We all know marble, the most attractive natural stone because of the beautiful, visible veins, details and color variations. And while we often find marble in modern homes, it is rarely as a table.

A marble table becomes the eye-catcher of the room. But can marble be used as a table top? Marble is a form of limestone and is naturally more vulnerable to acid than, for example, deep rocks or sandstones, such as granite and quartzite.

Processing marble into a table top is a craft that requires generations of knowledge. The combination of modern techniques such as the very soft Feel-me texture “Poco Vecchio” finish, combined with nanotechnology, happens at the HAVANI furniture company in the East-Flemish Wortegem-Petegem. They supply luxurious design tables made from the hardest and most useful rocks, suitable for daily use as a design table, desk or conference table. By choosing very hard marble with less porosity and focusing on mainly white and beige colors, acid stains or scratches will not easily become visible and thus will not disturb users. Polished marbles as well as dark marbles are advised against by Frédéric Haven, founder of HAVANI to be used as table tops.

“We do not recommend polished finishes on marble table tops because the
polished layer fades and the product to protect the stone
cannot penetrate the pores sufficiently. Also Marble already naturally shines and over time gets more “satin” due to the patina effect. Dark marbles have a color which is lighter below the surface making scratches more noticeable. And acid makes lighter colored stains. Polished and dark limestones are good to look at but not to work up or consume daily ”

Recently implemented nanotechnology in products are designed to better protect marble against discolouration due to exposure to acids. Products used to be water and grease resistant in the past, but now nanoparticles are much smaller and penetrate deeper into the pores and in larger quantities, providing higher stain resistance while still retaining the feel of a natural product. Without impregnation, dull, yellow, orange and pink stains will still be seen as before, but on HAVANI’s selection of impregnated and uniquely finished marble table tops, tests were carried out in Wortegem-Petegem, including mayonnaise, lemon and red wine, and as long as the acids are not left on the marble for too long, you will not get dull stains and certainly no colored stains.

There are furniture brands that apply a protective layer on top of the marble top, but these layers are often even more sensitive to scratches than the marble itself and liquids, fats and acids still can penetrate, which immediately leads to stains because one cannot combine both methods. An impregnated stone that repels liquid and fat can no longer be adhered to.

One loses the feeling of a natural product and the advantage of the satin gloss patina in the long term. A well-finished and protected marble, only gets better with time. In practice, we do not see transparent plastic covers over leather salons or plastic foils on top of a floor

A new player in the market for high-end tables. The company HAVANI effortlessly combines age-old craftsmanship with contemporary and, above all timeless design.

HAVANI is proud to announce that their Marcello Dining Table has been granted the Bronze A’ Design Award in Furniture, Decorative Items and Homeware Design Category by the International Design Academy, the grand jury panel of the A’ Design Award & Competition.

The Bronze A’ Design Award is a prestigious award given to the top 5% designs that delivered an exemplary level of originality in design.
Entries to the Awards are reviewed and judged by an expert jury panel of academics, press members and design professionals.

The Marcello dining table was introduced earlier this year at the Maison Et Objet trade show in Paris Villepinte and is available in an endless amount of high quality, luxurious materials and colors.
Unique is the combination of the very slender frame (10 mm thin legs) and the maximum length of the table which can reach up to 3 meters, even with rare marble tops.

The sculpted edges flow seamlessly from frame into tabletop, an absolut giveaway that the Marcello is a luxurious room’s centerpiece made with pure craftmanship. 100% made in Belgium!

Happy to see our table appear in the Meubel+ printed magazine with a nice feature on our Marcello table.

Content of the article:
The new Belgian design company Havani launches her first collection of high-end tables. Useful and pleasant designs around which important connections are formed between people, generations and cultures. The Marcello colllection includes tables and benches made from solid steel or Corten steel.

Full article: click here

Frédéric Haven is one of the young designers who presented their works at the joint exhibition „Belgium is Design“ at the Maison et Object trade fair in Paris (January 17-21, 2020). He showed 2 dining tables with natural stone tops: „Marcello“ with honed Calacatta marble and „Papillon“ with Emperador Perla Beige marble.

The name of his design company is Havani and it has not been around for long. Haven also has wooden table tops.

Both dining tables have a steel frame. The sizes are 260 x 92 x 75.5 cm and 270 x 128 x 75.5 cm in elliptical form, respectively.

„A piece of furniture for life,“ is said in the description. „We wish to fulfill the need for a centerpiece at home where we consume, share stories and make memories.“

Belgium is Design is an initiative of Flanders DC and Wallonia-Bruxelles Design Mode. This year, for the 3rd time, it introduced 8 designers at Maison et Objet. They showed furniture, objects, lamps, textiles and wallpaper. The pieces were made in Belgium with Belgian materials.

www.belgiumisdesign.be