In article ,
"Owen Lawrence" wrote:

[severely snipped nice project plan for the sake of brevity]

Thanks for any suggestions.

I find that I'm selling quite a bit of solid surface material for use in
exactly those types of plans. It is a wonderful choice, as the material
is colourfast (assuming one choses an acrylic version such as Meganite,
Wilsonart Gibraltar, Staron or DuPont Corian and are also absolutely
water proof. Huge selections of fabulous colours.
Most manufacturers and distributors offer a strip program where strips
upward to 5 3/4" wide can be purchased. The edges can be machined with
basic carbide wood-working tools.
Not a low-cost solution, but zero upkeep. Zero.

Caveat: I'm associated with darn near everybody in the solid surface
industry so I'm biased as can be.

PS. Granite and engineered stone work really well in those applications.

HTH