Hypermassive designs and installs backlit onyx walls — the lit-up luxury stone surfaces that turn a private room into a held breath. One wall, quarried, finished, lit, and installed. By appointment only.
Most stone is sold. We don't sell stone. We work with clients who have already decided they want a room that does something — something quieter, slower, more considered than the alternatives — and we help them arrive at a wall that does exactly that. A wall that glows. A wall that turns off the rest of the room.
The work is small by design. One wall, sometimes two. We don't do facades, we don't do fitouts, we don't do commercial floor plates. We do the thing we know: translucent stone, lit from behind, in a private interior, where the room is the client.
We source directly. We commission the slab selection. We work with one lighting engineer in Sydney, one structural team, and one tiler we trust. We don't subcontract to anyone we haven't sat across from. We work slowly because the material is slow — honey onyx takes forty million years to form, and we don't think it should be hurried by the calendar.
What we make is not for everyone. It is for the person who has decided they would like a wall they can sit next to every evening for twenty years, and never quite finish noticing.
One product — the backlit onyx wall — in five onyx variants plus the bespoke commission. Each wall is a private commission: quarried, finished, lit, and installed. No slabs, no stock, no off-the-shelf. The wall is the work.
The studio's signature. Warm amber through deep caramel, occasional crystalline white. Lit from behind at 2700–3000K, the wall reads as a held breath at dusk. Honey onyx is the most-lit stone in the studio — commissioned more than any other.
Translucent ivory with the subtlest tan banding. Lit warm, the wall reads as parchment at sunset. Lit cool, it reads as snow at first light. The room's quietest surface, with the room's most deliberate light.
Deep emerald to jade, with occasional white crystalline veining that catches the backlight and reads as a held constellation. Used sparingly — one wall in a room is enough. Most often commissioned as a single feature wall behind a long dining table.
The rarest of the studio's commissions. Blush to salmon, with occasional crystalline veining. Lit warm and dim, the wall reads as the last light of an evening. Most often commissioned for a bedroom or a dressing room.
Pale glacier-blue with white banding, lit from behind the wall reads as ocean at depth. The studio's only cool-stone commission — used in wet areas, saunas, cellar entries, and a small number of contemporary interiors.
The studio's principal commission. We work with the principal, the architect, the lighting engineer, and the builder, from first sketch to final calibration. One wall. The whole room around it. The wall is the work; the work begins with you.
A photographic catalogue of recent commissions is in preparation. By appointment, the studio welcomes visits to the showroom in The Black Garter, Sydney, where four of the five onyx variants are installed in-situ, lit as we would light them in your home.
Backlit onyx is a lighting problem as much as a stone problem. The glow only works when the light is even, the colour is true, and the stone never feels the heat. Our Sydney lighting engineer designs every backlight system to museum standard: no hot spots, no visible LED dots, CRI 90+, flicker-free, dimmable to one per cent, with ventilation and access planned so the electronics outlive the slab.
We run on volume. Every slab is commissioned direct from the quarry, every wall is cut and lit by the same trusted team, and our AI-assisted placement optimisation means we get the most value from every millimetre of stone. That efficiency is passed straight through: we are positioned to be the most convincingly priced backlit onyx specialist in Australia without compromising the light or the stone.
| Wall type | Typical size | From (fully installed) | Engagement |
|---|---|---|---|
| White Onyx | Up to 3.0m × 1.6m | $A 180,000 | 8–14 months |
| Honey Onyx | Up to 3.0m × 1.6m | $A 210,000 | 8–14 months |
| Green Onyx | Up to 2.8m × 1.4m | $A 240,000 | 10–14 months |
| Pink Onyx | Up to 2.6m × 1.3m | $A 290,000 | 12–14 months |
| Blue Onyx | Up to 2.6m × 1.3m | $A 290,000 | 12–14 months |
| The Bespoke Wall | Per commission | $A 280,000 | 8–14 months |
For commercial owners, a backlit onyx wall is not decoration — it is a revaluation instrument. Placed at the reception, the bar front, or the boardroom threshold, it becomes the asset's most photographed surface and the feature a valuer cannot ignore. We optimise placement so the wall achieves the highest possible uplift at the next revaluation, working with your architect and lighting engineer from first sketch to install.
A wall, lit slowly,
does more than a wall, lit bright.
- studio note, undated
Architectural consulting for private residences and a small number of hospitality projects each year. We work with the principal, the architect, the lighting engineer, and the builder, from first sketch to last installation.
Our showroom is one of the rooms of The Black Garter, Sydney — a private members' club of which we are the architects of record for the interior. Visitors can see backlit honey onyx, white onyx, green onyx, and translucent quartzite, installed in-situ, lit as we would light them in your home.
The work moves slowly because the material is slow. We meet four times across the project. Between meetings, the stone is being cut, the lighting is being engineered, the tiler is waiting for the slabs.
A 90-minute meeting at the showroom or your residence. We listen. We look at the room. We agree on what the wall will and won't do.
A second visit, often to the quarry or the stonemason. We pick the slab together. Two hours. We mark it.
Six to ten months of cutting, structural review, lighting engineering. We send weekly photo updates from the workshop.
One to two weeks on site. The tiler we trust, the lighting engineer we trust. One final calibration visit, three months later, by appointment.
The studio answers by voice. Press play to hear our reception, or ask about a commission, a slab, or a booking. Generated with Cartesia Sonic — warm, considered, never rushed.
We quarry, finish, light, and install one onyx wall at a time. Every commission is private. Every wall glows. To arrange a first conversation at The Black Garter showroom, or at your residence, use the contact form below or write to us directly.
We answer every enquiry, by hand, within 72 hours.
Studio reception
If yours is not here, write to us. We answer every enquiry, by hand, within 72 hours.
A studio of four. Two architects, one lighting engineer, one principal. We work as a single practice — no project is touched by fewer than two of us, and no project is touched by more than four. By appointment, the principal is available for a first conversation at the showroom.
