Two bathrooms, one stone
Two bathrooms in a private villa in Verona clad in Patagonia quartzite: the back wall is backlit, floors and shower trays are cut from the same stone and the basins are assembled from the same slabs. Everything else — walls and ceilings — is finished in anthracite resin, chosen so that the light of the stone owns the whole room.
From slab selection to installation: survey, cutting plan, thinning, light structure and fitting, all from our workshop in Verona.
Savoia Marmi · Since 1964
Private villa · Verona, Italy
The right stone for light
Why backlit Patagonia changes its face.
Patagonia is a Brazilian quartzite made of white quartz, pink feldspar and large dark tourmaline crystals. With the light off it is a pale stone with a web of golden veins; backlit, the quartz turns translucent and glows, while the feldspar areas and the crystals stay opaque and draw patches and islands on the wall that are barely noticeable at full thickness. To let the light through evenly the slab is thinned and bonded to a transparent backing, then mounted on a frame with a diffused LED panel.
The darkness light needs
Anthracite resin on everything else.
Backlit stone needs a setting that does not compete with it. Here walls and ceilings are in matt anthracite resin, the taps are black and the mirrors have thin dark frames: the eye goes where the light is, which is the stone. In the second bathroom the chosen slab has a large pink island that becomes the centre of the room when lit: the position of the basin and bidet was decided on a render made with the photo of the actual slab, before cutting.
Basins, floor and shower
The same slab, from floor to basin.
The basins are assembled: five sides cut from the same slab and mitred at 45°, so the veining turns the corner without a break and the bowl reads as a single block. The drain is cut into the base and the plug is in Patagonia. The floor and shower tray are cut from the same slabs as the walls, with the linear drain clad in stone and the veining running from one surface to the next. In the shower the Patagonia stays at full thickness and opaque: here the stone reads as what it is, with its dark crystals and pink zone.
The Stone Weavers
Frequently asked questions
Backlit marble bathrooms: the questions we get.
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Yes. Patagonia is not translucent like onyx, but the quartz it is made of lets light through once the slab is thinned. The feldspar areas and tourmaline crystals stay opaque: that contrast is exactly what makes the wall so legible when lit. We check on the specific slab, because translucency varies from block to block.
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The slab is thinned and bonded to a transparent backing that gives it rigidity; behind it sits a diffused LED panel a few centimetres deep. The finished wall takes up less than a standard stud wall. Floor and shower tray stay at full thickness.
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Yes: it is a quartzite, so harder and less porous than marble. For floor, shower tray and basin we apply our Defender treatment, which protects it from water, soap and limescale without changing its appearance.
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Because a backlit surface is in effect a light source: against pale walls it would lose strength. Matt anthracite resin absorbs reflections and leaves the stone as the only glowing point in the room. It is a design choice we often recommend with backlit marble.
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Yes. We follow the whole chain: survey, slab selection in our warehouse, render with the photo of the actual slab, cutting, thinning, light structure and installation. We work in Verona and across Italy, and for projects abroad we work alongside the client’s installer.
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Or call Aurora Savoia · +39 347 285 4654
