Winner of the 2010 reddot Award and the 2011 Crystal Achievement Award, Bioglass by Coverings Etc. is a smart, sustainable product that has everyone re-considering their notions of what constitutes trash and what constitutes treasure. Like spiritual forerunner Chris Rucker and his innovations with re-claimed OSB, Bioglass turns the detritus of the everyday into an aesthetically stunning and texturally intriguing centerpiece.

Bioglass. Manufactured by Coverings Etc.

Bioglass Converts Crushed Silica into Beautiful Kitchen Countertops

As the name suggests, Bioglass represents an ecologically-savvy approach to resource apportionment. The product's singular inspiration is-for lack of a more elegant image-the glassy fragments found at the bottom of a recycling bin.

But perhaps that image has its own kind of elegance, since Bioglass marshals together all those bits of broken wine bottles, those shards of shattered windows, those shiny slivers of cerulean saucers into a thick, uniform, and wondrously transparent  material that's just right for bath and kitchen countertops.

Since Bioglass takes the remnants of an earlier form, a previous mode of being, and fashions them into a functional design feature, the product resonates well among those with a passion for narrative. In short, Bioglass tells a story, whether it's of a towering collection of brown beer bottles-the contents drunk down in joyous celebration-or a simple fifth of gentlemen's bourbon, is up to the designer's whims and the client's specifications.

As to that last notion, Bioglass comes in many shapes and sizes, and many shades besides-from the deep organic hues of Emerald Forest, to the ethereal ambiance of Aquamarine, to the dark mysteries of Fossil Amber.

Bioglass has multiple applications among both contract and residential venues. In addition to countertops, Bioglass can be used as washbasins, freestanding partition walls, and even staircases.

About the Manufacturer: Coverings Etc. began back in 1998 as a premium source for innovative natural stone and mosaics. With the dawn of the new millennium, however, the company began to focus on environmentally sustainable materials such as engineered stone, re-claimed aluminum, and fiber cement tiles. Coverings Etc. has a magician's knack for turning cast-off materials and ostensible refuse into lovely and functional design pieces.