Can SensiTerre be used outdoors?

Yes. For outdoors, the reference is the Grana Grip surface (R11) in 20 mm slabs of 120×120 and 60×120 cm, which according to Florim can be laid on gravel, grass, pedestals or screed. The 20 mm thickness is available in Cotone, Sabbia, Rosato and Mattone.

Which surface should I choose for a bathroom?

For shower floors and wet areas, Grana Grip, with an R11 rating and class C for barefoot use according to Florim’s data sheet. On walls, any of the four surfaces can be used, including Cannettato.

What is the largest format?

120×240 cm, available in the Grana matt surface and 6 mm in all six colours. In 9 mm, the largest format is 120×120 cm.

Are the decorative compositions laid piece by piece?

No. Listello, Intreccio, Spina, Tappeto, Cubo and Tavella e listello are supplied mounted on mesh, which guides and simplifies installation. They are 9 mm thick and suitable for floors and walls.

It Matters Journal

Florim presents SensiTerre

The porcelain stoneware collection by Matteo Thun and Benedetto Fasciana for Florim: six earth colours, four surfaces and formats from 20×20 to 120×240 cm.

Products16 Sep 20256 min read

SensiTerre is a Florim porcelain stoneware collection designed by Matteo Thun and Benedetto Fasciana, of the studio Matteo Thun & Partners, which takes clay as its starting point. It brings together craft tradition and technological innovation in an earth-toned surface designed for contemporary architecture and interior design projects, on floors and walls, indoors and outdoors.

In this article we look at where the collection comes from, how its six colours and four surfaces are organised, which formats and thicknesses it offers, how the mesh-mounted compositions work and what to bear in mind when specifying it.

From the Venere Bianca vases to an architectural surface

The starting point is a limited edition of terracotta vases created in 2014 in collaboration with Bitossi, named after the ideal woman: Venere Bianca. Handmade by master ceramicists in Tuscany, these vases are unique pieces that convey emotion and tactility and evoke the beauty of the craftsmanship of Italian Renaissance workshops. Ten years later, the Venere Bianca collection, designed by Matteo Thun and Benedetto Fasciana, is celebrated and transformed into Florim’s new collection: SensiTerre.

The collection highlights craft tradition while applying technological innovation, and each shade reflects a deliberate choice of colour: colour is the thread that links the memory of traditions with contemporary architecture. Florim, Matteo Thun and Benedetto Fasciana thus explore the aesthetic potential of a timeless material, an expression of Italian craft culture, taking the world of earths and clays from the scale of craft to that of architecture.

Florim presented it in 2024, to coincide with Cersaie, with two walk-through installations, The Cube and The Room, at the Florim Gallery in Fiorano Modenese. It belongs to the brand’s Creative Design line.

Entrance hall with a large-format pale pink porcelain stoneware floor, a dark bench and timber shelving — SensiTerre Rosato in 120×120 cm with a Naturale surface on the floor. Image: Florim.

Six colours and four surfaces

A short, coherent palette designed for its colours to be combined with one another.

SensiTerre is available in six warm colours inspired by the earth, which Florim names in Italian: Cotone (cotton), Sabbia (sand), Rosato (pink), Mattone (brick), Amaranto and Carbone (charcoal). Each shade represents its own colour choice, and all six can be combined in the same project or the same composition.

Two light cream porcelain stoneware samples, one smooth and one with a grainy texture — Cotone with Naturale and Grana surfaces. Image: Florim.

Two sand-coloured porcelain stoneware samples, one smooth and one with a grainy texture — Sabbia with Naturale and Grana surfaces. Image: Florim.

Two pinkish beige porcelain stoneware samples, one smooth and one with a grainy texture — Rosato with Naturale and Grana surfaces. Image: Florim.

Two brick-coloured porcelain stoneware samples, one smooth and one with a grainy texture — Mattone with Naturale and Grana surfaces. Image: Florim.

Two dark reddish-brown porcelain stoneware samples, one smooth and one with a grainy texture — Amaranto with Naturale and Grana surfaces. Image: Florim.

Two very dark grey porcelain stoneware samples, one smooth and one with a grainy texture — Carbone with Naturale and Grana surfaces. Image: Florim.

The surfaces

The collection has four types of surface, all with a natural feel and a combination of tactility and sensoriality that invites you to touch the material:

Naturale: the matt surface, which retains the materiality of clay. It comes in all six colours, for floors and walls, with an R10 rating.
Grana: a grainy texture which, according to the collection’s presentation, is inspired by Roman cocciopesto, the mortar of lime and crushed brick. It comes in all six colours, in a Grip version (R11) for floors that need more grip and in a matt version (R10) in 6 mm.
Rigatino: a fine striation recalling the combed clay of the Venere Bianca vases. Only in Sabbia and Mattone, for floors and walls (R10).
Cannettato: a raised fluting, also inspired by the engravings on the vases. Only in Sabbia and Mattone, and only for wall cladding.

Two fluted relief porcelain stoneware samples, one in a sand shade and one in a brick shade — Cannettato surface in Sabbia and Mattone. Image: Florim.

Two finely striated porcelain stoneware samples, one in a sand shade and one in a brick shade — Rigatino surface in Sabbia and Mattone. Image: Florim.

Formats, thicknesses and performance

Versatility and modularity are the keys to SensiTerre, which allows the different elements of a project to be combined, from the 120×240 cm large format and 60×120 cm down to small 20×20 cm pieces, the 15×30 cm tavella and the 22×20 cm hexagon. The table summarises the range according to Florim’s catalogue:

Surface	Formats (cm)	Thickness	Use and slip resistance
Naturale	120×120 · 80×80 · 60×120 · 60×60 · 30×60 · 15×30 · 20×20 · hexagon 22×20	9 mm	Floors and walls · R10
Grana Grip	120×120 · 60×120 · 60×60 · 30×60 · 15×30 · 20×20 · hexagon 22×20	9 mm	Floors and walls · R11
Grana Grip 20 mm	120×120 · 60×120 (Cotone, Sabbia, Rosato and Mattone)	20 mm	Outdoors · R11
Grana matt	120×240 · 120×120 · 60×120	6 mm	Floors and walls · R10
Rigatino	60×120 (Sabbia and Mattone)	9 mm	Floors and walls · R10
Cannettato	60×120 (Sabbia and Mattone)	9 mm	Walls only

SensiTerre formats and thicknesses by surface. Data from Florim’s catalogue and technical data sheet.

Thickness determines the use of each piece:

6 mm: the 120×240 cm large format for cladding walls with few joints or renovating without demolition.
9 mm: the core of the collection, for interior floors and wall coverings, with all the formats and compositions.
20 mm: outdoor slabs which, according to Florim, can be laid on gravel, grass, pedestals or screed, and lifted and reused.

The 6, 9 and 20 mm pieces are rectified porcelain stoneware in group BIa of the EN 14411 standard, with an average water absorption of 0.08% according to Florim’s technical data sheet, and are resistant to frost, thermal shock and household chemicals. The current catalogue also includes 5.7×23.2 cm glazed pieces in 8.5 mm with a Matte Silk finish: Brick and the relief versions Onda 5 and Onda 7, the latter for walls only.

Mesh-mounted compositions and special pieces

The collection is completed by geometric compositions. The material becomes decoration through new combinations of colours, shapes and surfaces, and the mesh-mounted modules guide and simplify installation. All are 9 mm, with a Naturale surface, and suitable for floors and walls:

Listello: a 30×30 cm module of 3×15 cm strips, in Rosato, Mattone, Amaranto and Carbone.
Intreccio and Tappeto: two-colour patterns of 30×30 cm and 55×32 cm combining Cotone with Mattone or Rosato with Amaranto.
Spina: a 23×44 cm herringbone in Rosato, Mattone, Amaranto and Carbone.
Cubo: a 37×46 cm module with a three-dimensional effect in three shades, Cotone-Rosato-Mattone or Rosato-Amaranto-Carbone.
Tavella e listello: a 30×40 cm module combining 15×30 cm tavelle and 5×30 cm strips, in a single colour or mixing the Naturale and Grana surfaces.

Earth-toned porcelain stoneware samples with smooth, grainy and fluted surfaces and a hexagonal piece — SensiTerre colours, surfaces and pieces combined. Image: Florim.

Modularity and multiple configurations are the keys to the collection: with the same colours you can move from the large-format slab to the small piece and the decorative composition.

Very dark grey floor alternating smooth pieces and bands with a grainy texture — Carbone combining the Naturale and Grana surfaces. Image: Florim.

Square, rectangular and hexagonal porcelain stoneware pieces in cream, brick and charcoal shades — Small SensiTerre pieces: squares, tavelle and hexagons. Image: Florim.

Wall covering with a pattern of cubes in perspective in cream, sand and brick shades — Composition with a cube effect in light shades and Mattone. Image: Florim.

Floor of cream-coloured square pieces separated by brick-coloured strips — Cotone pieces framed by Mattone strips. Image: Florim.

Brick-coloured floor with pieces of various sizes and nuances — Mattone with pieces in different formats. Image: Florim.

Floor of elongated brick-coloured pieces laid in herringbone — Herringbone laying in Mattone. Image: Florim.

To resolve junctions and stairs with the same material, there are special pieces in all six colours, in Naturale and Grana Grip: a 33×120 cm step, a 4.6×120 cm skirting and a 20×40 cm L-shaped element.

Bedroom with a wall clad in a weave of pink and reddish pieces and a sand-coloured porcelain stoneware floor — Intreccio Rosato-Amaranto module on the wall and Sabbia 120×120 cm on the floor. Image: Florim.

Dining room with a dark herringbone floor and a wall clad in a pattern of cubes in earth tones — Spina in Carbone on the floor and Cubo Rosato-Amaranto-Carbone module on the wall. Image: Florim.

Keys to specifying SensiTerre

Beyond colour, these are the points worth resolving at the design stage:

Surface according to use: Naturale (R10) for dry interiors; Grana Grip (R11) in bathrooms, wet areas or outdoor spaces where more grip is needed; Cannettato on walls only.
Thickness according to the substrate: 6 mm for cladding or renovating with little build-up, 9 mm for interior floors and 20 mm for outdoors on gravel, grass or pedestals.
Joint: Florim recommends 2 mm for single-format layouts and 3 mm when different formats are combined.
Compositions: the mesh-mounted modules and small pieces multiply the combinations; it is advisable to define the setting-out and the junction with the large slabs before ordering material.
Indoor–outdoor continuity: the colours Cotone, Sabbia, Rosato and Mattone also come in 20 mm Grana, so the same shade can be carried from inside to outside.

Fluted brick-coloured porcelain stoneware wall with a prickly pear in front on gravel — SensiTerre Cannettato Mattone as wall cladding, 60×120 cm. Image: Florim.

Outdoor porch of a house with walls and paving in earth-textured porcelain stoneware, a table and an olive tree — SensiTerre with a Grana surface on an outdoor porch. Image: Florim.

Awards and sustainability

SensiTerre has received, among others, the Wallpaper* Design Award 2025 and the Green Good Design Award 2025, where, according to Florim, it was the only surface collection to win an award in that edition.

Florim, based in Fiorano Modenese, obtained B Corp certification in 2020. According to the manufacturer, it recovers 100% of its production waste and process water, and the collection is part of its CarbonZero emissions offsetting project. Its website provides the LEED documentation for SensiTerre in 6, 9 and 20 mm and its environmental product declaration (EPD), useful for certified projects.

Frequently asked questions

Can SensiTerre be used outdoors?: Yes. For outdoors, the reference is the Grana Grip surface (R11) in 20 mm slabs of 120×120 and 60×120 cm, which according to Florim can be laid on gravel, grass, pedestals or screed. The 20 mm thickness is available in Cotone, Sabbia, Rosato and Mattone.
Which surface should I choose for a bathroom?: For shower floors and wet areas, Grana Grip, with an R11 rating and class C for barefoot use according to Florim’s data sheet. On walls, any of the four surfaces can be used, including Cannettato.
What is the largest format?: 120×240 cm, available in the Grana matt surface and 6 mm in all six colours. In 9 mm, the largest format is 120×120 cm.
Are the decorative compositions laid piece by piece?: No. Listello, Intreccio, Spina, Tappeto, Cubo and Tavella e listello are supplied mounted on mesh, which guides and simplifies installation. They are 9 mm thick and suitable for floors and walls.

A material this tactile is best understood at full scale: the grain of the Grana surface, the relief of Cannettato or the nuance of each colour do not come across the same way on a screen. At Matter Barcelona we have a space dedicated to Florim where you can explore its collections with our team and request samples for your project.

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