NHB No.13 — Concentric Ring Fountain Paving & Pool Coping
466.82 m² of Nero Novalato granite for a luxury hotel arrival court in Singapore — thousands of small setts and 44 template-cut curved coping pieces forming perfect concentric rings around a circular fountain, cut on 5-axis CNC and pre-assembled in the factory.
Concentric granite rings, cut to 5-axis precision and pre-built in the factory
This project supplied and fabricated the granite flooring and fountain coping for a circular water feature at a five-star hotel arrival court in Singapore. The design was unforgiving: several continuous concentric rings of paving, where the two curved arcs of every inner and outer course had to match precisely. Small errors on individual pieces accumulate around the circle — they pull the rings out of round and open uneven joints. Our answer was 5-axis CNC cutting for the curved geometry, template-controlled fabrication, and a complete dry pre-assembly of every ring in the factory, with each piece numbered and arrow-marked on the back before export treatment and crating. The stone is Nero Novalato granite pavers in a bush-hammered finish, chosen for low water absorption, slip resistance and durability in a wet, tropical environment. The order was produced against a tight vessel schedule and installed on site in May 2024.
Across roughly 12,800 small setts and 44 template-cut curved pieces, this fountain was won by the controls that surround the cutting, not by the cutting alone. The builder received precision geometry, an on-time shipment and a circular fountain whose rings closed perfectly the first time — the same tolerances, lot control, pre-assembly and export packaging we bring to every granite pavers and outdoor paving project.
What made this project complex
Cumulative Arc Tolerance on Concentric Rings
The fountain is several continuous concentric courses. Every piece has two curves — an inner and an outer arc — and even a fraction of a millimetre of error per piece multiplies across the roughly 42 pieces of a course: the ring drifts out of round and the joints become uneven. A standard bridge saw cannot hold paired radii and the profiled edge together repeatably, so the courses were cut on a 5-axis CNC bridge saw, with arc lengths and radii taken straight from the shop drawings and verified against physical templates.
Template Geometry, Not Just Dimensions
The coping pieces could not be approved from a cut list alone — the builder supplied physical templates from the actual pool structure. Each curved piece was checked against its template and then dry-laid with its neighbours. Only when the complete ring closed true on the factory floor was the course released for treatment and packing.
Installation Certainty from Numbering & Arrows
Thousands of similar-looking black pieces are easy to misplace on site. After pre-assembly, every piece was numbered on the back and marked with a directional arrow, so the installers could reproduce the factory ring sequence without guesswork — which is exactly how the finished circle came together cleanly in May 2024.
Natural Veining Expectations
Nero Novalato is a natural granite and can show white/grey veining between blocks. When the chosen blocks veined more heavily than the samples, cutting was paused until the builder reviewed photos and accepted the character of the material — protecting both sides from a dispute on arrival.
Wet-Environment Durability
The paving sits in a tropical outdoor fountain setting — constant water, splash and foot traffic. Nero Novalato's low water absorption and flexural strength do the structural work, the bush-hammered surface provides a non-slip finish, and a factory-applied penetrating sealer added stain and water protection under controlled conditions before export.
Volume, Consistency & a Vessel Deadline
Around 12,800 straight setts had to match in thickness and shade across the whole field while the curved pieces were being fabricated in parallel. Strict caliper and lot control kept the large field flat, and the production-to-loading plan was scheduled against a booked container so the first lot sailed on time.
Direct updates, careful decisions
The job lived or died on fast, exact communication — moving quantities, physical templates and a tight vessel date. A few representative exchanges from the project record (the builder and all individuals are kept confidential):
"Attached is the updated drawing with the revised quantities — please check and sign back so we can release cutting today."
Every quantity revision (there were several in a single week) was turned into a revised, dimensioned production drawing the same day, so the builder could approve without delaying the saws.
"Please hold cutting for now. The blocks selected show more white veins than the earlier samples — this is a natural feature of Nero Novalato, not damage or a fault. Please confirm whether to proceed."
Rather than quietly cutting material the client might reject on arrival, we stopped the run, showed the veining, explained the geology, and let the builder make the call. They approved the same day.
"Confirmed — proceed with cutting. The first lot will be ready by the end of this month, the balance before November 15, and the first container is booked around November 3."
Production milestones were stated as concrete dates and then met, giving the builder confidence to programme site works around the shipments.
Bush-hammered pavers and curved coping, cut to landscape and template specs
The scope combined high-volume straight setts with a small set of high-difficulty curved pieces. The bulk of the order — roughly 12,800 small bush-hammered pavers — demanded strict thickness and size consistency so the large field laid flat without lipping. The curved coping and border pieces were cut from client physical templates, then verified in full-ring pre-assembly. Every piece was treated with a penetrating water repellent before packing, a critical step for stone that sits in and around a fountain. Supporting factory documents are available as well: the full-ring pre-assembly layout drawing (the ~12.3 m-diameter ring split into roughly 42 pieces plus 2 spares) and the curved-piece fabrication addendum.
| Order Reference | NHB-No-13 — CSO Flooring |
|---|---|
| Material | Nero Novalato Granite (black granite) |
| Total Area | 466.82 m² (flooring, fountain coping & skirting) |
| Application | Outdoor arrival-court flooring, circular fountain top ring & curved pool surround |
| Finish | Bush-hammered (floating) paving surface · honed/eased exposed edges and outer ring side face |
| Thickness | 23–30 mm, per piece type |
| Straight Setts | 300 × 150 mm — 2,622 pcs 150 × 150 mm — 10,193 pcs |
| Curved Ring Pieces | Template-cut coping sets #3 / #4 / #5 / #6 — 44 pcs, fabricated to physical templates (outer radius up to R6150 on shop drawings) |
| Fountain Skirting & Border | Fountain skirting 320 × 101 mm — 230 pcs Curved/straight border 453 × 100 mm — 376 pcs Skirting 150 × 220 mm(H) — 1,126 pcs |
| Factory Pre-Assembly | Every ring dry-laid and checked in the factory; each piece numbered with a directional arrow on the back |
| Surface Treatment | Penetrating waterproof / anti-stain sealer applied after fabrication and pre-assembly |
| Packaging | Foam-wrapped, labeled wooden export crates, strapped for sea freight |
Why Apexstone was the right factory for this fountain
Circular work punishes small errors: fractions of a millimetre add up around a ring. Our value was the method — 5-axis cutting, physical templates, full-ring pre-assembly and piece-level traceability — backed by the controls we run on every large granite paving order.
5-axis CNC that few factories apply to curved paving
The inner and outer arcs of the 44 curved coping pieces were cut on 5-axis bridge-saw equipment, with the eased edge profiled in the same set-up and checked against the client templates that defined the geometry (outer radius up to R6150).
Every ring dry pre-assembled before it left the factory
Each course — the full Ø12,300 mm ring in about 42 pieces plus two spares — was laid out and trial-assembled on the workshop floor. Cumulative arc error was caught and corrected where it was cheap to fix, not on site.
Strict tolerances across roughly 12,800 setts
Thousands of 300 × 150 mm and 150 × 150 mm bush-hammered pavers were cut to a tight caliper and checked one by one, so the 466.82 m² field laid flat and wobble-free with no lipping.
Numbered, arrow-marked pieces for a one-pass install
After pre-assembly every sett and coping piece was numbered on the back with a directional arrow, so the installer could rebuild the factory ring sequence in exact order and close the circle on the first install in May 2024.
Wet-environment protection under controlled conditions
Lot-controlled blending kept the black granite consistent, while tested low-absorption stone and a factory-applied penetrating sealer handled constant splash, pool chemicals and tropical rain before export crating.
Caliper and lot control on high-volume orders
For large paving programs the field is only as good as the worst paver. We run piece-level thickness and size checks with lot-based shade blending so multi-pallet orders arrive flat, consistent and ready to lay.
5-axis fabrication plus physical-template verification
Curved and radius work is cut on 5-axis equipment and validated against physical templates and full dry layouts — geometry we prove in the factory rather than leave to the installer.
Eight stages built around the ring geometry
The curved geometry decided the whole production method. A standard three-axis saw can cut an arc from a flat slab, but it cannot reliably hold the paired inner and outer radii together with the eased/honed edge profile across dozens of pieces. We cut the ring courses on a 5-axis CNC bridge saw, profiling the eased edge in the same set-up so geometry and edge stayed consistent. Every course was then dry-laid on the factory floor before any treatment or packing.
Project Metrics
Factory video documentation
Filmed on our workshop floor — the granite block, the tight-tolerance cut-to-size run, the full-ring dry build and the pre-ship sealer soak.
Bridge Saw Cutting Black Granite Pavers
October 2023 · Wet bridge-saw cutting Nero Novalato into bush-hammered setts for the circular fountain.
Sawing the Granite Block
October 2023 · Multi-blade block saw cutting a black granite block with constant water cooling.
Tight-Tolerance Bridge Saw
October 2023 · Each sett wet-cut to a strict thickness tolerance so thousands lay flat without lipping.
Curved Ring Pre-Assembly
October 2023 · Curved coping dry-fitted in concentric rings, then numbered and arrow-marked on the back.
Sealer Soak Before Packing
October 2023 · Setts soaked in a penetrating sealer for the wet, outdoor fountain setting.
From Factory Pre-Assembly to the Finished Fountain
Factory Production Drawings — NHB No.13
The full 10-page factory production drawing set, issued in English for fabrication. Each curved coping course is dimensioned with its inner and outer radius, arc lengths and joint positions, while the straight setts, borders and skirting carry exact cut sizes and quantities. Drawings were revised and re-issued on the same day each time the builder updated quantities or confirmed templates — the versions shown here are dated October 2023. A separate addendum covered the template-cut EE-1 curved pieces.
Eight months from first inquiry to installed fountain — with the fabrication, revisions and ocean freight compressed into an aggressive window.
The Singapore builder's inquiry covered Nero Novalato flooring of roughly 370 m² plus about 370 m of skirting, alongside honed column cladding in Nero Maquina. We quantified materials, thicknesses and the curved fountain scope and returned pricing and production thinking quickly.
After sample and specification review, the builder approved the order and the job moved to shop drawings.
Quantities were revised several times in three days — 300 × 150 mm setts moved from 2,383 to 2,622 pieces and 150 × 150 mm setts from 9,266 to 10,193, with the 44 template-cut coping sets and skirting updated in parallel. Revised production drawings were issued the same day for sign-off.
When the selected blocks showed more white veining than expected, we held cutting before the run proceeded and explained that the veining is an inherent natural characteristic of Nero Novalato rather than a defect. The builder confirmed acceptance the same day and instructed us to proceed.
The first lot was completed by the end of October — cut on the 5-axis cell, pre-assembled, numbered, sealed and crated — with the first container booked for roughly November 3 and the balance to follow by November 15.
The numbered pieces were installed around the fountain on site, closing into the concentric rings shown in the completion photos — the geometry verified in the factory translating directly to a fast, true-circle installation.
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