2022 Pinnacle Awards
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Natural Stone Institute
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Kitchen/Bath
Boyce Residence Kitchen
Huntsville, Alabama
This project is a private residence for a chef/restaurant owner in Huntsville, Alabama. The couple values the quality and beauty of materials that this earth provides. The goal for this kitchen was to feature the unique characteristics of natural stone. In this case, it was Calacatta Macchia Vecchia imported from Italy. It was also important to the clients to create a high-end timeless design with handcrafted features.
The scope of the work involved an island that necessitated two slabs which meant that a book matched seam was needed. The size of the island called for mitered edges to increase its visual weight. These were cut with a 5-axis angle cutting waterjet. The sink portion of the countertop included a custom fabricated Cedar marble sink with drain boards fabricated to the client’s specifications. The sink was fabricated by laminating several layers of the waterjet cut marble and then hand working it to achieve a seamless finish. Moreover, the backsplash features curved moldings to give the high-end finish and detail that the project required.
A challenge presented by this project was the pattern and flow of the material. With a material as vibrant as Calacatta Macchia Vecchia, seams that flow well visually can be a challenge.
The client was very meticulous in her wishes for how the material was laid out. Using a digital layout program with 3D options proved to be a crucial part of the process.
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Natural Stone Institute
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Renovation/Restoration
Two Bryant Park
New York, New York
Two Bryant Park sits at a crucial location in the city, directly between Bryant Park and Grace Plaza; however, the existing building cut the two parks off from one another and had a small, poorly positioned lobby. To better connect these spaces, the central column bay and structural slab were removed from the first and second fl oor, creating a double-height lobby concourse linking the two parks and pulling pedestrians from one space to the other.
Disparate textures of rugged stone and highly refl ective fi nishes were chosen to distort and complement the natural landscapes at either side. A black and white palette consisting of Thassos marble, a large aggregate terrazzo, reflective painted aluminum, and blackened stainless-steel balances the refinement of a premium offi ce lobby with the rustic simplicity of Thassos, the Greek island where this project’s marble was quarried.
The lobby entrances are flanked by white brushed Thassos marble that flows into a luminous white ceiling surface. These large glistening slabs bring in the soft light that filters through the trees outside.
To achieve this diffuse quality, a leather finish was applied that enhanced the inherent glittering of the marble while concealing discoloration and other imperfections.
Adjacent, framed by contrasting dark metallic portals, the cleft Thassos marble feature wall stands as the centerpiece of the lobby. The splitting process had never been done with Thassos marble before and required extensive research and experimentation. Every slab had a unique splitting characteristic, and each was carefully placed in relation to the other. The edges were then hand chiseled to maintain consistency between panels. The resulting feature wall is a quarry in microcosm, embodying the tension between mechanical precision and natural chaos, and reflecting the quality and proportions of the quarry from which it was mined.
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Natural Stone Institute
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Architectural Carving/Lettering/Sculpture
John F. Kennedy Center Hall of Nations Engraving
Washington, DC
This project involved replacing 12 large 5´x5´ marble panels on the existing donor wall in the building, including re-engraving the existing names as well as adding new names on the replacement marble panels.
The first challenge was to match the existing white marble as the original quarry was closed. The Rugo team found a closely matching white marble from the Carrara region and special ordered slabs for the project.
The second challenge was to match the existing engravings. The original inscriptions on the wall were hand drawn, calligraphic Roman typeface which was designed by the original carver. There is no digital equivalent for the original font and the original font had certain nuances and inconsistencies which would not be present in any computerized font.
The carving team first traced all the existing names using carbon paper, and each of the names were cut and organized in the order of appearance they would go on the new wall. Using the traced names, Rugo Stone also created a library of characters to draw the new names needed. Then all the names were transferred to long sheets of white paper. The new stone panels were set up on a temporary wall specially built for this project at the studio in the same sequence that they would go on the building.
The paper drawings were then taped on the stones with the names in their respective positions for final approval and then transferred on to the marble panels using carbon paper. This process is called pouncing of letters.
After the names were pounced, master carvers carved the letters onto the marble with great care to reproduce some of the nuances and hand-touched characteristics of the engraved lettering. The letters were also painted with appropriate color to closely match the existing names.
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Natural Stone Institute
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Architectural Carving/Lettering/Sculpture
National Museum of the United States Army
Fort Belvoir, Virginia
For the museum dedicated to the US Army, the Rugo Stone team sandblasted, engraved, and installed the Medal of Honor wall with roughly 3,000 names, the Lobby Honor Wall with over 250 names, and the Focal Point wall with hand V-cut letters. The selected granite is the purest black granite with no tonal color range or veining, which allows expert engraving to read in a very legible manner on the reflective surface.
The engraving on this project came with several challenges. The font selected by the owner was a custom font, which was not ideal for engraving, and the height of the text was considered small for sandblasting. The size of the panels was too big to fit inside the automatic sandblast machine.
The Rugo team performed numerous mockups to test, study, and finalize the best materials and process to use to achieve the best results. The depth of the engraved letters was mocked up and an ideal depth was approved by the owner, considering the legibility of the letters and the shadows cast on the letters as light hit the stone panels. The team used a special “photo mask” process to cut and mask the fine text on the polished black stone, which had a high gloss finish similar to glass, and used very fine sandblast media for engraving.
They fine-tuned several parameters, such as the size of the sandblast nozzle, distance from the stone panel, pressure of the air to use for sandblasting, and the number of passes needed to achieve the right results, to avoid burning or piercing of the mask, and to avoid potentially causing permanent damage to the finish on the stone. Each panel was engraved in two phases to complete the engraving on large sized panels.
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Natural Stone Institute
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Architectural Carving/Lettering/Sculpture
Venerable Cornelia Connelly Shrine
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
This small but highly artistic project was designed to honor the accomplishments of Sister Cornelia Connelly, the American-born foundress of the Society of the Holy Child Jesus, a Roman Catholic religious institute.
Rugo Stone installed a beautiful 3´ tall Bianco Carrara statue of the Holy Child Jesus in the shrine.
Working with a client supplied digital rendering, Rugo’s stone fabricator created a full-scale clay model which was 3D scanned to produce a digital model and then programmed into a CNC machine.
While the CNC carving process completed about 80% of the carving, an experienced marble sculptor performed the rest of the carving by hand using hammer and chisels, especially for the most intricate details of the statue.
This shrine features raised hand-carved floral details, hand-cut letters, hand-carved relief, a small coat of arms carving, and an elegant canopy with book-matched Giallo Siena wall panels and accents of Bardiglio marble. The completion of the statue involved multiple discussions with the client to finalize appropriate finishes for each part: face and skin received a smooth honed finish; the hair received a much more textured finish; and the robe over the body received a fine finish to mimic the texture of a fabric.
Designing the support system for this project was quite challenging. Rugo Stone’s team worked closely with their fabrication partner to develop a stainless-steel bracket design to be installed on the back wall to take the load of the canopy stone, while the rest of the stone assembly below was tied to the wall with stainless steel wires and plaster. 3D renderings were reviewed and approved for support systems and a pair of hidden channels were cut at the bottom of the canopy in order to receive the brackets projecting from the wall.
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Natural Stone Institute
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Commercial Interior
95 State Street
Salt Lake City, Utah
The 95 State Street lobby features 220 foot long Lasa marble walls that stretch over 40 feet high and maintain a continual linear veining pattern across all courses. Before a single stone was even fabricated, it had already been assigned a specific location on the wall to ensure vein alignment over both concave and convex curvatures and recessed walls. Through value-engineering, the installer was able to decrease the specified stone thickness by 2 cm and re-engineer the attachment system to accommodate open joints while utilizing back anchors on the thinner stone. The underlayment was then painted black to add visual depth.
To maintain the pristine color of the stone in an interior installation, the installer sealed each piece prior to setting. A 50 foot by 40 foot tented clean room was constructed in the structure’s basement, where each individual stone was cleaned, sealed, and suspended upside down. A HEPA filtration system and evacuation system were utilized to remove the fumes and ensure dust did not settle on the stone while drying. The next day, individual pieces were handset with exacting precision so that the wall joints aligned perfectly with the joints in the granite flooring, wooden ceiling, and surrounding windows.
Travel restrictions resulting from the global pandemic required that the team employ innovative coordination methods to review stones, including Zoom calls across continents and the use of drones.
The stone installer acted as liaison between the design team and the stone team to ensure all parties were well-informed despite the unprecedented conditions.
In addition to the 8,900 square feet of white Lasa marble used on the lobby walls, the project also features 13,000 square feet of New Black Rain granite flooring, creating a striking visual contrast. Completed in December 2021, the project stands as a testament to what can be accomplished through the trusting collaboration of stone professionals.
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Natural Stone Institute
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Commercial Exterior
Nicholas S. Zeppos College Vanderbilt University
Nashville, Tennessee
The 260,000 square-foot Nicholas S. Zeppos College houses 335 students and features a state-of-the-art dining hall, great room, study lounges, and several other event spaces. It was designed with a red brick blend cladding, along with sandstone and limestone trims.
Stone detailing was a major area of design assist. As a masonry subcontractor aiding in stone selection, drafting, and engineering, IMS Masonry was able to devise a strategic plan to enable building schedule and sequencing and to ensure proper fi t of the stone elements that added to the overall project success.
Much of the exterior is inspired by the Collegiate Gothic architecture. Native Tennessee Crab Orchard sandstone and variegated Indiana limestone were used. The Gothic style was evident in the use of stone in vertical piers, groin vault ceilings along with ogival arches. Multiple stones were carved with features unique to Vanderbilt University. Particularly unique to the Zeppos College is the 22-story tower which extends 310 feet. The upper tower is composed of slender stone column lanterns which give a display of verticality. The crown of the tower is capped with stone cupolas and topped with stone finials.
Stone arches were created from an arch profile much smaller than a loadbearing arch. This method allowed the brick masonry to cross over each arch without having to wait for the typical cure time of a traditional arch. Each stone has its own individual anchor, which was custom designed by the engineering firm. The use of the different stones with many complex angles helped portray the Gothic style architecture.
The finished product amounted to over 4.5 million pounds of cubic stone.
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Natural Stone Institute
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Renovation/Restoration
Cathedral of Our Lady of Lourdes
Spokane, Washington
The Cathedral of Our Lady of Lourdes has graced downtown Spokane, Washington for well over a century. The church features Romanesque Revival architecture in ornate Carrara marble embellished with a variety of other stones. It includes an impressive back altar, pulpit, and bishop’s chair of the high liturgical craftsmanship typical of the era, sculpted and installed by Italian stoneworkers.
Poor remodeling left this once magnificent Cathedral a victim of changing styles over the decades.
The church’s new leaders wanted to restore the Cathedral to its original grandeur but figured that level of craftsmanship did not exist locally and working with contractors in Italy was beyond their comfort level.
A minor repair to a damaged fresco recently set an opportunity for the church to regain its former glory. Discovering the level of local stone fabrication had been more than capable all along, the church set a series of projects in motion, including a new altar, bishop’s chair, slab stairway, baptismal font, and various niches. Lastly, a shrine to Saint Peregrine was the pièce de résistance, completing the four-year project.
Slabs of Bianco Carrara and Grigio Carnico were cut in Italy as thick as 8 inches to achieve the carvings and columns.
Azul Bahia was placed as accents, complementing the magnificent European stained-glass windows for which the church is known. The project features solid turned columns, a complex domed roof in Grigio Carnico, and a baptismal font restoration and fabrication of an ornate statue niche out of Bianco Altissimo.
The fabrication features a perfect synergy of high technology, multi-axis machining coupled with the finesse of experienced hand sculpting and finishing. The result is a wealth of new work and restoration that blends seamlessly with the original architecture and style of the Cathedral while meeting the current needs of the modern church.
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Natural Stone Institute
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Renovation/Restoration
Tribune Tower
Chicago, Illinois
Few buildings in America have been designed with more care to every detail of its surroundings and architectural effect than Chicago’s Tribune Tower. Constructed in 1925 and designed by architects Raymond Hood and John Mead Howells, this majestic structure soars 36-stories above Chicago’s Michigan Avenue. Clad in Indiana Limestone, it’s an architectural masterpiece gracing the city skyline with permanence and beauty.
In 2018 planning began to convert this historic landmark from offices into luxury condominium units, all the while respecting its Chicago landmark status.
The entirety of its exterior limestone was reviewed up close, with hammer sounding of the stone surfaces used to identify deficiencies. Distress conditions including spalling, deterioration, and cracks were identified, as was stone displacement and eroded mortar joints. Ultimately, the façade conditions were documented for use in planning repairs. Some 6,000 individual pieces of limestone were replaced, including a variety of types and sizes. The stone was carefully selected to match the existing, then sandblasted in the shop after fabrication and water blasted on site to match the existing weathered finish.
Key facets of this project included rebuilding the unique, eight-story high stone flying buttresses as well as the reconfiguration of the masonry openings throughout the lower three floors of the tower’s five buildings to accommodate the storefront modifications. With the goal of salvaging as much of the original stone as possible, stone was reused throughout the building and replacement pieces were seamlessly integrated into this nearly century old landmark.
Project challenges included accessing the different areas of the building, especially the towers and flying buttresses. This was accomplished using swing-stage scaffolding, mast climbers, pipe scaffolding, and aerial lifts. Additionally, many of the elaborately carved pieces of Gothic ornamentation were beyond repair and needed to be replaced so existing stones were removed and sent to the stone shop to be used as templates for carving the new stones.
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Natural Stone Institute
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Public Landscapes/Parks/Memorials
Expedia World Headquarters Water Feature
Seattle, Washington
Expedia World Headquarters in Seattle, Washington boasts a 480-foot-long stone water feature, architecturally designed to emulate a shallow waterway.
The basin includes 3,000 square feet of CNC Zimbabwe Black granite panels and 13,000 square feet of Wuchuan granite cobbles. The water first moves over approximately 75,000 pieces of 5˝x5˝ Wuchuan split-faced granite cobbles; every other cobble is set at a tilt with one corner of the cobble raised to disrupt the water flow. The water then flows over 233 CNC panels which were designed to mimic the waves of the campus’s neighboring landscape, the Puget Sound, with each distinctive 3 foot x 5 foot CNC panel having to conjoin to its neighboring panel for a puzzle-like assembly.
Detailed crate logs were created for all 38 containers, allowing for crucial tracing for sequential pieces as necessary for installation.
In combination with the sloping design, the project was also afflicted by the Seattle rainy season, making it imperative to construct both tents and dams to prevent the water from flowing into the working area.
Tents and dams were subsequently moved as each area was completed.
Surrounding the water feature is the “collar,” comprised of 640 pieces of Zimbabwe Black granite measuring 2.5 feet x 5 feet by 5 feet thick, weighing more than 1,000 pounds each, and installed during the COVID-19 6-foot social distancing rule. The team was able to overcome this challenge by assembling a small gantry and chain fall hoist, enabling a three-person crew to do the install while maintaining 6-foot social distance.
With an access road causing a deficit in the workable space at the logical starting point for stone installation, a survey was required to assess an alternate site. Installation began 12 pieces in from the preferred start location. Subsequently, when the road was opened, the corner installation was completed to the original starting point, which was within ¾ inches of the original calculation.
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Natural Stone Institute
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Public Landscapes/Parks/Memorials
Garden of Serena Williams Nike World Headquarters
Beaverton, Oregon
The LEED Platinum-certified Serena Williams Building is the largest structure at Nike World Headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon, spanning more than 1 million square feet and nearly three city blocks. Located in front of this massive complex is Serena’s Garden.
The focal point of the Garden is the thirteen battered walls with flamed and waterjet Obsidian Black basalt cladding as well as the large “SERENA” stone letterings, which reflect aspects of Serena as an athlete. The shapes of this garden are inspired by the notion of the game of tennis. Place Landscape Architecture said: “Seeing these curved, massive stone structures rising up out of the ground evokes a sense of power and dynamism that a great athlete has.”
These high and low stone walls look like many musical notes placed on the various lines of the staff.
They rise out of the ground with 3/12 pitch to the ground and the top of wall cap slopes in two directions from the peak to both ends. References to Serena crop up throughout campus — even the slash on the top of the garden walls is modeled after her tennis stroke. The six lettering stones made from Platinum Black granite are wedge-shaped and there is a continuous ridge crossing them on the surface, which seem like the ball trajectory after Serena’s tennis stroke.
The entire project team worked closely from design to pre-construction, to fabrication and finally installed over total 45,000 sq ft of granite pavers, steps, benches, and staircases to clad this beautiful campus. The stone pieces create a very bold appearance. This project is an excellent example of using natural stone to transform an amazing design into an iconic campus.
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Natural Stone Institute
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Renovation/Restoration
Moynihan Train Hall
New York, New York
The Moynihan Train Hall project is a comprehensive plan to transquare footorm the iconic James A. Farley Post Office Building and Pennsylvania Station into a world-class transportation hub.
The total renovation, ultimately expanding Penn Station’s floor space by more than 50 percent, includes the construction of the new 255,000 square foot Moynihan Train Hall, waiting areas, and ticketing areas for the Long Island Railroad and Amtrak.
For exterior stone areas, work involved identifying and determining present-day sources for the granites used on the original Farley post office building, as well as advice on cleaning the existing façade. Indoors, the project incorporates carefully sourced and selected stone materials and artwork that unify the entrances and concourses. Quaker Grey marble was used extensively in the Train Hall for entrance floors at both 31st and 33rd streets in a honed finish and in a sandblasted finish for the walls. For ticketing areas, white Botticino marble in a honed finish was used for floors, walls, and soffits.
The Grand Staircase is comprised of four-wide Quarry Grey marble treads and landings, each 7 ft wide, that were vein matched and carefully blended.
Renovating an historic building came with its challenges including an ambitious schedule, the need for additional quarrying equipment, outsourced quarry personnel, and an additional fabricator. The owners also required dry lays of all the stone for blending and review, which took place at two facilities in North America and one location in Italy. Every piece of stone for the project was dry laid, totaling nearly100,000 square foot of installed stone.
Despite the monumental endeavor to maintain the project schedule while conforming with all the owners / architect’s demands, requirements, changes, and a global pandemic, Moynihan Train Hall opened to the public January 1, 2021, as scheduled.
