Book-matching process of the Borghini Calacatta Marble for Buckingham Green – In Opera Group

InOpera Group was a proud supplier of the marble selection for the Buckingham Green project near St James’s Park. Today we are revealing the production and installation process behind the book-matched Borghini marble, installed at the reception of the Tower building.

Buckingham Green project exterior reception view

The Tower building was completely restored by Fletcher Priest Architects, alongside constructing two new buildings on each side.

The core of the fully-glazed, double-height residential reception at The Tower reads as a coherent object, lined in full-height, book-matched Calacatta marble. This carefully selected Italian marble is emblematic of the scheme’s quality and the attention to detail.
– Fletcher Priest Architects.

Technique of book-matching

Book-matching is the practice of matching two (or more) stone or marble surfaces, so that two adjoining surfaces mirror each other, giving the impression of an open book.

The technique requires meticulous attention to details and can only be carried out using the finest quality marble which has defining attributes of clarity and definition. For this reason, we invited the architects to visit our quarry in Northern Italy to handpick the exact marble slices that suited their requirements. We settled on Borghini Calacatta marble with defined grey veins on a white base.

Choosing marble slabs — Marble slabs after polishing

Once the block is sliced into slabs, (similar to a loaf of bread being cut into slices), each of them is numbered in a systematic order.

The first slab in a block is polished on the backside and the next one is polished on the front side.

When the slabs are laid out end-to-end, the pattern continues from one slab to the next with no break in the pattern, creating a mirror image impression.

A similar technique as used for constructing the marble sink-tops using Neo Marquina marble. The edges of each piece were matched and polished. Later, the sink is perfectly slotted into the gap.

The slabs and the custom sink-tops arrived in central London safe and secure. For installation, we partnered with WB Simpsons & Sons, who also installed our pre-cast Terrazzo staircases and tiles at the Royal Academy of Arts.

To secure the two-storey tall marble slabs in the lobby, they had utilized honey-comb mesh for extra grip.

If you want to achieve this for your project, contact our specialists in this technique for further consultation and design review.

The book-matched marble is as impressive as it’s costly and can be carried out only by professional stone suppliers and installers. However, a similar effect can be achieved by using porcelain tiles produced by our Italian inkjet porcelain specialists.