SCOTTSDALE, AZ - Managed by Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc., the new Westin Kierland Resort and Spa recently opened its doors, at 120 feet tall. Inside the resort, the waterjet capabilities of Precision H2O are on display in the elevator lobby and inside the elevator cabs. Precision H2O made the intricate stone cuts necessary to fabricate the lobby's classic rug design, created by Barry Design Associates, Inc. of California.

Original plans for the hotel's flooring called for an actual wool rug to be placed over stone tiles. However, because the thickness of a wool rug would cause a traffic safety hazard and present additional maintenance issues, waterjet technology was used to transform the rug design into natural stone. Impex Development, Inc. of Seattle, WA, and the Woodbine Southwest Corp. installed the waterjet-cut stone designs.

Using AutoCad, Precision H2O took the line drawing provided by Barry Design and transferred it into a scaled drawing that was compatible with the field tile's 12 -x 12-inch format. The material was cut so it maximized the yield from the supplied product and was then fabricated into sections that maintained the integrity of the original rug design. Each piece was carefully cut, labeled and mapped for easy installation, according to the company.

For this project, stones used were Emperador Brown marble, Absolute Black granite and Yellow Ramone limestone, for the stone medallion's flower-like pattern. The black bead portion of the rug medallion used Absolute Black granite.