Traditionally, stone buildings are not new to Africa and Nigeria in particular. Mostly in rural communities, stone buildings were in vogue and actually became a status symbol among rural dwellers.
Advancement in building technology has taken stone buildings to a new level, using the stones to give buildings decorative and colourful look that has elevated the stones to an exclusive preserve of the rich. One of such stones that has hit the Nigerian building materials market is the Suzulka Décor Stone.
With over 70 different designs, colours and shapes categorized into six product lines, this product gives residential buildings added value and it is produced by an international company with operations in Asia, Middle East and Africa.
Suzuka Nigeria which is in charge of Africa is a new entrant into the building materials market . The company specializes in manufacturing and application of texture coating and decorative stone veneer, all of which have international certification.
Suzuka products come in two main variants namely, Décor Stone and Texture Coating
Suzuka decoratve stones are manufactured building stone veneer offering excellent durability and authentic beauty of natural stone at a fraction of its cost. They fit all building plans and can be used both internally and externally.
The product is non-toxic and easy to install such that in spite of its relative newness in Africa, it has been used extensively in major Nigerian cities including Lagos, Abuja, Enugu, Port Harcourt among others.
Olayinka Kuye, Suzuka Nigeria’s Marketing Executive, explained to BDSunday that the decorative stone ensures a natural fit, a perfect touch of colours and texture to any setting, adding that the stone makes homes unique give them a touch of outer beauty and captivating look.
“Its six product lines category include Country Ledgestone, River Stone, Brick Stone, Castle Stone, Shadow Stone, Wooden Stone and they are very affordable”, she said, explaining that Country Ledgestone creates a versatile and rusty surface appearance that bring the beauty of nature to buildings just as River Stone imparts a strong and random rough faced stone wall which is warm, comfortable and timeless, and captures the essence of a river rock with its natural characteristics.
According to her, Brick Stone is a small scale, simple stone professionally fitted to form modular components of equal heights and length without grouted joints while Castle Stone has a rustic beauty that adds a profound beauty sense to any home.
“Whereas Shadow Stone is a contemporary and versatile wall stone with refined flat-plane and distinctive texture details, Wooden Stone is ideal for use on pathways in a variety of outdoor landscaping applications”, she said.
Texture Coatings which are the second variant of the product, she said, are paints that create an original beauty of stone texture with prominent effect. “We have four patterns in this variant of the product which are non-toxic, weather friendly and very affordable.
They include Stony Coat which is very durable with excellent performance against weathering; has colour retention against ultra-violent (UV) rays, and are suitable for all surfaces.
“Ceramic coating creates a smooth texture coating; it is very economical to apply due to its thin layer, high resistance to stain because of its suave and even surface, while Magic Granite has the beauty of real granite, excellent colour retention against UV rays, excellent weather and alkaline resistance with great durability and intensity”, she said.
She added that Trowel Stone also creates a natural pebble wash effect with flat appearance, easy to apply giving minimum pollution during application just as it is highly resistant to stain, dirt and dust.
Chuka Uroko
