Masonry Magazine March 2008 Page. 36
NATURAL STONE
The number of stone varieties available to design professionals is expanding.
"Stone has been so successful in terms of being a durable product, one that sort of transcends the trends, and is seen as a classic product that will carry through the lifetime of the given application. Because of these reasons, people have started to use natural stone more," says Tyra Dellacroce, VP of national interior sales at Connecticut Stone Supplies of Milford, Conn.
Transcending the trends
FROM COMMERCIAL TO RESIDENTIAL, exterior to interior, Genuine Stone's steadily increasing popularity has had many influences that have helped jettison the material into even greater use.
Unique design capabilities
While past design trends have often been deeply seated in repetitive use, many design professionals are now bucking this philosophy and searching for inventive, unique and untapped creative designs.
"Architects and designers constantly reference uniqueness, creativity- they want something that's different - and every piece of genuine natural stone is unique," says Mark Fernandes, president of Charles Luck Stone Centers of Richmond, Va., and chairman of the Natural Stone Council.
Brenda Edwards, owner of TexaStone Quarries in Garden City, Texas, agrees. "We're seeing a lot of unique and different design uses of natural stone. We're seeing a lot of water features used in interior applications. In commercial applications, they're completing a lot of unique fountains, park areas and municipal areas in natural stone, which gives a natural softness to the building. Of course, certain areas are going to be more apt to certain styles of design."
Recently, in addition to the already inherent uniqueness of Genuine Stone, the number of stone varieties available to design professionals is also expanding. As the world market continues to open up, a seemingly exponential spectrum of The Voice of the Masonry Industry
Seizing Opportunities
Landscapers, contractors get creative during a bone-dry winter in the South
Hearing the words, "We're in a drought" is not uncommon in many areas of the country. But the drought experienced in the Southeast throughout the fall of 2007 and winter of 2008 has been alarming. Boats were sitting on red clay next to their docs in Georgia's dried-up Lake Lanier, and residents who turned on their water spigots outside were hit hard in the wallet by fines.
As a result of the drought, people stopped caring for their grass plants and gardens, unless they could slip under a rule that the garden was a source of food. You can probably guess, folks weren't buying much in the way of flowers, plants and trees to add to their landscapes. Who would want to buy something that couldn't be watered and cared for? A popular Atlanta-area nursery, Pike Family Nurseries, actually filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection because of the drought-serious stuff.
With most crisis situations, the weak are weeded, and the strong survive. This situation was no different for contractors and landscapers in the Southeast, as they learned to turn their focus toward using natural stone and away from shrubs, ferns and Japanese maples.
Justin Payne, hardlines coordinator for Advanced Nurseries Atlanta, says the drought, while tragic, was an excellent opportunity to push natural stone and pavers. And for masons who might have been having a tough time finding work during a residential new construction slow down, installing hardscapes became a second career. Payne says the most popular of the hardscaping project trends were paver patios, natural stone retaining walls, fireplaces and outdoor kitchens.
"Contractors had to find ways to change their approach," says Payne. "They had to get new business by soliciting landscaping contracting and helping to promote outdoor items. It was a new avenue to revenue."
- Jennifer Morre