Burlington StonePrinceton Public Library
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Home to the renowned Princeton University and rich in historical stone architecture, the community of Princeton, NJ, is saturated in art and culture. Recently added to the downtown line-up of notable buildings is the new public library, which incorporates a palette of Burlington Stone from England and a New York State bluestone throughout its interior and exterior design.
"We wanted to create a building that would fit in with a fairly eclectic city, but wouldn't look overly historical - something that would blend with both the new concept and older buildings," said Principal and Lead Design Architect Nick Garrison of Hillier Architecture in Princeton, NJ. In generating the design, Garrison and his team of architects, including Project Manager Peggy Keherer, met with librarians and various community groups and organizations to share ideas, which ultimately assisted in creating a 58,000-square-foot building that is both functional and visually pleasing.
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Burlington Stone's honed finished Elterwater, supplied by Stone Source, was employed as flooring throughout the public spaces of the library. "When we went to try to find flooring for the main entrance, it had to be extremely hard and go with the palette," said Garrison. "With public buildings, color is important. If it is too dark, it is gloomy. If it is too light, it gets dirty. Burlington Stone is a natural stone with a softer look. It has a lot of veining and depth of color. It's a fairly spirited stone. When we put it down next to the brick and maple, we really liked how they complemented each other. It also married well with the bluestone. The Elterwater green color is soft and easy on the eyes."
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In total, 3,000 square feet of Elterwater slate planking was employed as flooring. "We used a combination of random lengths and widths in a running bond pattern," said Garrison. "The idea was to create more visual interest in the floor, and feel a little more of the exterior brought in. The random pattern gave it a less formal presence." The floor pieces include widths of 8, 12 and 16 inches with lengths ranging from 12 to 32 inches. They have a thickness of 3/4 inch. One of the main focal points of the library is a curved staircase, also comprised of Elterwater slate. The stair treads measure 68 x 13 x 11/4 and 60 x 13 x 11/4 inches. Tile sizes on the landings are 36 x 24 x 3/4 and 54 x 24 x 3/4 inches.
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"The Elterwater slate planking took approximately one month to install", according to Paul Vigna, former President of the Marble Institute of America and Project Manager of Artisan Tile & Marble Co. of NJ Inc. in Somerset, NJ, the installer for the job. "There were at least four workers on site at all times, and additional installers were needed for the slate stairs. It looks like wood planking," said Vigna. "We had to go from one expansion joint to another [because of the varying tile sizes]." A thick mud set - at least 2 inches thick - was used to install the stone flooring. "The product itself is really a decent cut material," said the installer. "Burlington, with the assistance of their distributor, Stone Source, does a nice job supplying what it says it is going to. It's a really nice-looking library. It fits Princeton well." Vigna also added that the Princeton Library does an excellent job of maintaining the slate floor.
The five varieties of volcanic rocks that comprise Burlington Stone are around five hundred millions years old. The quarries and factory have been in operation for over three hundred years and, for centuries, have been specified by architects for many prestigious projects worldwide. Burlington Stone has run their company with the same level of elegance and reliability as their stone. Click for information about Burlington's Environmental Statement.
Stone Source is proud to have been named Burlington's "Export Customer of the Year" for the last five years.