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The trend for travertine

Recent times have forced all of us to be more versatile and agile—in the way we work, the way we play, and the way we socialise. Perhaps that explains the trend towards demanding that same versatility and agility in the materials with which we surround ourselves. Travertine, with its adaptability and aptness for so many uses, is one stone that meets such demands with aplomb.

From accent pieces and statement furniture to rooms and even entire buildings, it’s easy to see how this semi-crystalline limestone is stealing the limelight.

Frank and Arrow table lamps by Louise Liljencrantz and KFK Cabinet-Makers for Veermakers

Swedish interior designer Louise Liljencrantz unveiled her limited-edition Frank and Arrow table lamps at Stockholm Design Week as part of her collaboration with KFK Cabinet-Makers. This travertine stone lighting draws soft colour from its porous natural material, making a subtle Scandi statement in any room.

Gregory Beson’s Totem chair

Briefed with creating seating for a community park, New York-based furniture designer and lecturer at the Parsons School of Design Gregory Beson answered with a solid-slab, silver travertine bench. The piece capitalises on the stone’s extreme durability and suitability for all weather conditions—plus, it doesn’t get hot, even in direct sunlight—making this the ideal monolith for the great outdoors.

Table talk

Hommés Studio has embraced the travertine trend with a number of head-turning tables. The futuristic Quantic console table, with its symmetry of geometry, features travertine stone legs, a solid base to its polished marble spheres and tabletop. The Lunarys table, with travertine’s signature pores, brings a bold, otherworldly quality, as though it was an acquisition from the recent Perseverance Mars landing.

Botaniczna apartment by Agnieszka Owsiany Studio

Travertine furnishes a modern aesthetic, thanks to its ability to help reflect natural light, which makes it a go-to option for that essentially well-lit sanctuary, the bathroom. One example, in an apartment in Poznań, Poland, draws on the beige family of travertine’s earthly hues—which span whites, ivories and tans to browns, greys, rusty reds and blacks—for its textural walls and basin. The stone’s long-lasting nature can also stand up to a great deal of wear and tear, ensuring its ageability in a room that sees frequent use.

Alvaro Siza and COR Arquitectos Lombardy living

Seizing on travertine’s Italian roots—the lighter but marble-like material has been used here in temples, aqueducts, monuments and amphitheatres for hundreds of years—Portuguese Pritzker Prize-winning architect Alvaro Siza and COR Arquitectos have designed housing in Gallarate, Lombardy clad almost entirely in travertine. The housing development comprises 20 apartments, but the ubiquitous use of the stone does not stop with the apartment blocks. The designers have also enclosed the property’s gardens with travertine walls, provided travertine seating within these gardens, and incorporated travertine into the entrance gates.