The language of stone: Stone Curators

“People love stone” says Gavin Johnston, founder of Stone Curators. He should know, his opinion is one based on years of working with likeminded and appreciative clients who have tasked Gavin with finding exactly the right stone for their projects.

Gavin describes himself as a ‘stone hunter’ and there is a touch of Indiana Jones about the Massachusetts based company owner; part entrepreneur, part adventurer who travels the world looking for stone to repurpose. The company prides itself on finding the perfect stone to fit their growing community of clients’ aesthetic vision for ventures including building facades and exterior landscapes.

Gavin Johnston, founder of Stone Curators. Image credit, Stone Curators

The story starts with stone

Gavin grew up interested in design and the outdoors, but his stone ‘epiphany’ came when his mother bought a derelict barn in northern Maine with the intention of dismantling the stone structure to transport it to the coast to rebuild as a home.

Coopted by his mother into the adventure, Gavin travelled to see the barn, part of an old farmstead that hadn’t been farmed for 60 years. The site revealed not only the barn with its old foundation stones but all the stones that remained from other buildings that had previously burned down. The landowners, keen to take the barn down to facilitate a change in taxes, gave Gavin’s mother the barn for free alongside all the other stones.

Large stones being prepared for transport. Image credit, Stone Curators

Identifying the potential for a business started Gavin on the path of trying to learn about stone and specifically reclaimed stone. He discovered that industrial cities around Boston and New England would see old mill buildings taken down or cobbles and old curb stones lifted to renew streets, leaving the stone as waste, with no recognised value. Understanding the inherent beauty of this stone, Gavin realised there was an opportunity to create a business focused on reuse.

The Stone Curators was founded eight years ago when Gavin was joined by Mark Jadkowski who he had worked with previously on a digital mapping business where they had developed touch screen navigation pre-iPhone. Gavin viewed the business from a technology standpoint, recognising the need to combine a data set of good quality images with software to create an accessible package. Mark bought a solid technical approach, and the business concentrated on creating a database of stone for potential specifiers.

The art of stone hunting

Stone Curators now work globally, sourcing stone from around the world to sell across the States. The work takes dedication, but it’s clearly a mission that Gavin relishes. He often gets people saying ‘wait, that's your job?’ in response to a role that requires travelling to far-flung places on the hunt for stone. Stone Curators pride themselves on being passionate about stone, working closely with skilled craftsmen and specifiers who share that passion. They state they are ‘stone agnostic’, looking at each project individually to find the right approach. This agnostic stance means Gavin keeps an open mind on finding stone, but he references reclaimed Belgian cobbles, Italian and German limestones as well as Portuguese granites as being popular choices for clients.

The importance of provenance

Gavin acknowledges our human connection to stone as one of the oldest building materials. Telling the story of their stone plays an important part in the success of Stone Curators offer. An example of this connection to provenance features the redevelopment of a sea wall on Providence harbor in Rhode Island, a commercial harbour constructed from large granite blocks that had come from a now defunct nearby quarry in Rockport, Massachusetts. They were able to purchase the stone alongside the architectural drawings from the original set of piers making a compelling story for clients using this unique stone for domestic projects.

Gavin Johnston in a defunct quarry. Image credit, Stone Curators

Ancient geology meets new technology

Embracing technology remains a key driver for the business with building a data resource to show textures and colours at high quality an important aspect of the business that will keep growing. Gavin cites the relationship with Architextures as a natural part of this progression, recognising the importance of making 3D models as a medium to present visual stone data as a valuable tool to enable the confident specification of their stone. The Stone Curators ‘stone designer’ tool allows for different kinds of veneers to be tested in renderings to ensure the customer gets exactly what they want. The company’s online visualiser tool includes options to apply different coloured stone surfaces with the ability to change design patterns and joint styles for facades and landscaping projects.

Advances in technology are aiding all aspects of the process, and the Stone Curators work alongside fabricators who are using new technologies to reduce labour time on cutting, splitting and processing the stone. CNC machines are enabling increasingly detailed work and water jet technology allows stone to be cut, pre-fitted and labeled for assembly on site.

Finding the right stone

Reclaimed Footworn Granite Planks. Image credit, Stone curators

The Stone Curators work on complex, large-scale projects with a clientele including discerning high net worth individuals who want something uniquely special for their homes. The look of the stone is a powerful pull for clients, with stone selection a highly personal choice. A recent project for a pool house and deck saw the specification of stone from a quarry outside of Barcelona chosen by the client for its unique caramel color. Anticipating and understanding these trends forms the ‘curator’ aspect of the Stone Curators business. Building knowledge and resources to identify moves in the market and positioning themselves as thought leaders is important to them.

Quarried North American bluestone natural stone from New York. Image credit, Stone Curators

The market has shifted, in part due to the success of the Stone Curators. Stone is no longer seen as a waste material and gone are the days of free stone. They are using their knowledge of stone in inventive ways; Pietra Italia, an Italian gneiss stone from the Alps is the Stone Curators first ‘stone of the year’. Recognised for its warm grey colour with touches of brown, rust, pinks and purples and cream tones, it’s a stone that marries up very well with reclaimed stone from New England.

Reclaimed Granite Bridge Block Seating and Retaining Wall. Image credit, Stone Curators

The language of stone

Stone Curator’s love of stone is evident, and they have built an engaged global network of fellow stone lovers. On a recent trip to Germany, Gavin met with a reclaimed stone supplier and despite a total lack of German and a corresponding lack of English on the part of the supplier, they were able with the help of a little translating, to identify each other as fellow stone hunters. Speaking the shared language of reclaimed stone, they had a great time recounting their experience of the process, from the more esoteric aspects of stone hunting to the fun of finding a big pile of old cobbles. Before he knew it, three hours had passed in a joyful exchange of stone stories. As Gavin notes; “it’s fun to speak stone”.

Stone Curators greatest accomplishment - alongside ensuring reclaimed stone is rightly recognised as a beautiful and precious material resource - is the creation of a stone language that we can all share in.

Vanessa Norwood is a curator and consultant for the built environment advocating for low-carbon architecture and materials.