From Grad School Idea to Green Countertop Business

Oct 21st

From Grad School Idea to Green Countertop Business

Written by faith

Watch a video about Squak Mountain.

Recently I met Amee Quiriconi at the Green Peer table lunch I attend monthly with other Seattle designers. But I was already familiar with her unique countertop product as I used it in the shared bathroom of the Seattle Street of Dreams 2006 home I designed, Casa Montecito.

From graduate school paper to reality, the story of how Squak Mountain Stone™ came to be is an exciting story. Working to complete her masters degree in 2003, she prepared an economics paper requiring the students to develop a product or service that would could benefit their local economy. Specifically, find something in their community that is purchased from someone outside of that community and then develop a “substitute” for that item that could be made and sold within the local economy.

Employing her knowledge in engineering, construction and research, Amee created a unique new product called Squak Mountain Stone™.

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Amee started with paper that couldn’t be recycled because it was crosscut by shredders, then added portland cement, crushed glass and coal fly ash from an electric plant in her home state of Washington. After stirring, grinding and polishing samples for 18 months, she hit upon a way to make the hand-cast slabs rock hard. “It’s a recycled material that replaces real stones that have to be quarried out of mountains.” Squak Mountain Stone resembles soapstone or limestones. Learn more about it here.

Closeup view of Squak Mountain

Vanity counter in Latte

Posted in Green Design | Tags: countertop, Green Design, Squak Mountain Stone

Gina Colmann

Thanks for your article. I think than over the last 10 years granite countertops have become popular with homeowners, after first being popular with designers for decades. Granite is available in hundreds of colors, from various shades of white to browns, reds, greens, blues, and black. The most popular tones are brown and beige.

Regards, Gina
Justin

Every Squak Mountain Stone concrete slab is hand-finished so it has a unique character similar to that of natural stones such as marble, travertine, and limestone. Squak Mountain Stone is generally used in kitchens and bathrooms as a counter top, table top or vanity top. If you haven’t seen the “new” Squak Mountain stone you really don’t know what you are missing out on! Tiger Mountain Innovations, LLC has recently made some great product improvements to their Squak Mountain Stone product. The coal fly-ash previously contained in the material has been substituted out with more recycled glass. Portland cement was substituted for low-carbon cement over 2 years ago as low-carbon cement releases much less co2 into the atmosphere during the manufacturing process. Furthermore, the slabs are available in a nominal 56″x96″ size at 1-3/8″ thickness. Slabs are gauged on the backside to ensure consistent thickness and ease of seaming for fabricators. A state-of-the-art vibration technology is used to minimize pinholes and give a more consistent character from slab to slab.