Stone’s Green Look on Campus
By comparison, the work on the interior was fairly straightforward and mortar-set.
“There’s a honed stone panel running up the stair towers and the elevator shaft,” Swanlund says. “They wanted to carry the warm texture inside the building. Then, there are a couple fireplaces on the second and third floors that use the split-face product, and it really looks nice.”
That attention to detail and good communication helped make this an exemplary job, those involved agree. Both Swanlund and Hestekin note that Fond du Lac Stone joined the job early in the project, and arrangements were made for the stone supplier to start cutting materials ahead of the time they were needed.
Click photo to enlarge“Because we were able to prepare the materials far in advance, delivery wasn’t an issue for them or us,” says Fond du Lake Stone’s Hestekin. “However, we stayed in constant communication on what sizes they needed by what dates. Then, as they started taking loads, we’d replace them.”
Hestekin says he also had good rapport with the head mason, so that as the project advanced he was aware when more of a particular size was needed, or if something special was required.
“We even worked it out that we’d pay them for the materials that were stored and waiting for us,” says Boldt’s Swanlund. “Otherwise, why would somebody want to jump into cutting all that stone months beforehand?”
Lawrence’s Hagee agrees that first-rate communication really made the job a success. She gives special plaudits to Boldt.
“They’re just a terrific firm to work with,” she says. “Their style of communication needs to be adopted by more corporations. I knew about things before they happened, I was always aware of what was going on, and their troubleshooting was excellent. They also went the extra mile to get us discounts on materials. They were fabulous.”
The team worked so well together that Boldt and Fond du Lac Stone continued working on the site last year when the landscaping, designed by Peter Schaudt of Chicago-based Hoerr Schaudt Landscape Architects with assistance from Uihlein/Wilson, was completed.
Hestekin explains because of the building’s location and the change in elevation, serious consideration had to be made to handling runoff. Incorporating the same limestone into the landscaping made sense to all involved.
“There was a lot of consideration as to how to get the area to look natural and still serve a purpose,” he says. “We supplied a lot of different ledge stone and then they took large pieces of stone and installed them so they became seating for small meeting areas or gathering areas.”
Hagee calls the whole project “a terrific addition to the campus,” although she does have one regret with the stone.
“I wanted to use the same stone that’s on the outside to bank the pizza oven,” she says. “The health department said that we couldn’t use it because it wasn’t cleanable. I had to use a flat, processed tile that picked up on the colors of the natural stone, but it would have been beautiful in that limestone.”
Client: Lawrence University, Appleton, Wis.
Design Architect: KSS Architects LLP, Princeton, N.J.
Architect of Record: Uihlein/Wilson Architects Inc., Milwaukee
General Contractor: Oscar J. Boldt Construction, Appleton, Wis.
Stone Supplier: Fond du Lac Stone, a division of Michels Corp., Fond du Lac, Wis.
