Reinventing stone

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CUSTOM PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
Where the size and nature of the project demands it, landscaping professionals and architects can depend on Pavatile to develop new products according to their requirements.

A brief visit to Pearl Valley A Project Bulletin by Pavatile's opinionated journalist 2007.01.30 Architect: Malcolm Bam of Maas & Coetzee Paving contractor: Seymour Paving Why you should go there If you're a keen socialite golfer, do yourself the favour of paying the 900-odd bucks to play a round at Pearl Valley. Other than the attrociously kitschy lion sculpture and the my-own-Disneyland pool (sorry, I must be honest), that which we saw to entertain the senses of the discerning visitor and resident is really very smart. Even the traffic calmers are but gentle dips (which also have the function of leading away rainwater). So you get there smoothly, and in style. What you'll see The clubhouse is classy. Really. The carefully chosen materials are the best of the best — not gaudy gilt, like Al Pacino's expensive mansion in Scarface, but genuinely a well-finished example of understated opulence — which is why they couldn't just patronise the patrons by plonking down any kind of fake stone paving and thinking that people were going to be impressed. They needed something uncommon. How it was done Pavatile's SanBlok 50 is cast to near tile-like accuracy. The Zandveld surface texture is created by making moulds from specially selected sandstone. When cast in suitable colours and subjected to the scuffing effect of pedestrain effect, the stone-emulating effect is extremely pleasing to the eye. The layout at Pearl Valley makes use of two very subtle colours. There's a dull greenish tinge to the large blocks — almost like a patina — and a hint of pink in the accent lines. Only at sunset do you see these undertones clearly.

Pavatile's Zandveld BlokStep A 50 440 range is designed to extend the SanBlok 50 range. Creating steps by using fake stone paving blocks is a bad idea, because this reveals the dreary-looking concrete sides. But Pavatile's BlokStep family of products has a stone emulation on the step nose, much as one would expect from pool coping (in fact, you can use this product as pool coping around a rectangular pool). In the photo above, special appropriately-sized modules from the SanBlok 50 range are used as risers so that no cuttings are required.

Seymour Paving is one but of a handful of contractors in the Western Cape that specialises in accurate installations. Although the SanBlok 50's accurate sizing and crisp arris do allow the blocks to be laid close together like tiles, Seymour decided to lay the blocks slightly wider apart to create stronger grouting lines, thereby making the grid pattern and accent lines clearer when viewed from a distance. Click here to see more of Seymour's work with Pavatile products.