A dramatic look is also created in the restaurant’s private dining room, where a large polished slab of Daino Reale marble with rough-cut edges forms the tabletop.
“Part of the fun is seeing the same material finished in different ways,” said Marnell. “It gives a different feeling. The colors change depending on how much you polish or split it.”
In the guestrooms, Diano Reale marble was used for the walls and floors in the bathrooms. To complement the beige-colored marble, M Brown marble was employed for the vanity tops. “We used marble in the guestrooms because we didn’t want the porosity,” said the architect.
And although the majority of the stone is showcased inside the M Resort, Noce travertine was used for the building’s exterior walls. The sandy shades of the stone complement the resort’s desert environment, and it also works well with the glass used for the upper portion of the structure.
A unique look in Terzetto, the M Resort’s upscale steakhouse, was created with onyx. Massive pieces of the material project down from the ceiling and attach to the ends of a long dining table, which is also made from onyx.
A successful completion
According to Marnell, approximately a year was devoted to working on the drawings and design of the M Resort, and it took another 17 months to build it. “Installation by far was the hardest part of the project,” he said, adding that the project was completed in March 2009. “Usually it’s the material, but getting the installation correct was the biggest challenge.”
But although challenging, the installation of the extensive amount of stone used throughout the resort was a success, and the design objectives were achieved. “We have gotten a real good reaction of how we did the material and how it is presented,” said Marnell. “We wanted to create an urban resort that would appeal to both the Baby Boomers and younger generations, while incorporating contemporary design and sensual elegance.”
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