Hannaford Supermarkets, Augusta, Maine
“Not only our stone, but the brick and even the gypsum board were regional materials,” Gray says. “The gypsum board has a high recycled content, and it was still about the same price as other gypsum board just because there’s a bigger demand out there. It’s really encouraging.”
Still, the selection of the stone was a collaborative effort.
“We took a lot of time in selecting the stone,” says Gray. “We searched out many different manufacturers, quarries and distributors and still weren’t quite comfortable. Then, we began working with the mason, and he understood the look we wanted. With him we were able to put together the final look.”
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The mason chosen for the job was no stranger to Hannaford. The Augusta store was the fourth project where the company and New Gloucester, Maine-based Phoenix Associates (which also did the project’s brick and block work) worked together.
“Prior to this, the stores were all pretty similar,” says Phoenix’s Vinal Zegouros. “This is a new design that’s real green, and so they used a lot of materials here that are atypical. For one thing, the stone is all natural, which is unlike a lot of their stores.”
Zegouros says that when he was hired for the project, a stone had already been selected However, he found it difficult to put the stone together in mockups and make it work with the rest of the aesthetics.
Doing his own research, Zegouros contacted Warrensburg, N.Y.-based Champlain Stone Ltd. about its buff-colored South Bay Quartzite. Zegouros was familiar with Champlain, having used another of its stones on another project; Champlain was also familiar with the Hannaford project.
“Back in 2007, one of our Maine dealers had contacted us about the project, and we had provided them with samples of our American Granite and Van Tassell Granite,” says Champlain’s Katie Haynes. “However, they had originally approved a grayish granite from another company.”
“I thought this was a perfect fit, so I did a dry mockup,” Zegouros says. “The design team came to the shop, and they really liked it. They felt it was a perfect match.”
A NATURAL ELEMENT
Once the stone was approved, the process was fairly straightforward, both Zegouros and Haynes say.
“Our quarry is within the necessary region to be qualified as green for this project,” says Haynes. “Once we learned they were looking for a full-bed stone for the exterior and looking for a thin-sawn material for the interior, we partnered to determine quantities needed and spoke about application.”
“The exterior is about 1,300 ft² of full-wall veneer,” says Zegouros. “There are a couple low-wall runs that go up 4’-8’, and then there’s a precast sill that breaks up to the next run of bricks. The right side has one tall wall that goes up two-and-a-half stories into a large atrium. It’s really quite dramatic.”