Using stone outside the home should also be a
high priority. The façade, driveway, staircases, walkways, patio,
retaining walls and landscape all feature here. The type of stone and
finish that is chosen plays a significant role in setting the tone of
the home
If the budget does not allow for entire
stone-faced exteriors, there are other outdoor areas, where stone
features can be used to dress up a property. Stone pavers for a
driveway or walkway are just one way to enhance the look of a home's
exterior. Here pavers are also a great option for a patio or pool deck.
Large pieces of slate can create a pathway giving the home of more
rustic feel. Fieldstone is another popular choice for outdoor design.
It has an inherent quality that truly laced the land. There are many
reasons people choose fieldstone. Perhaps it is because each region
across the country and around the world has its own distinctive stone
with its unique texture and blend of colors; they are the same from
project to project and reflect a natural setting. Using fieldstone from
local areas to re-create that emphasize existing and old and are all
good techniques. Some fieldstone can actually be salvaged from old
barns for example for that authentic look and feel. Working with local
stonemasons who take pride in their work can be a real learning
experience.
Stone accents
There is always the possibility of accenting the
exterior with the stone foundation or roof. In some projects, that
might be a fair amount of stonework sometimes.
Slate. It is considered expensive building
material today, but everyone used these materials to build their houses
back then, because they would last forever. An abundance of slate can
be used to enable a nature-inspired environment. In any large house, a
lot of what you see is the roof. Most modern materials do not add
anything, just typically to the building. Slight additions and steady
to mention, but nothing else. The natural surroundings of a residence
can also play a key factor in the redesign or project. Stone and wood
shingles lend themselves well to a natural atmosphere. Any park-like
setting of a home, can affect what type of slate you might use. Making
a home fit into its environment can be tricky. Stone can be made
visible in the design and sometimes choosing fieldstone for a
foundation is a choice influenced by the local area.
Tying to the environment
Using building materials that reflect the natural
environment is an optimal choice. Even if it includes greatly expanding
an existing house, while slicing it in a much more environmentally
friendly way. Getting the finished look using cut stone to keep the
house a part of its environment, can prove to be a challenge, but
surely worthwhile. There are different ways of making a home fit into
its surroundings, grounding the house so to speak. Using local field
stone for example, in something like New York Bluestone at low levels,
incorporating the structure into the surrounding environment and so on,
can all be done to complement the project and structure.
Reflecting a region
Capturing a local strong tradition of building
with limestone, incorporating the native stone as well using elements
in the region's industrial past. Stone plays an important role in a
design because of its beauty and regional relationship. There are also
the partnerships with local quarries and stone manufacturers and almost
symbiotic relationships that could affect the types and choice of
stone. The primary residence could be made to resemble an aged barn
with the foundation using local limestone. A home could easily sit on
top of the hill, down on one side by rolling prairies and fields and by
water on the other. The public views are where you will find and
encounter most of the stone. Thus conveying feelings of permanence and
a sense of anchoring. A curving roof supported by light steel trusses
adds sophistication. Reject quarry stones can also be used alongside an
existing reach line for instance. Other unique stones can also be
scattered throughout site. Limestone used as an unnaturally carved
bowl, that in turn is used to catch rainwater from the gutters, is a
nice example. Natural stone can help you build a home that while deeply
rooted in family and local history, can also find new expression of
those ideas. The new understandings of family and architecture can be
revealed through wood and stone.
Laid-up stone
After deciding to use natural stone for an
exterior façade of a residence, the next decision is to determine how
thick the stone pieces should be. The size of the pieces used, chemical
differences, how long it would take, what type of installation method
will be implemented and so on all require close consideration. Time and
money are both important considerations here. If you ever look at an
old barn, you will see that the stone on the corners is always
carefully cut and old rubble placed in between. This is because you
build the corners and then the laborers would throw the stone in
between the walls so it can be made to look thicker. Using skilled
stonemasons, sandstone can be laid, stone upon stone. With larger
pieces placed at the corner, to complement the sandstone, which was
used for several exterior elevations. It can also include natural stone
as paving for the bumpy areas. The combination of natural stone
varieties on the exterior, can give a rough feel that complements the
stark nature of the surroundings, as well as a feeling of refinement.
Inspired by nature
Sometimes a structure is needed that would not
encroach upon the surrounding environment. Using stone from the site
and maybe even the nearby cliffs sometimes, the building can easily be
blended gently into the landscape. The missions of preservation can
leave you wanting to make a place that had as little impact on land as
possible. You could easily bury half of the building into a natural
slope, so when you approach it, all you see is big blocks of stone and
overhead roof.
To minimize aesthetic impact, building sites can
carefully be considered. Stone on a building could be aligned to give
the impression that it comes out of the earth. Nature's concrete is
made from glacial movements pressing stones together until they form a
solid rock. The appearance of stone will adjust with time, weathering
in a very pleasing way. It acquires a patina due to minerals. The local
skilled masonry remains a key element finding stones from around the
sites not having to be carved that can be placed at strategic points.
Architect and stonemasons work closely together to achieve any desired
look. Lots of mockups and samples are dealt with. Due to a broad
variety of large and small stones near each other, masons can do
mockups of large sections of walls to move the project forward. Cost of
extracting stone from sites can often be offset by the fact material
does not have to be paid for. It could be that the stones are heavy in
the process, very labor-intensive, but the material costs you nothing.
To enhance the natural look, masons try to avoid electing more to show.
A lot of the site work can and is actually determined in the field. For
a few, choices can be made for something that lent itself to a
particular landscape, like slate for example. Something that is
maintenance free and looked timeless right from the beginning would be
deemed most suitable. That summarizes the concept of building with the
use of natural material.
Emulating the Environment.
You can create something beautiful with natural
stone, creating something that looks like it belongs in a place,
looking as if not to have been stirred for ages. Boulders from the area
can be incorporated into a design to create a lasting sense of place.
The stone can come from the natural environment. Stone veneer can be
laid on top, to make it up here as a boulder outcropping.
For exterior façade sandstone can be utilized
throughout the structure. Though whether it's side of the stone as
opposed to the sawed surface of the stone can be used on the outside of
a house, to help maintain the sense of history in the area and to
create some respect for it. There are long-term advantages to using say
local Arizona sandstone for example. It would age well and show a sense
of timelessness. A building structure can also easily be structured
into the ruins of an area for example. A building could be given a
triangular shape with the slope toward the top to make it look like a
ruin.
Communication and collaboration between the
owners, architects, civil engineers and stonemasons, are crucial. One
such example: a design detail, notch in a roof offers practical as well
as aesthetic benefits and creates a colorful mark on the stone and
would help prevent water from accumulating. Fire pits for example can
also serve a dual purpose, functioning as elements of a home and
recalling the rituals of the region. The use of stone can also be
continued in window ledges for example - natural stone was the obvious
choice in all these examples.