Optimum Surfaces Zenith Storm

Material composition and manufacture. An Optimum Surfaces porcelain slab consists of roughly 100 % mineral raw materials – feldspar, quartz, clay minerals and pigments – without polymer binders. The mixture is compacted in a pressing process, given decorated pigment layers for the surface appearance (with multi-layer printing for the depth effect of the veining) and then sintered at temperatures above 1,200 °C in a tunnel kiln. During this sintering the mineral particles partly fuse into a closed crystalline mineral structure – the finished product is a fully mineral, through-sintered slab with no resin content. This gives rise to the typical advantages over engineered quartz: water absorption below 0.1 %, very high heat resistance (hot pans can be set down directly), full UV stability and therefore suitability for external use, frost resistance and almost complete acid resistance.

The Zenith Storm variant. The base tone is a deep, warm anthracite-brown material black with chocolate and carbonaceous undertones. Powerful, fluid vein courses run across the surface in golden-yellow to ochre, copper-brown and creamy white tones, interspersed with black storm lines and isolated light grey to creamy lightenings. The movement of the veining is characteristically powerful and flowing rather than strictly linear – it recalls a storm sky with cloud movements running into one another, or the powerful veining of a Spanish Saint Laurent or an Italian Arabescato Orobico marble. From a medium distance the selection appears dramatic and animated with a dark, warm effect; close up you discover the fine pigmented depth of the vein courses. Because the veining runs in one direction, mirroring adjacent slab sections in bookmatch allows impressive V, X or quad patterns to be composed.

Format and thicknesses. Optimum Surfaces supplies the slabs in large format. ROSSITTIS stocks Zenith Storm in thicknesses of 12 mm (standard for internal floors, external floor coverings and wall claddings) and 20 mm (standard for kitchen worktops and heavily used floor applications).

Thermal and chemical properties. Unlike engineered quartz there is no polyester resin here – which removes the typical weaknesses: Zenith Storm is heat-resistant (hot pans can be set down directly, the slab is unaffected well beyond 200 °C), almost completely acid-resistant (wine, lemon, tomato and vinegar leave no marks) and fully UV-stable (suitable for external use). Frost and weather resistance are given. Water absorption: virtually zero (below 0.1 %, as is typical for porcelain).

The ROSSITTIS range. We stock Zenith Storm with the naturale matt standard finish in depth, in 12 and 20 mm thickness; further thicknesses and treatments from the Optimum Surfaces programme are available on request. From the slabs we fabricate kitchen worktops, islands, bar counters, buffet and furniture tops, wall claddings with bookmatch potential, bathroom fit-outs (washbasin tops, wall and floor applications, showers with proper waterproofing), window sills, skirtings, internal and external floors, pool surrounds and back-ventilated façade systems.

Comparison. Within the Optimum Surfaces Zenith line, Storm positions itself as the most dramatic and the darkest, stormiest selection. Compared with competing porcelain brands, Laminam (Italian, broadest portfolio), Neolith (Spanish, brand leader in large format), Dekton (Cosentino group, Spain) and Caesarstone Lioli (Israeli-Indian) offer similar dramatic dark marble-look selections, each with its own material reference. Compared with genuine Saint Laurent natural marble (the Spanish-Moroccan Marrón emperador) or Arabescato Orobico natural marble (Italian, from Bergamo), Zenith Storm remains more predictable and acid-resistant – the natural marble appears geologically more authentic, with uncontrollable batch variation, and is acid-sensitive. CTX BasicKeramik is the ROSSITTIS house brand for more affordable porcelain selections with a similar material logic.

An honest assessment. Zenith Storm is the ideal choice for any application that calls for a dramatic, animated dark marble appearance combined with full technical durability. The selection works particularly strongly as a statement wall cladding with bookmatch mirroring across large areas (this is where the dynamic movement of the veining comes into its own), as a kitchen island with dramatic veining, as a bathroom fit-out in luxurious master bath concepts and as an outdoor kitchen worktop. Anyone looking for a calm, uniform engineered-stone effect should switch to concrete-look selections such as Laminam Fokos Piombo or to granular, homogeneous granite selections; anyone who prefers authentic dark natural marble with geological authenticity should accept the higher maintenance effort and the acid sensitivity of the marble material.