Fioranese Fio. Biscuit Bas-Relief Porcelain Wall Tiles

Fio. Biscuit by Fioranese, curated by Davide Tonelli — a wall tile whose whole character sits in the surface. A shallow bas-relief pattern is pressed into a 30.2x60.4 panel and finished in a strictly matt, soft-touch glaze, so what you see is a low retro motif catching the light rather than anything printed.

Fio. is Fioranese's design line, developed with outside designers rather than in-house, and Biscuit is the most restrained of the group: seven plain dusty tones, no pattern printing, nothing competing with the relief.

Colours

Bianco is a soft chalk white and the quietest. Avorio is a warm ivory. Cipria is a powdered pink that reads as neutral in most light. Cenere is a cool pale ash. Those four sit in the standard band. Cotto is a muted terracotta, Salvia a greyed sage and Pece a deep pitch black — the three saturated tones, which carry a small premium.

Specification

• Material: Glazed porcelain stoneware, gres porcellanato + (EN 14411:2012 Annex G Group BIa GL)
• Thickness: 10mm
• Finish: Naturale Rettificato — matt, soft-touch, with a bas-relief texture
• Size: 30.2x60.4cm rectified
• Packaging: 6 pieces (1.092m²) per box, 40 boxes per pallet
• Application: Internal walls only. Fioranese are explicit about this — it is not rated for floors
• Sustainability: LEED® compliant, made in Italy

Walls only

Worth repeating because it is the single most important constraint: Biscuit is a wall tile. The bas-relief that makes it worth specifying is also what rules it out underfoot, since a moulded surface cannot be rated for traffic or cleaned like a flat floor. Pair it with a floor tile from elsewhere in the range — Fioranese photograph it against Legnovivo and I Variegati.

Laying a relief tile

Set out from a full tile at the most visible corner: with a moulded face you cannot disguise a cut the way you can on a flat tile. A rectified edge wants a narrow 2–3mm joint, and a grout matched close to the tile keeps the relief reading as shadow rather than the joints reading as a grid. Brick bond suits the proportions; stack bond emphasises the vertical.

Ordering & delivery

• Minimum order: 5m²
• Sold by: the m², supplied in full boxes of 1.092m²
• Prices: inclusive of VAT. Cotto, Salvia and Pece carry a premium over the four neutrals
• Full pallet: reduced rate applied automatically
• Delivery: 4–6 weeks, ordered from Italy. Delivery is charged after purchase, calculated on the weight of your order — we will confirm the cost with you before despatch
• Allow 10% over your measured area for cuts and future repairs

See it before you buy

A soft-touch matt glaze over a bas-relief is almost impossible to convey in a photograph — the depth only appears when light rakes across it, and the tactile quality is the reason people choose it. The dusty tones are also easy to misjudge on screen: Cipria and Avorio look closer than they are. Samples of all seven are available to order, and the range is on display at our luxury interiors showroom in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, where you can hold them against a wall and see the shadow move. Call 01782 617517 or email sales@homeofclay.co.uk for a quotation or to arrange a visit.