building stone magazine
Sustainability is more than embodied carbon or material selection. By considering responsible sourcing, regional processing, durability, maintenance, installation, and decades of performance, natural stone offers a broader approach to long-term environmental responsibility.
Clear tolerances are essential to accurate, safe stonework. Updated guidance brings dimension stone standards into one place, helping fabricators, installers, and designers better understand acceptable variation and resolve common quality-control issues.
Natural stone cladding relies on carefully engineered anchorage systems to withstand gravity, wind, and seismic forces. Understanding load paths, anchor types, and collaboration between specialists is essential for safe, durable exterior stone installations.
Friction testing is critical to evaluating the safety of natural stone walking surfaces. With older methods withdrawn, ANSI A326.3 offers a reliable standard for measuring traction, helping specifiers reduce liability and ensure safer, better-performing flooring.
Nicknamed “Holey Water,” a sculptural granite wall in a New York office blends art, engineering, and a hidden message. Crafted from over 1,000 precisely cut blocks, the installation overcame material, tooling, and logistics challenges to deliver a striking focal point on a tight deadline.
The Mercury Fountain in Reston Town Center was meticulously restored using durable Bethel White and Jet Mist granite. Combining modern craftsmanship with Saint Clair Cemin’s original design, the renewed fountain now unites artistry, durability, and community connection.
In a historic Virginia neighborhood, Water Street Studio transformed a home’s outdoor spaces into a modern bluestone and soapstone oasis. Balancing tradition with contemporary design, the project features a custom sculptural fireplace, flexible living areas, and meticulous stone craftsmanship.
2100 Pennsylvania Avenue in D.C., a Pinnacle Award-winning project by Pelli Clarke & Partners, blends Gaudi-inspired curves with Turkish Dark Olive marble. Completed in 2022, it overcame pandemic challenges to create a warm, nature-inspired hub of shops, cafes, and event spaces.
95 State at City Creek in Salt Lake City blends sleek design with craftsmanship. Designed by SOM, it features a glass tower, limestone base, and intricate façade. Inside, a marble-lined lobby showcases precision work, including drone-assisted installation and hand-picked Italian stone.
The Missouri State Capitol’s five-year restoration tackled structural issues, weather damage, and aesthetics. Experts used 3D scanning, drones, and precision stonework to preserve its historic beauty, including restoring the dome’s lantern and Ceres statue—finishing ahead of schedule.
A 225-ton granite art installation was transported to a new home at American University, giving it a second life. Rugo Stone and James G. Davis Construction worked together to transport the stone pieces and ensure a successful removal, relocation, and installation.
Billie Tsien and Tod Williams have designed and built over 40 buildings, many with natural stone. They credit their love of stone with their frequent visits to Rome. Their choice to sue natural stone is both practical and philosophical. Learn about their holistic approach to stone sourcing and design.
Four years of overhaul—the complex’s first major renovation since 1917—resulted in a state capitol worthy of the accolades it has received. The stonework received the 2021 Grande Pinnacle Award from the Natural Stone Institute, while awards for the total project streamed in from many trade organizations: the American Public Works Association, Building Design and Construction magazine, the American Council of Engineering Companies of Colorado, the Construction Management Association of America, and Engineering-News Record Mountain States.
A former hospital complex originally built in 1894, the Old Parkland campus in Dallas, Texas, has seen its share of reclamation and renovation in the past decades. The most recent addition, Freedom Place at Old Parkland, echoes the campus’ existing Jeffersonian buildings in style and design. Designing and building a 140-foot, six-story structure that includes 8,310 pieces of limestone required massive planning and coordination — particularly because the original design plan was created for cast stone.
A stair project is typically all in a day’s work for an engineer, but what PICCO Group put together for a Toronto homeowner counters logic and the perceived limitations of natural stone.
Occupying almost an entire city block in the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn is the NewYork-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital Center for Community Health. The new 400,000-square-foot building, which took the last decade to construct, was designed using a variety of sustainable materials, most notably the Calacatta Caldia marble that adorns the walls, reception desk, kiosks, café counter, and credenza in the main lobby.
Ancient Art of Stone creates one-of-a-kind stone portals at their studio in Cowichan Valley, British Columbia, Canada. They first source stones, then design and build artistic and functional fireplaces, stone doors, spas, mosaics, megaliths, and murals and ship and install them across North America.
“Natural stone is such a noble material, and there’s a gravity to it that is immediately recognizable and universally appreciated by everyone,” says project director, Donna Bridgeman Rossi. “It’s not a subjective mix material, it is good in its own state that we value. You don’t have to modify it in any way to make it do what it needs to do.”
In Rwanda’s Burera District, the volcanic rock pumice was undervalued and unappreciated. The mundane natural stone proved itself to be a change agent in this landlocked African country.
Today and for years to come, residents and visitors of Richardson, Texas, will be able to leave the chaos of the world behind and enjoy some calm and serenity as they pass through Sylvan Portals at Spring Creek Nature Area.