Marazzi stone-effect stoneware for a private swimming-pool by Lake Maggiore

This new project, with relaxation its keynote, is in Italy's Piedmont region, near Lake Maggiore. The project converted an area of land previously used for parking cars to provide a small swimming-pool, in a private area transformed into a place where the family could relax.

This outdoor area was made attractive and stylish but at the same time functional by subdividing the zone into a lawn and, around the pool itself, a paved section furnished with sofas and loungers, allowing the users to enjoy this small relaxation oasis to the full.

In design terms, the project uses simple lines and plain forms to optimise spaces. With this in mind, a sunken cavity was created next to the pool to contain the water treatment plant and to store all the equipment and furniture during the winter.

When it came to materials the choice fell on stone-effect porcelain stoneware, both for the paving and the pool edge and to clad the steel storage unit. This detail underlines the designers' focus on continuity and simplicity in both forms and materials.

Specifically, the collection selected was the Marazzi Mystone Pietra di Vals porcelain stoneware collection in Greige colour; inspired by the rarest quartzites, it gives the surface of this outdoor area a strongly tactile look that fits very well into the context.

The large 40x120 cm size - 2 cm thick - emphasises the running bond installation pattern, at right angles to the side of the pool, creating an attractive geometrical "stagger".

A mix of natural shades, materials and shapes creates a sophisticated, refined result for this relaxation space, in which Mystone Pietra di Vals stoneware plays a fundamental role thanks to its outstanding technical performances and exquisite appearance.