Blog: From the Bedrock

Why Architects Love Using Polycor’s Sustainable Natural Stone

Posted by Steven Schrenk

Sustainable building practices continue to grow in impact, as architects, builders, designers, and homeowners all seek new ways to reduce their environmental impact. Choosing sustainable building materials is an important part of this effort, and natural stone is an often-forgotten option that

Topics: Sustainable Design, Locally Quarried

The Impact of Choosing Natural Stones as a Building Material on Sustainability and the Environment

Posted by Steven Schrenk

Overview of Natural Stone Building Materials

Natural stone building materials have been used in construction for centuries, thanks to their durability and aesthetic appeal. While each type of stone has its own individual characteristics, they are all renowned for their weather resistance

Topics: Sustainable Design, Locally Quarried

Grey Soapstone Countertops keep this LA kitchen light and bright

Posted by Steve Schrenk

Award-winning lifestyle host Laurie March has home improvement in her DNA. A third-generation remodeler (her great grandparents started a roofing company), the host and creative force behind HGTV’s The House Counselor first discovered her passion for taking on a diverse range of design challenges

Topics: Soapstone, Kitchen, Soapstone sinks, Backsplashes, Alberene Soapstone, Natural Materials, Countertops, designer, Interior Design, Kitchen Design, Sustainable Design, interior

​​Facades Systems: Characteristics and Performance of Cast Stone Vs Natural Stone

Posted by Steve Schrenk

It’s essential for architects to know how the material chosen for a project will perform under a variety of conditions and circumstances. Architects are faced with many building material options, but for designs or applications that call for cladding stone, there are fundamentally two options:

Topics: Granite, Marble, Limestone, Marble and granite, American natural stone, Exterior applications, Sustainable Design, exterior, Indiana Limestone, French limestone, Stone Facades, Natural stone cladding

A Sustainable Modern Homestead Takes Shape With Alberene Soapstone

Posted by Steven Schrenk

Sustainability starts at home for Jason DeSalvo, or more accurately, at the homestead. Together with his wife Deborah, the DeSalvos wanted to build a home in New Jersey guided by their worldview and focused on principles of sustainability, energy-efficiency, and the home’s integration with the

Topics: Home Design, Material Selection, Soapstone, Kitchen, Alberene Soapstone, Natural Materials, Countertops, Interior Design, Kitchen Design, Sustainable Design, Bathroom Design

Join Us For a Virtual Quarry Tour with the Natural Stone Institute

Posted by Steven Schrenk

Adding warmth and a natural element to any architectural or hardscape design, Indiana Limestone is one of the most popular building stones - and has been for well over 150 years. Used on famous American buildings, including Rockefeller Center and the Pentagon, it's hard to imagine life without it.

Topics: Sustainable Design, Indiana Limestone, Locally Quarried

It's All Here: Leverage Polycor's Made in America Supply Chain

Posted by Steven Schrenk

Patience may be a virtue, but after waiting months or more, you can’t blame even the most patient suppliers and shoppers for throwing their hands up in frustration as they wait for deliveries of stone that seems like it will never come.

Topics: Sustainable Design

New York City’s Hottest Architecture Uses Modern Stone Wall Cladding

Posted by Steven Schrenk

The lobbies of New York’s most exciting new buildings and their wall cladding are dressed in Indiana Limestone, the same stone used to build New York in its Golden Age. 

Whether walking by one of these iconic buildings, or entering into one of their grand lobbies, you feel transported in time,

Topics: Architecture & Design Trends, Sustainable Design, Indiana Limestone

A Return To Form: The Renaissance Of Structural Stone

Posted by Steven Schrenk

For millennia, natural stone has been used as the primary structural material for construction projects around the world, and the future looks remarkably like that past. The modern building industry is increasingly choosing natural stone materials for their projects due to their proven, trusted

Topics: Material Selection, Architecture & Design Trends, Sustainable Design, Natural stone cladding

Striking A Balance Between Old And New With American Black Granite

Posted by Steven Schrenk

AMERICAN BLACK® granite is tied to the culture of Pennsylvania, as well as its history, in fact, it’s tied to the history of the United States itself. From Valley Forge, to the nations’ first capital, Philadelphia, and historic Gettysburg, you’ll find American Black® granite. Monuments, mosaics,

Topics: American natural stone, American black granite, Sustainable Design, buy local

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