LONDON, ENGLAND -- The Italian design company Salvatori, renowned for its innovative transformation of natural stone, including the development of the groundbreaking recycled stone Lithoverde, has announced the opening of its first ever showroom in London.

Situated in a stunning listed building on the corner of Wigmore and Wimpole Streets, in the heart of the West End, the space will showcase the full range of Salvatori products, including textures for walls and floors, basins, bathtubs and shower trays for the bathroom, together with its home collection. Scheduled to open in early September, the showroom, designed by renowned architect-designer Piero Lissoni and styled by Elisa Ossino, will be an important hub for UK-based architects and designers.

"We have been present in the UK through our distributors for many years, however with London being at the heart of so many fantastic global projects, we believe it is the time to have a dedicated showroom," explained CEO Gabriele Salvatori. "This means we will be in a position to offer our partners a fully integrated service right from the beginning of a project through the consultation phase and, where necessary, through to implementation."

To mark the opening during London Design Festival, Salvatori will be hosting a project with the boutique British watch company Sekford that explores the evolution of typography and lettering together.

Every day of the London Design Festival an expert letter cutter will be demonstrating their craft live in-store, from 1 p.m. With each cutter taking inspiration from a particular period of epigraphy and working on a different type of Salvatori stone, they will produce a few characters which, by the end of the week, will form a full alphabet and set of numerals -- charting a history of lettering in stone from ancient Greece and Rome through the Renaissance to the Bauhaus, Gill and Johnston and Post-Modernism.

Salvatori has long enjoyed a history of collaborative partnerships, working on projects such as The Stone House (2010, John Pawson) and The Stone Forest and Ishiburo (2014, Kengo Kuma). The criteria they seek in a partner is simple. "We are passionate about attention to detail and exploring new ways to work with natural stone," said Salvatori. "We embrace partners who share our love of innovation and the willingness to try something new."

The opening of the London showroom takes the total of dedicated Salvatori showrooms to four, following Milan, Zurich and Sydney.