Marble Canal — Bespoke Fireplace & Stone Manufactory
A showcase catalogue for a custom stonework manufactory: 12 pieces, 0.5mm fit precision, Payload CMS with no developer
Marble Canal is a Saint Petersburg manufactory: made-to-order fireplaces, sculptures, garden and interior decor in marble, granite, composite and concrete-gypsum. The product is bespoke and expensive — the site had to sell craftsmanship, not "tile by the metre": fit precision, stone texture, the process from sketch to finished piece. The brief: an editorial catalogue with large-format visuals and a headless admin the craftsmen update themselves.
Challenge
The manufactory had a dozen reference photos and no digital catalogue — clients picked a fireplace from messenger photos. The site needed to read like a high-end gallery catalogue, not a construction showcase, with a flexible product card covering four material types and two pricing modes (fixed / on request).
Approach
Built on Next.js 16 + Payload CMS 3 on SQLite — a lightweight self-hosted backend with no external database. The 12-item catalogue (fireplaces, sculptures, garden and interior decor) is edited through the Payload admin. The hero and process sections are animated with Framer Motion, scrolling with Lenis, so large stone photography unfolds smoothly instead of jumping.
Outcome
The catalogue is structured across 4 materials and 4 categories with a transparent pricing model (fixed, or "on request" for one-off pieces). The 0.5mm fit precision claim is surfaced in the process itself as a sales argument, not buried as fine print.