South Island Schist is one of a handful of indigenous stones available for use in NZ as an architectural finish and is probably the only decorative local stone available in a 600x300x12mm tile format. Schist is unique to the regions of Central Otago & Southland and whilst it is generally split for use in a stacked "rubble" format for exterior walling, when sawn with the grain and presented in a polished or honed format the Schist is shown to be a material of vibrant colour and intense lineal graining.
4 colours are available. Each is quarried from a unique location and has distinctive characteristics. It is easy to appreciate the inherent link this stone has to with NZ as the natural colours of the stone are typically reflective of the other greens, blues and browns that are found throughout the landscapes, flora and fauna of this country.
Antipodea Has a background of consistent olive hue with random white and golden veining.
Pacifica An even linear grained material. Has a consistent blue/green colouration and structure.
Polynesia A strongly veined material. Colours range from brilliant orange/brown to black.
Oceania The finest grained material. A mixture of blue and brown tonalities.
The Schist is presented as a 4mm thick veneer laminated onto a porcelain tile substrate(see photo) to create a product that is thin but extremely strong, regular in shape and light enough to freight inexpensively anywhere in NZ. The tiles are durable enough to meet performance requirements for high traffic commercial areas yet are sufficiently thin to allow for standard adhesive fixing when required for use on feature walls.
The Schist is available in a polished or honed (matt) finish. Schist also has a very high resistance to staining, abrasion, acid and salt attack and full test results are available to support these propositions.
