty.
Best Bet: Strong, weatherproof and UV-resistant, Dekton is Cosentino’s latest innovation. To demonstrate the material’s resilience against the elements, Cosentino Surfaces installed black Dekton panels on the exterior of its own showroom.
Originally published in our Spring 2015 issue