Tejas Textures Stone SWEEPS the Design Awards

The Masonry Veneer Manufacturers Association held its first annual design competition to showcase professionals who are setting trends by featuring Manufactured Stone Veneer on their projects.

The Masonry Veneer Manufacturers Association <MVMA> was organized to represent the manufactured stone veneer industry’s producers and suppliers. All of the country’s most prominent manufactured stone companies such as Tejas Stone, Cultured Stone, Eldorado Stone, Dutch Quality, etc. are all members of the organization.

All members were asked to submit projects that were completed between January 1, 2009, and April 30, 2010. Categories for the awards included Residential, Commercial, Remodel, New Construction, and Hardscapes. There were four winning honors ranging from Bronze to Diamond.

Tejas Textured Stone by Veneerstone brought home more total awards then any other participating manufacturer!

Dan Mulhern, President of Tejas Textured Stone was on hand at the annual <MVMA> meeting in St Louis on June 7, 2010 to accept the awards for Tejas. He reports this was “a very proud moment for our company. We are honored to be recognized so highly among our peers”

Justin Whitman, Chairman for the MVMA communications committee and Director of Sales & Marketing for Tejas was also on hand. Justin commented “We are particularly pleased for our architects and contractors that have made this event so successful for our company.”

A listing of the First place (Diamond) winners can be found on the MVMA website: www.masonryveneer.org/news.html

Firemen who make up the Firefighters of Tampa Bay Pipes & Drums band lead the procession through the streets from the old fire station to the new state of the art facility.

The new facility encompasses three buildings all connected in a “campus-style layout” Tejas Stone by Veneerstone was used on the project on all three buildings.

Winter Haven Fire Safety Facility

Richard McCree, chairman of the Orlando-based McCree General Contractors and Architects, described the complex as “a great facility.” He stated the company rarely has an opportunity to work with a city that so enthusiastically embraces the LEED concept – Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, a process of rating efficient buildings by the U.S. Green Building Council. “The subcontractors and vendors we used in Winter Haven did a great job,” McCree said.

Use of Tejas Textured Stone’s thin brick and manufactured stone contributed LEED points, helping the project achieve GOLD certification -  a level of certification only surpassed by Platinum.

Tejas Textured Stone by Veneerstone is committed to green building. They are an active member of the US Green Building Council and consistently look for ways to produce and supply building products that lessen the impact on our environment.

The buildings at the new fire safety facility feature both Tejas Stone’s stackstone as well as manufactured thin brick. Both were hand selected by the McCree’s design staff to coordinate well together.

This facility did not have your typical ribbon cutting ceremony, instead city officials jumped on the back of truck & ladder #1 as Fire Chief Tony Jackson drove the truck through the gold ribbon that stretched across one bay of the fire station and parked the truck it in its beautiful new home.

Extreme Home Makeover Featuring Tejas Textured Stone

Tejas Textured Stone by Veneerstone was used once again on an Extreme Makeover Home Edition project. The most recent home was constructed for the Williams Family of Pine Mountain Valley, Georgia. This family is so deserving and inspirational that you may already know Sandra Bullock’s acedamy award winning movie “The Blind Side” was based on their extraordinary story !!

The youngest member of the Williams family;  Jacob, has a disease that causes paralysis from the waist down. The father of the family, Jeremy, was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease two years ago. Jeremy has not let the disease slow him down. He still coaches a high school football team with a perfect 11-0 record !

Surprise guests featured on the episode included Demi Lovato, Wilmer Valderrama, and the ESPN football analyst team.

Tejas Stone by Pavestone provided their very popular manufactured stone; stack stone hickory for use throughout the exterior of the newly constructed home. Tejas Textured Stone is proud to have had the opportunity to work with ABC’s Extreme Makeover Home Edition once again and hopes the Williams family will enjoy their beautiful new home for decades to come !

The Williams family are certainly an inspiration to us all !! Welcome home, Williams family !!

Fort Worth Center for Rehabilitation

Skilled Nursing facilities envisioned a 62,000 SF, 136-bed, state-of-the-art skilled nursing facility that could blend hi-tech and contemporary with a natural design.

Tejas Textured Stone by Veneerstone help them achieve this goal by providing their New style, Pacific Ledge to the project. It was used extensively throughout the main floor of the building and on the tower. Tejas worked with the architect & Baker-Triangle Plastering to customize a stone color to coordinate with colors that had already been selected for the trim, roof, etc.

Use of Tejas Stone’s manufactured stone was also able to help contribute LEED points; as a goal of the owner was to build a LEED certified building that would blend well into its’ environment.

Skilled Nursing's new Fort Worth Hospital

At the Fort Worth facility, seventy of the semi-private and private rooms will be dedicated to skilled nursing’s Express Recovery™ program. Express Recovery™ offers a truly innovative concept in post-acute care, an enhanced level of service that bridges the gap from hospital to home and promotes faster healing.

Photos courtesy of Luminarte Design Studios

Staircase Before & After Manufactured Stone

Professional remodelers & designers all over the country are discovering that a small investment in manufactured stone can create dramatically different looks on both interiors & exteriors.

If you are a fan of some of the DIY or “home renovation” shows, you have probably noticed that manufactured stone has become extremely popular. Tejas Stone has been used on many of these shows including “Extreme Home Makeover” in two recent episodes.

Real estate studies have also proven that the value added by manufactured stone has one of the greatest returns on investment you can get when it comes to home renovations.

Tejas Stone adds visual interest and increases the perceived value of your home. A beautifully stoned entrance like the one shown here gives people evidence of additional quality built into the home and thus translates to perceived higher values.

Entry Before & After Manufactured Stone

Because of its lighter weight & thin veneer, Tejas Stone’s Manufactured Stone can be added to most areas without the extra reinforcing that would need to occur with natural stone.

The project shown here was completed by professional remodelers, Rock Your House. Photos courtesy of Luminarte Design.

Tejas Stone by Pavestone’s new continuing education program provides Architects & Designers with valuable learning credits.

Continuing education units (CEUs) are required over a specific period of time by various professional organizations and local jurisdictions.

The same Tejas Stone program can be presented to groups that want credit under both AIA as well as IDCEC (ASID, IIDA, IDA, IDC)

Continuing Education credits for both AIA & IDCEC !

The Tejas program provides both (HSW) Health, Safety, & Welfare AND (SD)Sustainability Design credit under AIA !! The IDCEC accreditation includes Health, Safety, & Welfare credits. 

Sales professionals from Tejas Stone present many lunch & learns across the country to Architectural & Design firms wishing to keep up with the latest information available from the industry.

Some of the topics covered by the Tejas course, ”Manufactured Stone applications for the Building & Design Industry” are:

 What is Manufactured Stone?  Where can Manufactured Stone be used?  What are the benefits of Manufactured Stone?  Are there special installation considerations?  How is it made? How do you recognize quality manufactured Stone? Architectural ideas and examples.

To schedule a lunch & learn in your office, please contact Tejas Stone by Veneerstone at 866.578.5616

Tejas Stone by Veneerstone has always carried thin brick in their line up of manufactured stone. Tejas officials have stated that “thin brick has always been popular for interior use, especially in restaurants”.

So their Antique brick has always been a popular choice as most clients have wanted smaller (queen sized bricks) with a “tumbled or aged” look, but as the use of thin brick has grown, so has the desire for larger profiles that mimic king size brick used for exteriors.

6 story Hotel featuring Tejas Thin Brick

More and more building owners, architects and designers have realized that substantial savings can be achieved when choosing thin brick over full size brick. The installation cost can be reduced, as can foundation and wall cost as well because the lighter weight product does not require as much concrete and steel to support it.

Thin brick is also GREEN as up to 80% less product is used (over full size brick)….up to 80% fewer trucks are needed to transport the product and thin brick does not need to be hard-fired like full size clay brick, thus natural gas is not used to produce the product ! Not only is thin brick’s “carbon footprint” smaller, but It also makes the buildings footprint smaller by reducing wall thickness by 2-3 inches. This could result in savings in property taxes as well !

Tejas Stone by Pavestone has added many new colors to their line up of King Sized thin brick as well. Pictured above are Winterblend, Oaks Blend, Red w/Blk, and City Blend. Red w/blk is featured on the 6-story hotel with Tejas Stone’s thin brick !

Ashton Woods Homes has opened a new Dallas-Ft Worth Design Center in Coppell, Texas. The massive new design center showcases all the different finish materials available to their home buyers all in one beautifully appointed location.

The space is nearly 10,000 SF and allows homeowners to see various vignettes of kitchens, closets, bathrooms, even outdoor living spaces.

The professionally designed spaces allow their home buyers to visualize everything from different brick and stone to various styles of lighting, carpet, plumbing fixtures, etc.

Tejas Textured Stone is proud to be featured at the new design center. Many of Tejas’ most popular colors & styles have been installed to allow home buyers to see what they would look like in their future homes.

Thin Brick, Limestone, Imperial Stack, Austin Stone, and Ledgestone are all featured throughout the design center.

The stone profiles are featured in areas that many home buyers would not normally think of using manufactured stone in – bedrooms, entries, staircases,  & under kitchen breakfast bars – just to name a few.

The new design center is centrally located in Coppell just off of Hwy 121 near MacArthur. 

Ashton Woods home buyers make their selections here and are able to place orders through Tejas’ distributor, Acme Brick.

Thin Brick in Restaurants

Restaurants from coast to coast have made Tejas Stone’s thin brick lines consistently one of their best-sellers !

Tejas Stone by Veneerstone offers two sizes of thin brick. A king-sized (wire-cut style) thin brick which is popular for larger building exteriors, but they also carry a smaller queen-sized which has become a favorite for restaurant interiors.

The smaller size is available in both modular and antique. The antique has proven to be the most popular, as restaurants enjoy the warmth and old world style of the antique thin brick.

Some restaurants using Tejas thin brick include, Corner Bakery Cafe, with locations throughout the country, Punk’s Backyard Grill in Anapolis, MD., and Oliveto’s Italian Bistro with locations throughout the southwest.

Well known and respected restaurant designer Kathy Diamond-Ulepic of Kathy Diamond Design Associates in Scottsdale, Ariz., has always been a big fan of using thin brick on restaurant interiors.  She has been the lead designer on many new concept restaurants over the last couple of years.

Tejas Textured Stone by Pavestone is proud to be featured in these fine restaurants !

Look for our NEW king sized thin brick to be featured on our blog and website soon !

In an effort to captilize on sales, The world’s largest specialty coffee chain, Starbucks coffee has continued to add drive-thru windows at as many locations as possible.

Starbucks featuring Tejas Manufactured Stone

Company officials have reported that the emphasis on drive-thrus have also been “driven” <pun-intended> by the company’s expansion to the suburbs.

Many years ago, Starbucks was a standard fixture in inner-city locations and drive-thru opportunities were much more rare. As the company began opening more and more suburban stores, the majority of new stores began to include drive-thrus.

Tejas Stone by Veneerstone is proud to be featured on many Starbucks locations. The drystack application of Stackstone has been a popular choice of Starbucks. The attached picture shows one location that used Tejas Stone’s Texas Cream Stackstone.

Have you used a Starbucks drive-thru recently, What is your favorite Starbuck’s treat?  Comment below and let us know.