Rosetta Steps, Slabs Contribute to Green Goals of Project

Date Published: 2011-08-24

Featured in Landscape Architect and Specifier News, August 2011 Issue

In 2010, a 5,800 sq. ft. home was built in the Chicago suburbs, but this wasn’t just any house. Healthy Home 2010 was designed as a prototype for sustainable, healthy homes with sustainable design both inside and out plus unique, green landscaping. Colin Taheny, Vice President of RYCO Landscaping led a design team that donated the landscape design work for the project.

“We consider the outside of Healthy Home to be one of the most important aspects of the entire home, because it all starts there,” explained Healthy Child Healthy World Education and Outreach Coordinator Victoria Di Iorio. “The goal for the landscaping was to be more than sustainable; we wanted it to promote healthy living as well.”

One of the donors that helped Healthy Home’s landscape contribute to the project’s green goals was Rosetta Hardscapes. Regional manufacturer Rosetta of Michigan donated a total of 18 steps and 1,080 sq. ft. of Grand Flagstone slabs for the project. Designers of the project chose Rosetta’s architectural precast slabs and steps because the natural stone colors and textures gave the landscaping the desired ambiance.

Using Rosetta products contributed to the LEED certification the project is seeking in several ways, including the manufacturing location’s proximity to the project, the aggregate mine’s proximity to the project, and by incorporating slag cement (an industrial by-product that would otherwise end up in a landfill).

THE DESIGN

For the walkout basement, RYCO’s design team created a patio using Rosetta Grand Flagstone slabs. These slabs have the look of natural stone with detailed texture and a random pattern, but with consistent heights and an easy-to-install pattern that Dior Builders installed. 

To provide access to the rest of the yard and the front of the house, the RYCO team designed an elegantly curving staircase using Rosetta’s Step Collection. The staircase contributed to the home’s healthy goals due to the consistent rise of each and every step. The consistent dimensions of the steps and pavers slabs also made the patio and staircase fast and easy for Dior Builders to install.

THE OUTCOME

Di Iorio leads tours of Healthy Home 2010 and said it’s always fun to show people the backyard landscaping. “The walkout basement has a wall of windows overlooking a lake, and when people walk out onto the patio and see the flagstone slabs, they say, ’This is beautiful! What kind of stone is it? Where was it quarried?’ When I tell them it’s actually isn’t natural stone, people’s mouths just drop open. 

The project is seeking USGBC LEED certification and was made possible due to generous donations and sponsorship from a multitude of sources, including builders, materials suppliers, designers, and more.  “It was a pleasure working for a great cause,” said Taheny.