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Vision into Reality

Picture of SYNKD Writer SYNKD Writer : Jan 25, 2023 7:55:39 PM

South West

Natural Stone as a Sculptural Element in Your Design

The versatility of natural stone as well as its longevity provides a sustainable solution to creative client requests. Coldspring USA gives us some project examples of what they have created.

Alexander Lofts Art Park

Located in West Palm Beach, Florida, Alexander Lofts Park is an open space for informal neighborhood gatherings and passive activities. This plaza creates a featured amenity for visitors and local residents alike. A sculptural seating piece made of laminated natural stone slabs acts as a rain garden, managing stormwater. The project uses all native stone materials and drapes these materials across the site to create a wavelike form, referencing the local geology of the Florida peninsula.

Florida Art Lofts Coldspring Sculptural Seating at Alexander Loft Art Park in Florida

The bench is sculpted mostly from limestone, with a color palette containing shades of cream, gold and grey. Slivers of anodized aluminum were strategically

placed to prevent skateboarders and bikers from scratching the sculpture. Along with its smooth flowing form, the sculptural bench evokes images of the sand and waves of Florida.

The Epic II 7th Floor Terrace

Straddling downtown Dallas’s eastern border with Deep Ellum, the new Epic development represents a large-scale offering of modern office leasing space in Texas. The Epic II Tower is the second tower to complete, and its seventh floor’s footprint is an ideal location for outdoor terrace space.

Tower (2) Coldspring USA

Landscape architecture firm Hocker selected Rockville White® granite for use as the primary material for the terrace flatwork. Capable of withstanding weather and human interaction elements, granite excels in all types of situations due to its hardness and resistance to wear. The design utilized rectangular 5x2-inch, 6x2-foot-thick pavers on pedestals for the east terrace. On the west terrace, the dimensions were stretched to 6X2 feet and 6 inches, with pieces having splayed cuts to form their parallelogram format. With flatwork defined, the architect then focused attention on further developing the east and west feature elements.

On the east terrace, the feature element utilized cubic granite blocks to retain soil and create areas of planted landscaping. These blocks follow a serpentine footprint and have varying heights and tier levels to yield a flowing and random appearance.

Tower (1)

For the smaller west terrace, there was a desire to share material types but to utilize them differently. Here, the terrace is partially covered by a trellis and includes one large stone feature. The feature changes configuration around its perimeter where it serves as a seating surface, houses a gas-burning firepit and functions as a retaining wall for planted landscape.

Turn to the River

Turn of the River (1) Coldspring USA Turn of the River (2) Coldspring USA

The community in Terre Haute, Indiana, had a vision—to reconnect their downtown with the river that runs through it. Thanks to the collaborative efforts of local leaders, a nonprofit arts organization, one artist and one of the leading natural stone suppliers in North America, that vision became a reality.

The project, Turn to the River, is an ambitious mission to connect the downtown with the Wabash Riverfront area through public art, new pathways and rethinking the use of spaces. The project includes a remodeled plaza and a spectacular black granite sculpture. The sculpture, created by artist Brad Goldberg, is positioned between the Vigo County Courthouse and Terre Haute City Hall. It incorporates the beautiful and versatile Mesabi Black® granite provided by Coldspring and includes a carved abstraction of the Wabash River Valley and pools in which the water falls at both ends of the artwork.

Spring Creek Nature Area

Spring Creek Coldspring USA

Directly across from the fast-growing, lively atmosphere of CityLine development in Richardson, Texas, Spring Creek Nature Area consists of 180 acres of virgin old-growth hardwood forest, looping trails and scenic creek views. With an interest in preserving a rare, natural open space within the heart of a dynamic development corridor, the city of Richardson sent out a request for qualifications to design two visually enticing entrances to mark the separate pedestrian entrances.

Together with DCBA Landscape Architects, Brad Goldberg, artist of Brad J. Goldberg, Inc., submitted his credentials and was selected to work with the City on the entry portals. Goldberg envisioned a visually engaging natural stone design, viewable from surrounding roadways and development that would complement the beauty of the surrounding nature. Each entry point would consist of about 20,000 square feet of working area, placing importance on preserving the majority of the existing trees and landscaping.

Spring Creek Coldspring USA (2) Spring Creek Coldspring USA (3)

Goldberg recommended granite to the city for the nature park because of its durability and maintenance-free elements.

The project was no small feat. Massive quarry blocks with drill marks intact were shipped in to create two large portal entrances with leaf-inspired openings and seating areas, ensuring that the entrances would be eye-catching and in scale with the environment. Over 8,250 cubic feet of Kenoran Sage granite in natural and thermal finishes was used to create the two entry portals, standing at 16 feet tall and 20 feet tall, respectively. The project was successfully completed and dedicated in November 2019.