Should I choose Maia, Minerva or Corian solid surface worktops for my kitchen?

Corian® is an excellent versatile material but is generally comparatively expensive and is manufactured by DuPont. There are a number of less expensive alternatives, Maia and Minerva being two of these; they are both manufactured in England by Carysil Limited in Derbyshire. 

Maia and Minerva and Corian can all be joined together seamlessly using two part epoxy adhesives in a colour to match the worktops. Corian is available in around one hundred colours, some of which are plain, bold colours with no speckling.


Corian is available in sheet sizes of maximum 3680mm long in a few colours, but most of the colours are available in 2490mm sheet sizes. These sheets can be joined seamlessly to whatever length is needed. Maia worktops are available in 3600mm and 1800mm lengths, and Maia islands are 1200mm x 1800mm. Minerva worktops are 3050mm or 1500mm long, with the Minerva island/ breakfast bar size of 2100mm x 900mm. Maia and Minerva can also be joined together with seamless joints to make up the required length.

Which is "best" out of Maia, Minerva and Corian?

  • We are often asked, “Which of these three solid surface materials is best for my kitchen layout?” The answer depends upon a few different factors. All three of them can be refurbished and also mended to a certain extent if minor scratching is allowed to occur, usually through carelessness. You need to ask yourself if there are any curved corners required or if there are any swept, irregular curves required? Maia produces a standard “C” End worktop in 1800mm or 3600mm lengths. These are designed to be cut to length so that they fit the curve of a curved kitchen base unit. Once cut, they can then be joined to other standard square cornered worktops to complete the kitchen. They are basically a worktop but the left hand front corner and right hand front corner each have a curve with a 240mm radius curve and fits many curved corner base units which have a standard 20mm overhang past the kitchen doors. If a 240mm radius doesn’t work with your particular curved kitchen door, then “C” End worktops with a bespoke radius can be made up for you at an extra cost. 

  • Maia doesn’t really lend itself to on site curved work as any cut edges will need 3mm edging strips to be carefully and uniformly heated up and then bent evenly, without snapping, to the correct shape before bonding in place with colour matched two part epoxy resin adhesive, but you can have them factory-made to order.

Which worktop material is best for curves

  • Minerva, however, does lend itself to curved work as it is a 25mm thick “modified acrylic” solid material; solid as in not containing chipboard. Cutting, curving and polishing can all be carried out on site, or alternatively, Minerva “specials” can be created at an extra cost. Corian, typically 12mm or 19mm thick, is expensive but very versatile, but unlike Maia and Minerva, a template is made when the kitchen base units are in place and the Corian pieces are fabricated in a factory environment then transported back to site for final installation. This process adds time and cost to the total worktop project. Also, Corian at 12mm thick is not self-supporting so the specialist Corian installer will need to supply typically 18mm plywood or chipboard on top of the kitchen base units to support the Corian, otherwise flexing and ultimately cracking will occur. One feature of Corian which can be useful to those with artistic flair is that it can be heated and formed into many bendy, flowing shapes and this bending ability appeals to many architects and clients alike. Anything non-standard like this of course is not a cheap option. 

  • Minerva Amazonia Brown with a curved corner created on site.

Also, integrated upstands can be formed which can make Corian the number one choice for dental practices who need this type of continuous material to maintain the highest standards of hygiene.  Another determining factor can be the sizes of worktops available in each type. For example, if you have an “L” shape kitchen which needs two 3100mm pieces joined together at right angles and you choose Maia, this is available in 3600mm lengths so you would need to buy two 3600mm lengths plus one jointing kit and this is all you would need.  The unwanted offcut would be small so this would be an efficient use of this material. If, however, the total Maia worktop length needed was 3700mm, then you would need to buy one 3600mm and one 1800mm length plus a jointing kit, meaning that the unwanted offcut was 1700mm which is a bit of a waste. Quite often, if this sort of wasteage occurs, householders opt to buy a couple of extra kitchen units to extend their kitchen so that the offcut is not wasted.

Undermounted sinks

  • If you would definitely like an undermounted sink these are available as an option in any of these three materials. Corian can often provide an undermounted sink to match the worktop but most customers opt for a white acrylic sink that is bonded to the underside of the worktop.

    Corian undermounted sink with drainer grooves

    A choice of four different white acrylic sink options are also available with Maia and Minerva and can only be carried out in the factory, rather than adding them as an afterthought on site during installation. Four different stainless steel sink layouts are also available in the Maia and Minerva ranges as a factory made option. If you have already bought your stainless steel undermounted sink then this can be fitted during the installation of your Minerva worktops as it is a 25mm thick solid worktop. It is, however, really quite difficult to fit your own undermounted steel sink to a standard Maia worktop due to the fact that the Maia standard top layer is 3mm thick which is neither strong enough to support the sink and everything in it, nor is it thick enough to run drainer grooves. This is why, on the Maia undermounted sink modules, the centre section is manufactured with 10mm thick Maia material which is the ideal thickness for drainer grooves and strong enough to take the sink or sinks. 

  • Maia Mocha Stainless Steel undermounted sink module

    Minerva is suitable for Belfast sinks, Minerva White shown above

Armed with the above information you might now be ready to make your choice. If not, please call us any time for free advice on 01825 872261.