The Harbor Boulevard Parkway, part of a much larger revitalization project that spans many miles and hundreds of acres along the Port of Los Angeles in California, was recently renovated using a variety of natural stone. A granite band winds along the ¾-mile-long path punctuated by solid red granite benches and “story ropes” - and the material was supplied by Cold Spring Granite of Cold Spring, MN.
The Cannon Chapel Memorial Garden at the University of Richmond in Virginia, serves as a columbarium space, a worship garden and a formal gathering area for weddings, funerals and other special events - all uses that the client felt were needed within close proximity to the chapel. Higgins & Gerstenmaier, the landscape architects for the project, met with the University in 1998 to begin the master plan to transform the space that formerly served as an entrance to the chapel. To add contrast to the adjacent brick-faced chapel, slate paving was utilized in the garden area, as well as granite and limestone features.
For the third year, Stone World Magazine rolled out its Stone Fabrication Workshops to meet a need for high-quality industry education. These one-day intensive sessions took place in Seattle, WA; Oakland, CA; and Las Vegas, NV, in May, and future sessions are planned for later this year in the Southwestern U.S. and the Northeastern U.S.
Natural stone serves as a staple in the design of the new George Garvin Brown Garden in Louisville, KY, which is the latest addition to the campus of the Center for Interfaith Relations (CIR). A team of landscape architects, led by Design Principal JP Shadley, ASLA, and Pamela Shadley, ASLA, Managing Principal, of Shadley Associates, P.C. of Lexington, MA, selected a palette of Georgia marble and Canadian granite for prominent features within the garden, such as a water wall, large fountain, seatwalls, planters and accent pavers.
Once again, the lineup of educational sessions at the Coverings exhibition included a Fabricator Forum, where stoneworking professionals were able to submit specific issues to a panel of industry veterans as well as the audience at large. This year’s panel for the forum, which was intended for stone fabricators with five or more years of experience, included GK Naquin and Mark Blanda of Stone Interiors in Loxley, AL, and Brandon Maldonado of Maldonado Tile & Marble of Fullerton, CA. The following is a recap of some of the issues raised during the session, along with the solutions and answers that were discussed:
Hirsch Bedner Associates (HBA) recently completed a $70 million renovation at the Newport Beach Marriott Hotel & Spa in Newport Beach, CA. Calvin Dix, a senior associate with the firm, was in charge of the design and selected a palette of earth-toned colors to enhance the surrounding coastal setting, and quartzite was utilized as flooring throughout most of the public spaces.
When approaching Metropolitan Cabinet & Countertops in Norwood, MA, the look of the facility is certainly different than the typical stone fabrication shop. As one of the largest cabinet manufacturers in New England, the company has a large-scale operation that has now expanded to include stone countertop fabrication.
The Marble Institute of America (MIA) recently hosted the first of two “Quarry Tours & More” seminars, which took place on May 16 and 17, 2007. Approximately 30 stone-industry members who were interested in learning more about quarrying in the North East participated in the tour, which pushed off in Barre, VT. During the two-day event, participants visited four quarries and three stone museums as well as a number of other points of interest to stone professionals.
Haddington Island Stoneworks and Hardy Island Granite are continuing an historic tradition of stoneworking on Haddington Island. Measuring roughly a half-mile in diameter, this bucolic island is located in the Broughton Strait, off the northeast coast of Vancouver Island. The island rises 300 feet above sea level at its highest point, and Alert Bay, a regular port of call, is about four miles east of the island. The distance by water from Haddington Island to Vancouver is approximately 200 miles. At the same time, stone quarrying is also taking place on Hardy Island, located in the Jervis Inlet south of Powell River, British Columbia.
Located in one of the fastest growing small cities in the nation, Frisco, TX, the Embassy Suites Hotel Dallas-Frisco comprises 13 stories, 321 rooms, a 95,000-square-foot convention center and a 680-space multi-story parking garage. The 322,000-square-foot hotel is adjacent to both a new semi-pro baseball stadium and a new practice facility for the Dallas Stars hockey team, as well as office and residential developments. The hotel’s exterior features Texas limestone, while marble and onyx were used extensively throughout the interior of the space.