Bianco Fantastic.

Where the Halayeb whites are an even field, Bianco Fantastic has movement: a white to light grey ground crossed by darker grey figuring that runs and gathers rather than scattering evenly. It is the stone to choose when the surface itself should be the event.

Movement has a consequence on site: pieces have to be laid out before they are fixed. Two slabs from the same block will continue each other; two from different blocks will argue. Order the whole quantity together, keep the offcuts, and dry-lay a floor or a feature wall before anything is bedded.

Its sheet is the softest of the pale hard stones — 0.30 % absorption, 1,860 psi in flexure — so it belongs indoors and on sheltered elevations rather than under standing water. Polished, the contrast comes up to full strength; honed and brushed quieten it to something nearer concrete.

Supplied as blocks, slabs and cut to size.