Stone Crossing
When Woodmont Developers began planning its Stone Crossing residential development in Colorado Springs, Colo., they knew it needed to be very special to separate it from the competition. The plan called for 244 single family homes on 117 acres with approximately 22 percent open space. They went to Bill Wenk, president of Wenk Associates Landscape Architects.

"That area is called the Black Forest," explains Wenk. Located in the foothills of the front range of the Rockies, there are pine forests, open meadows and mountain views. "We wanted to keep that rustic quality of stone outcroppings," Wenk adds. Siloam Stone in Canon City, Colo., had exactly the look called for in the project. "Their stratified stone allows us to create ledges and terraces that define the project entry and create park space, similar to the stone formations that are common in the area."

The landscaping sites were not going to be small, so Wenk created small models out of foam-core board, numbered each piece, then scanned photos of each into a digital file to create a three dimensional plan. Even with a plan, though, the look of each area depends on the individual stones that are used. "You have to improvise to incorporate the idiosyncrasies of each stone," says Wenk. "You really want to celebrate the unique character of every piece." The result at Stone Crossing is truly distinguished while blending in with the natural terrain. Wenk has high praise for the contractors who made reality out of the plans.

The design called for waterfalls, lakes and bridges, and a gazebo in the recreation area patio. "It's a beautiful setting and they've done a terrific job building the amenities," explains Bobby Ingels, construction manager for the project. The entire community is linked by trails and parks. Such a large project wasn't without its challenges, of course. "It took many semi-loads of rock," says Ingels, describing stones that were so large that often a truck could only bring in two or three at a time. "It took a lot of manpower and heavy equipment. There was a lot of planning and connectivity to it." That same planning has been extended to covenants in the development that specify Siloam Stone for any retaining walls or landscaping done by homeowners, in order to maintain the harmony of beauty throughout the community.

Colorado Plaza
Creating a pattern that has a consistent but varied look was also one of the challenges for the masonry installers at Colorado Plaza in Santa Monica, Calif. As part of a multi-million dollar renovation program, Tishman Speyer Properties wanted to create a park-like atmosphere at the public areas, which connected shops, service areas and restaurants in this business/commercial development. Calling it an "urban oasis," they decided on the natural beauty of sandstone to create warmth and tie the area together. Hobart Stone Dealers in Binghamton, N.Y., was chosen for its distinctive bluestone ¡ª a type of sandstone ¡ª in four colors: brown, blue-gray, green and rust.

"The pavers were all natural cleft two foot by two foot by one inch," says Jim Hobart, president/CEO of Hobart Stone Dealers. "The selected color and pattern repeats itself throughout the 100,000 square feet supplied." Each paver was given a number that corresponded to its color and was loaded onto a pallet with same-numbered pavers, so that the installers could simply repeat the sequence of numbers. "Selecting the natural cleft from the contractor's color range and assembling the repeating pattern of colors was a real challenge because of quantity, time frame and color selection," Hobart explains. "We sorted through 400,000 square feet of two by twos to yield the 100,000 required."

In addition, the project required several hundred feet of six-inch thick monolithic flamed bluestone steps. These blocks had to be carefully selected for color to ensure the same range of colors that would complement the natural cleft pavers. In addition, there was another several hundred feet of lawn and garden edging, also monolithic flamed blue stone with hand-chiseled edges. Then there were hundreds of feet of two-inch thick flamed bluestone stair treads with hand rocked-edges. Half-inch thick bluestone treads were used as risers. "The machine-split, half-inch ledge cut risers complemented the several hundred tons of wall stone throughout the project," Hobart says. "This job required us to produce and ship over 75 rail containers of bluestone components in just under four months." This averaged an extra rail container per day, on top of the company's normal rate of six to eight rail cars a day.

"This did challenge our shipping department," admits Hobart, who says the group's commitment and team effort resulted in the shipment being completed ahead of schedule. Hobart can't say enough good things about his employees. Shortly after the completion of this job, a devastating fire wiped out the company's 15,000-square-foot shop. "Two and a half months later, when we were 75 percent complete with a new shop and equipment," he says, "a historic flood left us with six to eight feet of nasty flood water inside." The company did not have flood insurance because there had never been water in the area before. "We lost over $2.5 million uninsured," he notes. "Throughout this time, 95 percent of all job schedules remained on time. Our committed and dedicated employees yielded us the ability to remain in business. We have a bond with our employees now, better than ever. We all watched our business be destroyed and built it back together."

The Water Steps
In the 1990s, Pittsburgh was another city seeking a park atmosphere. The city had both a new baseball field and football stadium under construction, and city leaders determined that a park should fill the almost 3,000 feet of riverfront between the two. Dennis Carmichael, principal at EDAW of Alexandria, Va. was in charge of design. He created a gently cascading waterfall some 40 feet across at the top widening to 100 feet as it meets the river in what became North Shore Riverfront Park. And he chose sandstone as the medium. "It's an abstraction of the natural waterfalls that occur along streams as they enter the Allegheny River," Carmichael says. The sandstone, supplied by Raducz Stone Corporation, was quarried just 30 miles from the site.

The waterfall cascades gently over a series of four to five ledges, dropping a total of about 16 feet as it crosses the 150 feet from the beginning to the river's edge. "It involved 482 different sizes of stone, and 6,000 cubic feet of material for the project," says Frank Raducz, owner of Raducz Stone.
The project was difficult to design on paper, explains Carmichael, so they built both a computer model and a clay model, then presented photographs of the clay model to the general contractor, Joseph B. Fay of Fussellton, Pa. "We tried to make it as affordable as possible," Carmichael says. Specifications about the various sandstone shapes needed were sent to the quarry, so they could be pre-cut into a series of regular shapes, to minimize field cutting. On site, he says, it was similar to a child's play set, only on a giant scale. All the blocks just needed to be assembled into shape.

The park and fountain, known locally as "the water steps," is one of Pittsburgh's truly stunning and most visited sites. Lights were installed at the base of steps, "emphasizing the cascades and not the flat pools," says Carmichael. "It can be seen from downtown Pittsburgh, and it's quite spectacular at night."

Cherry Hills Community Church
Careful work by the employees is important to Loukonen Brothers Stone in Longmont, Colo. "Everything we produce is taken out by hand," explains President Mike Loukonen. "You lose 40 to 50 percent of your product when you use big equipment." John Loukonen first purchased the quarry in 1895, and four generations of Loukonens have worked here, with the fifth generation beginning now.

The quality of the product is outstanding according to Todd Berich, president of Berich Masonry in Englewood, Colo. Berich worked with Loukonen Brothers Stone on a recent project whose resulting success was directly attributable to teamwork. The Cherry Hills Community Church in Highland Ranch, Colo., was built in 2005 utilizing a random ashlar pattern on both the outside and inside of this unusually designed chapel. Loukonen sandstones were used in the varying hues of Colorado Buff, Lyons Red and Lykins.

The front of the church consists of a wall that is split entirely by a line of windows, with a cross built into the design. The center section, completely outlined by the windows, is essentially a free-standing wall inside the larger wall. It is a poured-in-place sheer wall with the sandstone veneered on top. Rather than the normal four-foot by four-foot sample panel, this project utilized a 10 by 10-foot pattern panel for the masons to create on the walls. A masonry technology flashing system was utilized to prevent any moisture between the rock and the wall. "This was a really beautiful application," says Loukonen. "The old-world design of this church is really unique."

Another unique aspect, according to Berich is that the architect called the general contractor in on the design process. "They wanted to know everything, from flashing details to helping with the stone. We went with them to the quarry and showed them what was available." Berich says one reward of early involvement by all parties is that manpower is allocated and scheduled as needed.

"The whole process was collaborative between the architect, the general contractor, the owner and the masonry contractor. That's what brought it in on time and within budget. They took a bit of a risk, inviting the subs in to collaborate," he says. "They actually carried it through to the end and it worked for them. It was a real honor to be a part of it, one of the highlights of our year."