Luxury Home, Oslo, Riverstone Architectural

Private DwellingLocation: Oslo, Norway
Architect: K. Jarmund Architects, Oslo
Slate Used: SSQ Riverstone® architectural stone

Set in a residential suburb of Oslo, the interior of this listed, two-storey town house has been transformed during its refurbishment. A large, deep basement was converted into additional living space and offered the opportunity to reconfigure the building’s internal layout. Natural materials have been used to provide an ultra-modern look that’s as practical as it is stunning.

Just over 144m2 of SSQ Riverstone architectural stone (from the Honed and Naturalranges) were used in the project. Each piece was individually cut to meet a detailed cutting list and the entire order was ready for despatch within just three weeks of it being received. In place, they create a wide stairway with an integral, stepped seating area on one side that cascades into the basement living room bringing with it light and space. And in each of the three bathrooms, subtle lighting highlights the rich colours and veining in the floor and wall tiles.

In the words of the architect: “I’ve specified Riverstone architectural stone on previous occasions so have no doubts about the ‘wow-factor’ it offers …The colour and texture of the stone complements the other natural materials perfectly … It’s a beautiful stone to work with and I’ll definitely use it again on future projects.”

Swimming Pool and Spa Area, Denmark, Riverstone Architectural

Location: Karresbaekminde, South Peninsular of Sydsjaelland, Denmark
Architect: Ai-Gruppen, København K
Slate Used: SSQ Riverstone® architectural stone (internal flooring)

Located in the popular holiday destination of Karresbaekminde, the south peninsular of Sydsjaelland, is this beautiful new members club, with a very inviting swimming pool. Set in an idyllic landscape; the natural light that beams through all the large windows combined with soft interior lighting, bounces off the Riverstone picking up the lightening streak veining, creating a most calming and relaxing environment.

The materials that were initially considered for use were; Brazilian green slate and Burlington Brandy Crag; however Riverstone won the specification due to the beauty of its appearance and its durability. The architect decided to use a mixture of finishes and sizes to create the visually stunning design as seen in the photographs. Riverstone flamed, brushed antique and honed were used for the flooring areas, brushed antique for the skirting and honed slabs for some of the finishing details.

Riverstone has been tested to all relevant EN standards for architectural applications, to which it conforms, plus the BS12370:1999 for reaction to salt crystalisation. Even though there are no published guideline limits for this test, the stone was unaffected by the testing and thus is considered to offer good resistance to salt crystallisation effects, so a highly suitable material to be used for these kinds of projects.

Hilton Hotel, Helsinki, Riverstone Architectural

Hilton HotelLocation: Helsinki-Vantaa Airport, Finland
Architect: Doos Arkitekter AB, Stockholm
Slate Used: SSQ Riverstone® architectural stone (Natural finish)

The 246-bedroom Hilton Helsinki-Vantaa Airport Hotel is the airport’s first ‘upscale’ hotel and offers travelers state-of-the-art facilities in a contemporary design with a Finnish theme. The hotel’s interior has been designed to reflect Finland’s dramatically rugged, yet enchantingly beautiful, landscape and draws inspiration from the country’s lakes, rock and forests.

Although indigenous Finnish limestone was initially considered for internal cladding in the reception area, its practicalities led the Hilton’s architects to specify SSQ Riverstone architectural stone, a non-indigenous alternative that has proved very successful in other Hilton Hotels presenting a similar natural theme.

Riverstone is a phyllite and has been used as a building material for centuries. With the decision made, around 300m2 of SSQ Riverstone architectural stone was used to clad specific walls in the hotel’s hi-tech reception area and Bar Gui with striking results; its use providing a perfect backdrop against which to present other materials that characterise Finland’s natural, national identity.

Kreissparkasse Wiedenbrück Bank, Germany, Riverstone Architectural

KW BankLocation: Schloß Holte-Stukenbrock, Germany
Architect: Ludger Westkämper GmbH, Herzebrock-Clarholz (Construction management)
Slate Used: SSQ Riverstone® architectural stone (Brushed Antic finish)

The town of Schloß Holte-Stukenbrock lies in the district of Gütersloh in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, and is home to the latest branch of the Kreissparkasse Wiedenbrück bank. SSQ Riverstone architectural stone was selected as the choice of floor covering from a variety of different stones presented to the architect.

The new branch opened in March 2008. SSQ’s chairman, Ahmed El-Helw, was invited to the opening ceremony and was delighted to be told by Kreissparkasse Wiedenbrück’s managing director that, “I’m so impressed with the quality and beauty of the stone used for the flooring that I would like it specified in the design of all future banks we are building throughout Germany.”

Kreissparkasse Wiedenbrück has already bought sites for the next seven branches and these should be open within the next five to seven years.

Siftung Topographie des Terrors, Berlin, Riverstone Architectural

Topographie des Terrors

Location: Berlin, Germany
Architect: Heinle, Wischer und Partner, Berlin, Germany
Slate used: SSQ Riverstone® architectural stone – flooring (Brushed Antique finish)

The Topography of Terror museum opened to the public on the 7 May 2010, exactly 65 years to the day after Germany’s unconditional surrender ended the Second World War in Europe. Located in the centre of Berlin, the museum occupies part of the site of a complex of buildings that once formed the headquarters of much of Nazi Germany’s state security regime: the SS, SD, Gestapo and RHSA. In 1986, while the area was prepared for redevelopment, the discovery of large sections of the original cellar walls of Prinz-Albrecht-Strasse 8, the Gestapo’s offices, prompted a citizen’s campaign to conserve the remains of what had once been its notorious ‘house prison’. Within a year, the barren site, land once occupied by buildings that had housed a murderous terror machine, had become a memorial and open-air exhibition that used the remains of the cellar walls as a chilling backdrop.

Two decades later, with over half a million people visiting the site, work started on architect Ursula Wilms’ prize-winning design for a permanent, €25 million, state-funded exhibition centre and library. Thankfully, the new building makes no attempt to interpret the site’s history in its design: it’s a square, two-storey, glass and steel structure located in the centre of the site, its central courtyard and glass walls cleverly mirroring the canopies over the original cellar walls and allowing visitors freedom to see the outside world from anywhere on the ground floor.

A ‘grey natural stone’ was specified for the museum’s flooring, the design calling for the same material to be used inside the building, for the central courtyard and for the paths leading to the cellar-wall exhibits. Ursula Wilms chose SSQ Riverstone® architectural stone with a Brushed Antique finish to provide a hard wearing, slip-resistant surface. Of the 5,370m2 supplied for the project, almost 75% were calibrated to a fine tolerance and cut to a precise 49.6 x 49.6cm square.

Clarion Post Hotel, Sweden, Riverstone Architectural

Hotel Post Sweden600.jpgLocation: Sweden
Slate Used: Riverstone

The award-winning Clarion Post Hotel in Gothenburg is a new hotel created from the refurbishment of the historic old Post Office in the centre of Gothenburg.

The project required a sympathetic treatment of the existing building due to its immense popular appeal. The original building was a neo-classical building created by Sweden’s leading public buildings architect, Ernst Torulf, in the 1920s. It had recently been designated as a historical building by the local authorities adding to the challenge presented to architects Semren & Månsson. As well as the aesthetic requirements the building was also required to meet stringent logistical, features and facilities specifications in order to support the change of use to a modern, high quality hotel.

A new building, located immediately next to the Post Office, occupying what was once a delivery yard was designed to contain 500 rooms with swimming pool and roof top terracing.

Grand Lisboa Hotel and Casion, Macau, Riverstone Architectural

Grand LisboaLocation: Macau, China
Architect: Dennis Lau and Ng Chun Man Architects and Engineers (HK) Ltd
Slate Used: SSQ Riverstone® architectural stone (interior cladding)

The Grand Lisboa Hotel and Casino is the flagship of billionaire entrepreneur Dr Stanley Ho’s gambling empire. The casino opened on 11 February 2007, the hotel being due for completion late in 2008.

Situated at the northern-end of the Macau-Taipa Bridge, the hotel stands opposite its famous namesake and sister hotel, the Lisboa. The dramatic new 40-storey hotel has the distinction of being Macau’s tallest building and is shaped to resemble a bright yellow lotus flower (the official emblem of China’s Macau Special Administrative Region) – the hotel erupting out of the bulbous, eight-story casino complex it surmounts. Designed to be the most luxurious hotel and casino in Asia, the opulence of the USD375million project rivals anything its competitors in Las Vegas can offer.

SSQ Riverstone® architectural stone was selected for use as wall cladding in the Grand Buffet, one of the casino’s six restaurants which, the casino’s website proclaims, offers diners “the longest buffet-bar in Asia – over 200ft of sumptuousness!”. (Can’t wait to try the fortune cookies!)

Miramar Hotel, Hong Kong, Riverstone Architectural

Miramar HotelLocation: Hong Kong
Architect: Design Corporation, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong
Slate Used: SSQ Riverstone® architectural stone

This 50 year old hotel, formerly known as the Miramar Hotel, re-opened its doors on the 18th September 2009 after undergoing a USD$65 million transformation. As the general manager commented ‘The hotel, now renamed as the Mira Hotel, is stylish, iconoclastic and highly individualised and it exists and aims to create an unforgettable city experience. It is said that the truth is rarely pure and simple: here is a destination so desirable, it’s closer to fiction’.

Riverstone was used in the 1/3 of the guestroom bathrooms (approx. 150), which includes 56 suites. A mixture of 50m2 honed and 3,000 m2 brushed antique was used to clad the walls and create the floor covering. Riverstone was chosen due to its durability and most importantly because of the inherent ‘life and character’ of the stone, complementing the vivacity and ethos of the hotel.

Not surprisingly, in the short amount of time it has been reopened, it has already won many prizes, 2 of them being entries into the coveted Condé Nast Traveller UK and US Hot lists. A worthy accrediation that makes me want to book a flight and go and indulge in what the hotel has to offer!

Akmens Klasika