Granite Transformations’ high grade work surfaces are normally associated with low maintenance kitchen worktops and non-porous bathroom finishes, as featured on many TV makeover shows.
Nevertheless, the material’s slim profile and lightweight characteristics make it ideal for applications where unladen weight is also a critical consideration, like canal boats, superyachts, RSV’s, treehouses and, now, horseboxes.
One of the company’s leading franchise owners, Peter Morrison of Trumpington, Cambridge, supplies tailor-made hob surrounds, countertops and tables for Hertfordshire-based coachbuilder Oakley.
Regarded as the foremost horsebox builder in the world, exporting throughout Europe, Scandinavia, the Middle East, Asia and the USA, Oakley supplies the leading names in show jumping, showing, eventing, dressage, horse racing, polo and driving. Its vehicles are also in service with most of the UK’s police forces and its recreational vehicles are used extensively in the world of motor racing.
Since each customer has individual requirements, Oakley horseboxes are custom-built, employing a thoroughbred mix of traditional skills and modern production techniques, and include non-HGV models and larger vehicles with up to a dozen stalls. The light, hardwearing and streamlined metal bodywork, light alloy frame and hand-built aluminium panels avoid excess weight and corrosion potential, in the interests of durability and maximum payload.
The separate hotel-class accommodation for crew boasts every modern facility, including central heating, power shower, dishwasher and washing machine, and satellite TV with cinema surround sound. The fully-equipped kitchen and dining areas feature hand-stitched leather upholstery and Granite Transformations-clad worktops and movable dining tables.
To avoid the excessive weight and thickness of natural stone slab, yet offer the luxurious look of granite and quartz, Oakley approached GT’s Peter Morrison several years ago, with a view to a lighter weight, low maintenance yet equally luxurious alternative.
Granite Transformations’ surfaces are made from Italian granite, quartz, recycled glass or porcelain chips, bonded together with a powerful polyester resin for class-leading strength and flexibility and outstanding resistance to chemicals, moisture, abrasion, heat and staining. At just a quarter-inch (6.7mm) thick, this agglomerate material is ideal where weight is at a premium and long-lasting good looks contribute to the overall setting.
To date, Peter has supplied material for over 60 Oakley horseboxes, starting with lightweight non-HGV’s and gravitating to Supreme and Supremacy long wheelbase HGV’s. The work is carried out at his fabrication workshop in Sawston, with Oakley dropping off the metallic sub-assemblies and expert GT fitters bonding on the worktops, cutting drainage grooves, installing undermounted sinks and splashback upstands, as well as making tabletops and other fittings.
Peter’s fabricators actually shave off further backing material, to reduce weight still further, and gently heat the agglomerate to obtain tight curves up to 100mm radius, before fixing to the substrate with 2-part epoxy adhesive. Granite Transformations’ best-selling White Star recycled glass is Oakley customers’ most popular finish, although Peter has supplied the coachbuilder with samples of around 50 different colours, to match all manner of interior fitouts. Less than one complete slab is typically used for each horsebox, including edging pieces and other finishing touches, and the standard 3 metre length enables stylish, seamless surfaces.
As a rewarding commercial adjunct to Peter Morrison’s mainstream kitchen makeover business, which stretches across Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire and North London, the Oakley project provides ample proof of the quality and technical performance of the household materials he deals with every day.
