Beneath the Surface Blog

Ouch. I feel like I’m backstabbing my trusted old friend, the natural stone panel. Lately we’ve seen a surge of interest in faux stone products, particularly for backlighting applications, and have found ourselves recommending these products for certain instances. There are some high-quality acrylics, poured resins, and co-polyester materials that have made advancements in the last five years and become promising contenders to the natural stone panel.

You’ve specified an exotic natural onyx, the client has fallen in love with it, and now after budgeting exercises, you need value alternatives that still come close to the original design intent.  The inherent beauty of onyx panels instantly makes them the focal points of space, so it’s not always wise to cut the budget in these areas. There ARE certain instances in which man-made faux stone panels will maintain your design intent, meet the budget, and please the client, but decisions should be made with discrimination.

When is a man-made onyx material a decent architectural solution? Here is our criteria for selectively determining when to use man-made faux stone panels versus the real thing:

1. Complex Geometries

Let’s face it – even with the most advanced processes, natural stone panels just doesn’t like to be coerced into complex geometries (particularly bent and curved shapes). Man made stone materials offer real flexibility in creating thermoformed and custom shapes. In addition, mitered edges are easier to fabricate and control quality.

2. Overhead applications

In terms of offering dramatic weight reduction, faux stone panels offer real benefit to designers and greatly reduce structural requirements. Plus if the stone will be viewed from a distance and out of reach from physical contact, it’s likely that the occupants will never know the difference.

3. Cost

Based on our experience, faux stone panels are typically about 50% less expensive than traditional glass-backed natural stone.  The lightweight nature will reduce the amount of structural steel necessary to support the faux stone in a feature wall or ceiling application.

4. Control/ Predictability

Especially when you’re in a time crunch and looking for a quick material solution to add to your specs, mother nature doesn’t always provide natural stone material in the exact way you have envisioned it, packaged neatly for insertion into architectural drawing sets. For optimal control and predictability, man-made materials offer the advantage.

5. Time

This piggy-backs onto #4 above.  With an easier specification process, man-made translucent stone panels greatly simplify the decision-making process. Existing product collections set clear parameters on available surface styles and options. While the manufacturing lead times for faux and natural stone panels are roughly the same, the sampling and specification process for acrylic or resin stone panels is usually quicker.

--> Now of course, there’s always a distinct set of parameters in which materials are best suited, and I must do justice to GPI's long history in the natural stone industry.  So stay tuned for when we explore the advantages of using natural stone panels (which, if nothing else, will ease my guilt for writing this blog post!).

Expand your design palette with imaginative interior feature wall products. Stone, wood, and light are three basic elements of nature. Layer them into an integrated assembly, and the visual effect is stunning.

A sleek alternative to backlit onyx mosaics, these backlit stone and wood screen panels create extravagant patterns for an interior feature walls and ceilings.  Combining illumination, translucency and pattern, the layered panels illuminate without evidence of structural shadows or untidy grout joints.

Above: Flat-Lite™ LED Light Panel

Flat-Lite™ LED Light Panel + DURA-Lite™ Translucent Glass-Backed Stone

Custom laser cut wood screens (available in any custom pattern or lettering)

Flat-Lite™ + DURA-Lite™ + Custom Wood Screen = VOILA!

In an interplay between organic veins and geometric repetition, the wood screens frame the natural movement of the onyx. Backlit illumination increases the contrast between the surface materials, providing an intriguing focal point for commercial and hospitality spaces.

For the Marriott Renaissance and Residence Inns located in Arlington, Virginia, the design teams at Forrest Perkins and Cooper Carry envisioned a softly glowing beacon to anchor the lobby space. With a table that wraps up the wall and returns back to form a soffit, this eye-catching piece called for a solution that included softly figured onyx panels, minimal structure overhead and continuous planes of illumination.

Strong attention to detail in the engineering drawings of the surface, structure, and lighting elements of this custom millwork piece allowed the backlit onyx panels snapped into place for easy construction.

Controls and integration to the Lutron building management system are being finalized, and surrounding finishes will soon flesh out this grand space. Stay tuned for final installation photographs!

Update: completed backlit onyx table images below

Read more about the Potomac Yard Marriott project on Cooper Carry’s website >

In studying our website metrics that indicate which keywords our visitors are searching for, it’s mind-boggling how many designers are searching for answers to detailing backlit panels. And while we love to stock our website full of useful information that makes it easy for busy designers to quickly understand and specify our backlit onyx systems, typical details can sometimes actually hurt the process.

When backlighting architectural panels, there are many considerations that affect the arrival at a detail.   It’s a process that we forge through per job.  As an architect or designer, can you imagine if your potential clients (developers or building owners) called you up and asked to see a typical floor plan from your firm? Sure, there is a general aesthetic and personality to your design process, but each solution is generated by working through several design phases/iterations, and that’s what makes the finished project unique. A single floor plan doesn’t fully do justice to all of the variables that affected that final solution. That’s how much attention and iteration goes into one of our details; they’re like our blueprints.  

Here is a wall section detail we generated for a specific project that incorporated backlit onyx panels. The variables:

• Surface type and translucency levels
• Surface thickness
• Light source (method, panel sizes, color temperature, brightness)
• Necessary diffusers
• Structure and fastening method
• Ideal spacing between elements (this can only be derived from physical testing)
• Future maintenance access
• Installation methods

As you can see,we develop our details based on the above considerations, and they must be considered holistically to achieve high-quality finished works.

The honest truth? For backlighting architectural panels, you don’t need typicals. Rely on a company's portfolio and expertise to trust that they will arrive at an equally thoughtful solution for your backlighting project.

Learn more about our custom detailing solution for the backlit onyx lobby features at the Wells Fargo Center:

Backlit granite bars with the correct lighting controls allow designers to explore the furthest ranges of materiality. Granite is often associated with traditional countertops, but with advanced technology and the correct backlighting system, the flip of a switch can dramatically transform from day to night.

For this backlit granite bartop application in Dubai, GPI developed DURA-Lite™ panels that consist of an ultrathin layer of granite laminated to glass backing. The glass backing provides reinforcement to keep the granite stable during production, shipping, installation, and everyday use.

For this particular application, the design team chose the RGB LED backlighting system for its flexibility. The lighting system is kept off during the morning hours, with the white backlighting illuminating the granite bartops in the evening hours. On more celebratory occasions, the restaurant owners can change the backlighting to a colored arrangement.

These photographs explore the range of aesthetics that thin granite panels with colored backlighting can provide. With adjustments to the illumination, the granite material is rendered in different moods, attracting different groups of people and completely altering the programmatic use of the space.

Thin granite veneer panel (without backlighting)


Granite panel illuminated with flat LED backlighting (cool white light)


Granite panel illuminated with flat LED panel (on red setting)


Granite panel illuminated with flat LED panel (on blue setting)


Granite panel illuminated with flat LED panel (on green setting)

The bottom line? Designing color variation into your lighting schemes can completely redefine space and provide an important selling point to the property owner.  Controls for RGB backlighting systems might add a bit of cost, but the flexibility is priceless.  

Designing and specifying backlit onyx panels is a unique process. (Since onyx is a natural stone material, you can’t just call up Mother Nature and ask her to send samples of her latest collection.) This post outlines the three key items that you need to communicate in order for your backlit onyx design visions to become reality.  Here we outline the necessary steps for designers to ensure their conceptual intent is properly translated:

1. Communicate the shade, coloration, and veining characteristics of the translucent onyx surface.

• Use photographs to communicate your preferences.  As onyx is a highly exotic material, clearly establish color baselines and veining parameters with the use of targeted images. Typically, verbal and written descriptions will not sufficiently describe the nuances found across an onyx slab.
• In most cases, you will need to specify glass-backed translucent stone if even and continuous backlighting is desired. (Not all natural stone slabs transmit light, but in the process of slicing thinly and laminating to glass, nearly any type of stone can become transparent - even granite.)

2. Identify the backlighting method that suits your design aesthetic.

• Even illumination across entire face of onyx panel?
• Gradient wash that fades from one edge to another?
• Colored RGB lighting?
• Dimming capability? Would you/your client like the control and automation that comes with tying the LED backlighting into a central lighting control system?

3. Provide drawings of the application that indicate panel sizes and book-matched joints.

• If the backlit onyx panels must match surrounding stone or millwork finishes, make sure your backlit natural stone supplier has the exact panel sizes so that they can recommend stones that work within your module.
• If your exact panel sizes are flexible, that could open up more possibilities in the stone selection. (Remember, onyx is a natural material so it is not available in standard sheet sizes like man-made building materials.)
• Use standard drawing convention to indicate the bookmatching arrangement in your backlit onyx composition.

If you're working with a backlit onyx supplier, as a designer you really just need to communicate numbers 1 through 3 above and they will take it from there.  Proactive companies will act as part of your team to guide you through the subsequent steps: lighting design, mock-ups, detailing, structural engineering, quality control in production, and construction itself. 

A new palette of translucent onyx, granite, and marble to challenge the conventions of stone facade design.  With translucent stone in curtain wall systems, your buildings can now become translucent jewels - transmitting natural sunlight in the day and glowing luminous volumes when nighttime closes in.

As a small cutting-edge company, GPI prides ourselves on being in tune with the needs and wants of our clients, the architectural and design community. Over the past eight months, we have seen an unprecedented increase in architects requesting our DURA-Lite™ glass-backed translucent stone panels for exterior glazing applications. That’s when we started fabricating and testing DURA-Lite™ for exterior use, and it has passed all tests to our great satisfaction.

But testing an already existing product really wasn’t enough for us – we wanted a challenge that solved real problems for architects (getting the translucent stone panels to integrate into standard curtain wall systems, solving all detailing and warranty issues, and placing accountability back on one source).

Harnessing this great opportunity, GPI is transforming our DURA-Lite™ stone panels into an exterior facade system by partnering with insulated glazing manufacturers in the United States. Using advanced technology, our glass-backed stone panels will be fabricated into insulated glazing units for exterior commercial applications. The new product, aptly named “NAME HERE”, is now available and already in use for several projects.

The result of this innovation?

• Translucent stone for curtain wall façade systems
• Available in any of our custom exotic stones
• Easy to specify and install
• Extensive warranty on entire assembly

In your typical daily life, how many objects do you interact with that are made of stone? (Think through your day, from the time you wake up to the time you go to bed. Do you ever see or touch stone? Is it far away or within reach? Is it on the wall, floor, ceiling, or is it an object?)

Your list has probably been narrowed to your countertop, patio pavement, and maybe the exterior of your office building. Now think, have you ever seen any of those stone objects made translucent and illuminated?

Unless you’re a GPI team member or a tenant in one of our office projects, the answer to the above is probably “no”. Stone itself is not a commonplace surface, and backlit stone is even rarer, providing a refreshing jolt to the senses. When new clients come through our door or the typical mailman is out sick and has a replacement,  “oohs” and “aahs” are muttered or exclaimed upon setting eyes on our product. Backlit onyx panels line the entry walls, standing proudly seven feet tall and emitting an even glow of light. Instinctually, new visitors run their hand along the surface, almost hoping to feel for an imperfection that will confirm that “yes, this is real stone”.

It’s no coincidence that our products are typically employed in feature areas of buildings- there is something intensely compelling about a glowing stone surface. Stone panels have an aura of permanence, durability, and luxury. Lighting elements render the natural movement of the stone surface with a sense of intrigue and depth, making our artistic installations visual and tactile anchors of space. To touch is irresistible.

Tomorrow, I’ll brush my teeth with plastic toothbrush in hand, drive to work in my metal and plastic car, but after turning the cool metal handle to open the office door, I’ll make sure to pause and graze my hands over those alluring natural stone surfaces.

A sampling of the backlit onyx slabs we displayed at Neocon in Chicago this past June- if only we had a dime for every time we heard "is that real stone?". 100% natural!

We've enjoyed sharing our image library with you. Here is a recap of the main color ranges we explored:

1. Green onyx panels

2. Red onyx panels

3. Honey onyx panels

4. White onyx panels

For everything in between, there's always alternative stone types (such as blue marble), color filters, and man-made agglomerates to achieve the exact hue you're searching for!