Historical challenge met at Miami University

Founded in 1809, Miami University is one of the oldest public universities in the United States and its name comes from the Native American tribe that once inhabited the Miami Valley region of Ohio. In fact, the city of Oxford (the campus location) originated when the land was set aside, in 1803, for a future college.

With such a rich historical past, maintaining the authenticity of its character is of primary importance to the administration in new building development. Thus, when sourcing authentic exterior stone for three new residence buildings, the University had reasonable concerns for using any other material than the natural Kentucky Field Stone prevalent across the campus.

However, because of the contractor’s projection of significant TIME and LABOR savings using Arriscraft stone in lieu of quarried stone, Arriscraft was challenged to make a custom colour, with its man-made product, that would perfectly suit the existing, early 19th century stone already in place; particularly on Clawson Hall, Kumler Chapel and Presser Hall. Arriscraft refined its standard Fresco Building Stone colour to be a better match than the quarried stone option.

Although the material cost for the Fresco Building Stone was more than the quarried stone, the contractor attained their demanding schedule and the installation-cost was so greatly reduced that the total savings on the project was hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Project: Miami University, Western Campus Resident Housing
Location: Miami University, Oxford, Ohio
Architect: CR Architecture, Cincinnati, Ohio
Contractor: The Whiting-Turner Contracting Co. Mayfield Heights, OH
Mason Contractor: Weisbrod Masonry, Cincinnati, Ohio
Product: Fresco Building Stone, Custom Colour (80,000 square feet)
Date: 2012 to present