And The Award Goes To: QuarryHouse

Congratulations to COUPAR client QuarryHouse for winning the prestigious Julia Morgan Awards in Craftmanship & Artisanship for 2022. It is all the more cause for celebration as The Institute of Classical Architecture and Art Northern California Chapter needed to cancel the biennale event in 2020 due to the COVID crisis. Now winners and their peers will gather in Beaus Arts splendor on June 7th for the Awards Ceremony at  The Green Room in San Francisco to recognize contemporary architects, designers, artisans, builders, and patrons while honoring Bay Area architect and classicist Julia Morgan's legacy. 

QuarryHouse won for their project Pacific Heights Palazzo, an Italian Renaissance-style villa designed in 1927 for an industrialist. After a businessman purchased the 6,848 sq ft estate in 2012, it took eight years to restore and renovate it. The dream team who worked on the residence included Tucker & Marks Design, Skruman Architects,  Level 10 Construction, Zeterre Landscape Architecture,  and a village of artisans. QuarryHouse's involvement began with the Grand Entry, where an intarsia marble floor features Oro Toscano medallions etched with Emperador Medium on a field of Botticino Classico.

From the villa's entry, a lyrical three-story Botticino Classico marble staircase winds ribbon-like up through the spine of the building. Because the veining needed to match throughout, QuarryHouse spent over a year sourcing marble blocks. They worked with their Italian partner companies, CITCO and QuarryHouse Atelier Verona, on the specifications. A 3D model of the staircase in the CATIA program addressed the challenges of fabricating large stone pieces with tight flowing turns. The model allowed the US and Italian teams to coordinate the marble with the staircase's massive steel frame.

One of the experts on 3D scanning technology came to San Francisco from the University of Bologna to scan the steel structure before finalizing the stone model. The Verona partners used CNC machinery to fabricate each marble piece to exact tolerances. Before leaving the workshop, the team scanned the finished stone to ensure that the hundreds of components fit. These technologies allowed QuarryHouse to work to a tolerance of 1/32nd on many of the visible joints. Each baluster in the staircase was post-tensioned to make them earthquake-resistant. On-site, the team installed the stairs precisely.

QuarryHouse produced stonework throughout the public and private spaces of the estate. In the subterranean Greco Roman-influenced Grotto and Pool, they installed Navona Travertine. Outside, they collaborated with Atlantide Marmi to carve decorative elements from Talla Marble for the Italianate Garden. A dramatic fountain of intertwined dolphins centers the courtyard. The stonemasons utilized Travertino Noce for the foundation for the paving, walls, and stairs. Scala del Pesce cobblestone in Golden Granite covers the driveway and motor court. This modern-day masterpiece is deserving of an award for Craftsmanship & Artisanship.