The Scoop at K/BIS 2011

DuPONT – The producer of Zodiaq® quartz and Corian® solid surface offered a theme this year – “The Spice of Design” – and kept to the savory line with the new selections offered at K/BIS.

Click image to enlargeFor Zodiaq®, the five new colors are Coarse Pepper, Caraway, Poppy Seed, Chicory and Sage. (We weren’t kidding about DuPont’s spicy thinking here.) 

All of them offer a muted-but-blended look that should work well with simple-color contemporary designs as well as traditional, you-can’t-have-too-much-cherry wood cabinetry.

HANWHA SURFACES – This Korean producer provided the biggest spectacle at K/BIS by taking its bringing-surfaces-to-live them literally, as three models posed in front of quartz slabs, with the models clad in skintight outfits corresponding to the slab color. Of more interest to the trade, are the sample pieces on the other side of those slabs.

Click photo to enlargeHanwha introduced a large number of new colors in February to its HanStone line; in April, it offered a selection of a dozen more new looks. However, not all of them will be available immediately; the company surveyed attendees at the booth to judge reactions and – in a form of vox populi – use the information to determine which colors go to market first.

Among the new colors are several with main bases of plum, lime and aquamarine, along with others following the trend to granite and marble motifs. Hanwha also two surfaces with 20-percent post-consumer recycled content, mainly from brown and green beverage bottles to give a brighter look to sustainable content. The company will be ramping up production with its new slab factory in Ontario.

LG HAUSYS – The luck of the alphabet makes LG – a producer also with Korean ownership – look like a me-too company here, but it’s been working on several fronts to freshen its Viatera® line. While its Ice and Reflection Collections are along the traditional lines of quartz with deep hues and reflective highlights, others – such as its Wheat and Dover – are sandstone-inspired.

Click photo to enlargeLG Hausys is also going the marble route with two new surface – Blanco White and Crema Beige – in a new Veined Collection. And there’s an entry in the pure-and-clean surfaces with its new Ultra White.

The big news with LG Hausys, however, is more of a where than a what; late last year, the company finished construction of a quartz-surface production line in Adairsville, Ga. After setup and trial runs, the facility should start manufacturing Viatera® in May or June, making it the second company (along with Cambria) to offer U.S.-made quartz surfaces.