building stone magazine

Billie Tsien and Tod Williams credit their love of stone with their frequent visits to Rome. As Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects | Partners, the pair has designed and built more than 40 buildings, a large percentage of which are made using natural stone. “We’re interested in solidity, place and character,” Williams says, with the ultimate goal of creating projects “that have a long lifespan, are meaningful to the community, and will be loved for centuries.”Their choice to use natural stone is both practical and philosophical.

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.

In 2019, a 60,000-square-foot expansion of the renowned John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts was completed. A 1,200-square-foot wall of Bianco Carrara marble was created in the lobby of the new Welcome Pavilion: known as the “Gratitude Wall,” it was engraved with names of each donor.

Restoring the building to its original grandeur was an arduous task, but the preservation architects at Architexas insisted on matching the original stone types and finishes with no compromises.

With its unprecedented size and beauty, the mosque in the city of Shali in the Chechen Republic of Russia has an awe-inspiring presence. The massive structure features Thassos White marble throughout its exterior and interior design—further contributing to its stunning appearance.

100 Bishopsgate is a development of two mixed-used buildings in London’s financial district. On the walls of the ground floor and lobby, a wide range of Lasa White marble from Carrara, Italy was used to welcome visitors to the complex. All of the walls, specifically the lobby’s feature wall, were vein-matched to convey a solid look: a feat that took a lot of time and planning to achieve.

For the construction of a 7,400-square-foot home in Highland Park, Texas, a pair of homeowners opted for a modern architectural style using materials that would withstand the test of time. The home’s center is focused around the main entry, which features meticulously designed walls clad in Indiana limestone.

The palatial estate of Eric Boch Jr. has been over a decade in the making. Boch’s home in Norwood, MA exudes elegance and refinement. The property’s most recent addition is an elaborate but tasteful natural stone chapel and mausoleum designed by Eric Inman Daum, AIA.

Inspired by the historic stone architecture surrounding the Boston area, the Archangel Estate is an elegant display of the use of natural stone at its finest. Regional stone grounds the home to its natural habitat and relates it to its surrounding environment.

Given the significant extent of limestone spalling and deterioration of this landmark, a comprehensive rehabilitation program was prepared to restore the limestone as closely as possible to its original beauty and appearance,

This award winning California home features design and construction with keen attention for detail and a love for natural stone. “This project let us show what we are capable of doing, and we are so grateful to have had the opportunity to prove it.”

From the start of their kitchen remodel, the owners of a palatial home in Weston, Massachusetts knew they wanted a countertop material that would become the showpiece of the living space. “As soon as we saw the slabs of Calacatta Saturnia marble, we knew it was the perfect fit.”

A Hellenistic sculpture of Nike of Samothrace is one of the world’s most celebrated sculptures. In 2017, it inspired a private Fortune 100 company in Portland, Oregon to reinvent the iconic artwork in the form of a stone wall carving.