Case Studies

Imagine a high-end walkout natural stone rooftop terrace complete with granite planters, granite benches, stone mosaics, and a water feature. Now imagine installing all of this on top of a two-story office building in the bustling Lover’s Lane corridor of Dallas, Texas.

That was the challenge facing David Hocker and Dylan Stewart at Hocker Design, the Dallas-based landscape architecture firm tapped to bring this uniquely intricate project to life.

“We started by showing the client some really interesting Japanese masonry techniques for inspiration, particularly from castle walls,” Stewart said. “And he loved them so much the project evolved from a simple wood deck to a much more complex, stone-forward design.”

The result is a lushly layered jewel-box courtyard space perfect for relaxing, reflecting, or entertaining. On one side, a raised planter lined with a stone mosaic surrounds a granite bench. On the other, a second raised planter is aproned with a water feature that uses waterjet-cut stone. The stone is a mix of Coldspring Mesabi Black^® and Charcoal Black^® granite, along with rougher boulders also quarried by Coldspring.

“This project is really an expression of everything Coldspring can do,” Stewart said. “The Mesabi Black really sparkles in the sun with its quartz, and the Charcoal Black adds some warmth to make everything pop, even though it’s still a dark granite. It is definitely a one-of-a-kind project.”

Specifically, this natural stone rooftop terrace involves 2,270 square feet of 5cm indoor and outdoor paving (28 tons); 190 square feet of benches and walls (25 tons); and 30 square feet of water feature (5 tons). Each element is a blend of machine-cut and rough-hewn granites. None of the details are typical for a second-floor installation in a small office building. As a result, Stewart had to coordinate early and often with a structural engineer, the mason from stone masonry contractor Dee Brown, Inc., and the Coldspring team.

“In my many projects with Coldspring, they’re always very good about planning and logistics, especially when it comes to the structural implications of the weight of the stone,” Stewart said. “As you can imagine, there were a lot of details to think through in terms of the office space below as well as the waterproofing considerations, which all had to be hidden from sight.”

Stewart and the Hocker Design team came up with a plan for the ground plane of the natural stone rooftop terrace, which eventually extended throughout the interior office space. The client also became deeply involved as the project progressed, even visiting the Coldspring facility to hand-select stone and suggest subtle design refinements on the fly.

“Working with Coldspring, we used the waterjet-cut Mesabi Black granite slabs in the floor, but then left pockets open for contrast,” Stewart said. “Coldspring sent five-centimeter-thick slabs of the charcoal granite, which our mason broke up like a piece of glass and used to fill in the gaps for a mosaic effect. We literally combed through the broken pieces to find the best fragments.”

The water feature is intentionally subtle, with a clean, curvilinear form with a generous bullnose that wraps around the perimeter. The water flows smoothly over the edge and clings to the stone’s surface as it descends, creating a calm, tranquil effect. Coldspring was directly involved in finessing exactly how the water would flow down, sending a specialist to the project site who ran multiple tests — using a hose in the middle of winter — to identify and correct any dry spots in the flow before placement was finalized.

The serenity of the water feature provides a distinct contrast to the opposing bench seating area, which involves a different type of mosaic using rough-hewn, rubble-like stones that were provided by Coldspring and then hand-selected by the mason. These stones are a byproduct of the granite coring process that are often tumbled down to make a gravel infill product. In this case, however, they offered the ideal complement to the smooth, machine-cut granite.

“What I love about working with Coldspring is they provide amazingly detailed shop drawings,” Stewart said. “It gives all of us on the project the confidence that everything will fit together as intended. That’s critical when you’re doing on-site fabrication. We know their stone will be spot-on with eighth-of-an-inch tolerances, which is very tight considering the size of the stone.”

Stewart takes great pride that the finished piece is generating strong interest and getting used to its potential.

“The client has fully embraced this terrace as an extension of both his personal and professional life, which is very rewarding to see,” Stewart said. “It has become a dynamic hub for everything from business meetings to social gatherings, and it never fails to spark conversation. It is a great example of how intentional, design-driven thinking can transform the everyday into something exceptional.”