Sculptural Marble Range Guard

Protecting the wall behind a high-powered stove with some type of fireproof material is the idea behind a marble range guard.

In a restaurant kitchen a range guard is usually a sheet of stainless steel. Some high powered pro-style ranges also come with a stainless range-guard option that extends from the top of the stove to below or behind the vent hood. That acts as a heat shield and prevents any possibility of fire on the wall behind a high-output gas burner.

But kitchen designers have reworked the idea. What’s usually expected behind a range today is a decorative back splash most often using tile or natural stone. Or, in this singular a kitchen concept [top] by an Atlanta kitchen design firm — tile + marble!

This free-form marble range guard, shaped like an inverted funnel, is meant to mimic the lines of the Mansard-style vent hood. The irregular shape of the marble slab echoes the lines of the hood near the top and then reverses into decorative curves. An ogee edge provides a sleek finish and an illusion of three-dimensionality that makes it look excavated from the subway tile on each side. The highly figured slab is also color-keyed to the finish on the hood and coordinates with off-white cabinets.  As a bonus, it matches the counter top for a purely custom look.

Standing back, the shape and markings on the marble make it appear that a giant batch of cinders is being sucked up into the hood. While this might be too much visual movement for some home owners, I like the idea of a designer taking a light-hearted approach to a kitchen design by allowing this element to be amusing. Questions of taste aside, it’s a unique range guard concept and a devil-may-care application in a region of the country devoted to deep-frying — even the strongest sealer doesn’t necessary protect a piece of marble from hot oil splatter. But nevermind. This is a show-stopper in any kitchen. I’ll fry tomorrow.

(Source: Design Galleria)

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