The Milken Center for the Advancement of the American Dream (MCAAD) is one of Washington, D.C.’s newest museum destinations, dedicated to exploring the ideals, opportunities, and stories that define the American Dream through immersive and interactive exhibits. The museum occupies two National Register–listed former bank buildings, prominently located across from the White House and the U.S. Treasury, along with a third historic structure. Select historic interior elements were removed, salvaged, restored and re-installed along with new stone elements, while the primary stone facades of all three buildings were preserved.

Rugo Stone was engaged early in the design process in 2021 by Shalom Baranes Associates to consult on all stone-related aspects of the project. The Rugo team identified the original historic marble types, researched matching sources, and established direct relationships with quarries to supply new material consistent with the original design.

Rugo Stone’s scope included the removal, salvaging, restoration, and reinstallation of approximately 30,000 square feet of interior paving, steps, door & window casings, along with additional exterior paving on pedestals at the 12th floor Rooftop. Napolean Gray and Calacatta Lincoln marble were used for the lobby floors to match existing and added floor areas, both are stones quarried domestically in the US. Aurisina Fiorito, Bois de Jordan and Botticino Classico marbles were used for the wainscot and wall panels. In the lower level our team installed a waterjet cut, mosaic floor with various, colored marbles. The floor was made with various geometric shapes and they were all interconnected, so precision was key in execution of the design. Precision fabrication, quality control and dry lay review in the shop, along with extensive field measurements helped Rugo team achieve this grand floor installation.

Prior to demolition of stone elements, Rugo team developed extensive procedures detailing every step of the stone salvage process. Each stone piece, many of them massive, was photographed, numbered, and documented for exact location and orientation. Precise as-built measurements were recorded to ensure accurate reinstallation.

Following extensive documentation, stones were carefully removed and packed in custom wooden crates. Materials requiring restoration were shipped to Rugo Stone’s shop, while stones needing no treatment were stored at Grunley Construction’s warehouse. In parallel, Rugo Stone leased a warehouse in Baltimore to receive, store, and distribute new stone materials for the project.

Stone restoration included specialized stain-removal treatments, spot repairs, and the correction of chips, dings, and surface damage, all while preserving the historic patina. Repairs were performed both in situ as well as at Rugo Stone’s facility, depending on the condition and requirements of each stone.

Reinstallation followed a rigorously controlled process guided by salvaged drawings, pre-demolition benchmarks, and documented joint dimensions and profiles. Each stone was returned to its original location, maintaining their original orientation. Final patching and comprehensive cleaning were completed after installation to ensure a seamless, finished appearance. All the stones for the project were drylaid at the factories, reviewed and approved by the architect and owner prior to shipping. In cases where the old stone elements were used along with new stones, the new stones were shipped to the warehouse where the salvaged stones were stored, then drylaid to ensure that alignments were met perfectly and the dimensions were accurate, then reviewed and approved prior to shipping to the job site.

The project was completed on schedule, with zero safety incidents, reflecting Rugo Stone’s commitment to meticulous planning, craftsmanship, and jobsite safety. The MCAAD project stands as a compelling example of the sustainable reuse of natural stone and demonstrates the enduring versatility and longevity of stone within the built environment.

Location: Washington, DC
Completion Date: 2025
Owner: The Milken Institute
Architect:  Shalom Baranes Associates
Size:  30,000 Sqft
General Contractor: Grunley Construction Company, Inc.
Services Performed: Design consultation, stone sourcing, engineering, CNC & Waterjet fabrication, Installation

The Jewish Leadership Academy in Miami set out to create a Modern Orthodox learning environment for middle and upper school students, they focused on weaving together faith, scholarship, and a tangible sense of connection to Israel. Materiality proved central to that vision. The architects selected Jerusalem Gold Limestone, a stone quarried in the South of Israel in the Negev Desert. Rugo Stone was brought on board early in the design phase by Gensler the project architect to consult and assist with the stone specifications and anchorage design.

The architect incorporated this stone throughout the campus, but most prominent were the installations on two monumental radial feature walls: one at the school’s central study hall, or beit midrash, and the other anchoring the main entrance façade. Each wall measures approximately 41 feet wide by 18 feet tall and one foot thick. The exterior wall was clad in 2″ thick Jerusalem Gold limestone panels, while the interior wall used 1-1/4″ thick panels. Both walls were finished with a striking mix of honed and splitface textures, creating a tactile and visual richness. In addition to the two feature walls, Jerusalem Gold Limestone with honed finishes was used extensively on secondary interior and exterior wall surfaces, reinforcing the material theme.

Rugo team performed this project with inhouse workforce, the field crews traveled to Miami, stayed there for the entire duration and completed the project. Installing the stone panels and maintaining the alignments was a great challenge but the team executed the job perfectly.

The project was completed on time and the client expressed great satisfaction with the final result—an elegant and meaningful environment that reflects both tradition and modernity.

Location: Miami, FL
Completion Date: 2024
Owner:  ADES Family Foundation
Architect: Gensler
General Contractor: Pirtle Construction Company
Size:  7,666 sqft
Services Performed: Design, Fabricate, supply and Install splitface limestone

The Trump International Hotel is in the Old Post Office Pavilion, one of Washington D.C.’s most historically valued buildings. Completed in 1899, the building served as a postal sorting facility until 1914. After this date the building became an office building, surviving 2 major developments planned for the area which threated the destruction of the building.

Creating a modern 5-star hotel in an historical structure such as the Old Post Office, with the intent of preserving the historic value of the exterior and interior was a challenge that the architect and the designer have successfully overcome.

Rugo stone was contracted for furnish & install all of the new natural stone intended for the Hotel by the designer.

The stone in each guest room and public space bathrooms of the hotel were extremely well blended. A careful stone selection of the premium Statuario marble complemented with an accent color of Rubicon dark grey marble gave an exquisite composition. Each unit and public space bathroom was factory dry-lay and inspected, and to ensure all material was installed without any inaccuracy – the crating had to be performed by unit. The unit baths consisted of 18 x 18” tile, with custom base of ¾”, sills, and triple laminated vanity tops. Rugo Stone’s crews have completed 270 guestroom bathrooms in record time.
All the primary public space bathrooms are clad and paved in Statuario and Emperador marble. The secondary public space baths and locker rooms are clad in porcelain tile with Absolute Black granite vanities.

The museum corridors are paved in a special type of porcelain tile, which resembles Arabescato marble, but offers a higher slip resistance and wearing pattern due to the high volume of tourists.
The Cortile area (the main public lobby of the Hotel) measures 139’ x 98’. The Cortile floor is paved in large format, custom cut, lustrous Classic Emperador Dark marble. The desired and mandated by the Owner marble was very challenging to procure and represented only 5% of the quarry production. The entire Cortile was also factory dry-lay and blended to ensure complete Owner satisfaction. Rugo also floated over 10,000 sq. ft. of structural slab fill to accommodate the new marble, and new carpet infill areas. The main lobby bar was fabricated from vanilla White onyx with an end matching vein pattern and delicate half bullnose epoxy leading edge. The Cortile also features the grand stair that was cladded in new Emperador marble treads, risers, and large format landing pieces also in matching Emperador Brown marble.

Opposite the main bar is the BLT Prime restaurant, which features a grand wall of 8’-6” tall single piece Calacatta Grey marble with a slip matched pattern. The rest of the space is completed with flueri cut Calacatta Grey marble flooring, a grand central stair case, bar tops, and server tops throughout the entire restaurant space. This crisp modern contrast, provides a distinct transition from the Cortile public space into the BLT space, where over 7,500 sq. ft. of marble was used.

The façade of the Annex Building Entry is clad with back-lit pure white onyx panels, laminated to 2 layers of heat strengthened Low-E Glass. This very complex structurally glazed wall has a hurricane proof inter layer. All the aluminum framing and anchorage system has been custom designed, furnished, and installed by Rugo Stone. This cutting-edge engineering approach allows the façade to glow once back-lit, showing the fine veining of the cross cut pure white onyx, creating an elegant and contemporary approach to the Hotel Annex.

This installation measures roughly 1,800 sq. ft. and the material – pure white onyx is very rare and hard to procure. The lamination process was very carefully supervised by Rugo Stone, as the delicate structure and valuable features of such thinly cut onyx could be easily damaged during this time consuming manufacture.

The exterior scope included also a vast street scape on 11th Street side, which creates the main drive entry to the Hotel and Annex, and is paved in Georgia grey granite 4×4 cobbles. Over 75,000 cobbles were installed in this street scape, along with custom made curbs, sidewalks & stair cases in large format Charcoal Grey paving, and specially procured wall panels and coping for the handy-cap ramp to match existing Deer Isle granite from over 25 years. This installation was a very labor intensive process and took over 3 months, working 7 days per week, 10-14 hours per day to meet Hotel’s opening dead line date.

Location: Washington, DC
Completion Date: 2016
Owner:  Trump Old Post Office Hotel LLC
Architect: WDG Architecture
General Contractor: Lend Lease Construction (US) Inc
Size: 148,000 sqft
Services Performed: Design, Fabricate, and Install stone @ Interior public spaces, Guest Rooms & Exterior

This modern, sleek tenant lobby space for a well-known law firm demanded high-quality fabrication. Rugo Stone worked closely with the design team to identify American stone materials for this project. Our company consulted on the stone selection and developed the technical specs for the project starting from the design phase.

The scope of our work involved a modern floating wraparound desk, three white marble book-matched feature walls, and several credenza tops with counter-to-ceiling height backsplashes in all the offices and office common spaces.  

The Rugo team worked closely with the stone suppliers to source slabs with the right color, veining, and range desired by the architect. We submitted stone shop drawings and several slab layout options to communicate the possibilities for book-matching the feature wall panels. Once the slab layouts were approved, the slabs were carefully cut to achieve the vein alignments as approved. Then, the stone panels were dry-laid in the shop to ensure the proper alignments, then packed and sent to the field for installation.

The reception backdrop wall is perhaps the most notable feature of this project. We fabricated a diamond book-matched wall in white marble, milled and hand polished the radial vertical “flutes.” This was an intense fabrication due to the diamond book-matched pattern since breakage could not occur with the fabrication or installation process. The stone panels were dry-laid multiple times during the fabrication to ensure alignments of the veins and the flutes. Each panel was marked with the stone number and orientation related to the wall so that the field crew could ensure the proper orientation of the panels during installation.

Location: Washington, DC
Completion Date: 2022
Owner: Wiley Rein, LLP
Architect: HYL Architecture
General Contractor: HITT Contracting, Inc.
Services Performed: Interior Walls & Countertops. Design, Consultation, Supply, CNC Fabrication and Installation
Size: 2,200 Sqft

This large public lobby space with roughly 5,800 sqft of stone flooring and steps was designed by our long-time client and called for a subtle gray stone floor. We suggested a soft gray limestone based on our experience with several past projects using this stone. The client loved the subtle mix of gray tones and delicate color range exhibited on the finished floor.

The floor design consists of a running bond pattern and a custom offset pattern divided by curved metal divider strips. The lobby’s perimeter has curved walls, so stone pavers were cut precisely to follow the shape. The curved patterns allow for circular floor inlays and our team cut tiles in the field to follow field conditions. 

The limestone used for this project comes in a broad range of colors and veining, but the architect and owner requested a uniform appearance. Our team and the stone fabricator’s team coordinated a dry lay visit to review the entire lobby flooring at the factory. Each of the pavers were reviewed for color, veining, and inclusions. By making several modifications, we successfully blended the stone to the satisfaction of the owner and the design team.

Once the approval process was complete, each paver was marked with the respective stone number and an arrow indicating direction so that field crews could follow and install with the precise orientation the pavers were dry-laid at the factory.

Location: Washington, DC
Completion Date: 2021
Owner:  Confidential Financial Firm
Architect: Interior Architects
General Contractor: Buch Construction
Services Performed: Interior Lobby Floors & Steps. Design, Consultation, Supply, and Installation.
Size: 5,800 Sqft

1700 Pennsylvania Ave NW is notable for its proximity to the White House and National monuments in DC. Rugo renovated this iconic building to be one of the most recognizable office buildings in the city. 

The main lobby of the building features a modern, polygonal-shaped floor pattern and a minimalistic, floating desk design. These were crafted in a cream limestone with a honed finish, and the lobby and elevator walls use the same stone with a fine-textured brushed finish.

The stone pavers at the perimeter of the floors connect to several curved, decorative metal walls with a consistent 3” reveal, to achieve separation of the floor from the walls, creating a “floating” appearance.  

The overall design called for a uniform and homogenous look to compliment the open lobby design. The lobby walls were designed to have “open” joints, so no joint sealants were used. The stone panels were rebated in the back face to conceal the stainless steel anchors used to install the walls. These stone walls span throughout the lobby perimeters and into the entrance vestibule visible from the street. The sunlight from the outside hitting the vestibule wall helps show the texture of the wall stone. 

The lobby also features a floor-to-wall curved glass wall that encapsulates a work desk on one side. We precisely cut the stone pavers around this glass wall to follow the shape of the curved wall, and since the joints on either side of the glass walls would be visible, the cuts needed to be clean and precise. Obtaining Autocad drawings from the glass subcontractor allowed us to cut several templates and lay them out on the floor to ensure accuracy before cutting each of the pavers in the field.

Location: Washington, DC
Completion Date: 2021
Owner: Akridge
Architect: Gensler
General Contractor: The Whiting-Turner Contracting Company
Services Performed: Interior Lobby Floors, Walls & Lobby Desk. Design, Consultation, Supply, Fabrication and Installation.
Size: 8,700 Sqft

This prominent law firm desired a clean and modern entry lobby space, and so they enlisted perhaps the top interior architect for law firm space design, Lehman Smith McLeish. The plan calls for an elegant wall cladding in gold veined Colorado Yule marble, and a soft yellow limestone flooring material quarried in Bulgaria and fabricated in Italy.

Rugo prepared highly detailed shop drawings to detail the intricate floor patterns designed in a series of parallelograms with acute and obtuse corners, as well as detailing the wall paneling clad in a uniform white marble with soft gold veins. The interior is expertly done, and the project was well received by the client and architect. This project won the 2015 WBC Interior stone craftsmanship award.

Location: Washington, DC
Completion: 2014
Owner: Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP
Architect: Lehman Smith McLeish
General Contractor: Clark Construcation
Size: 8.500 sqft
Services: Design, fabricate, and install office lobby floors and walls

Rugo was involved in the preconstruction services and helped the Owner and designer select the proper type of Calacatta Gold, the material chosen was an exceptional fine veined variety of Calacatta Gold. This type of marble, was only 5% of the quarry output, and so the quality control was very involved and included the below steps

The process of procuring the proper marble started with trips to Carrara Italy to the quarry. Rugo, our fabricator, and the design consultant worked for days to select the appropriate blocks, four visits over 9 months were made to choose just the proper blocks. Once the blocks were slabbed, each block was honed or polished. Each slab was displayed for the designer to weigh in on the permissible locations within each slab, so the fabricator had clear instructions on the areas to avoid during fabrication. Finally, once the slabs were approved, the entire floor and wall area was dry set at the factory for final blending and inspection by the designer. There were three dry set inspections to approve the material.

This project involved extensive field measuring and detailed shop drawings eliminated costly field cutting. Once the stone arrived, Rugo worked diligently at night to install the stone in the lobby in a phased approach, so that the tenant’s access was not compromised.

The result has received high praise from the Owner and the designer for the exact alignments and superb display of beautiful fine vein uniform Calacatta Gold marble. This is a very uniform and rare example of Calacatta Gold.

Location: Tysons Corner, VA
Completion: 2015
Owner: Vornado Realty Trust
Architect: Perkins + Will, design consultant Mr Grzgorz Kosmal
General Contractor: Structure Tone, Inc
Size: 14,000 sqft
Services: Design, fabricate, and install marble lobby

Upon entering the lobby of the Dewey Ballantine law offices, located inside of the Carroll Square building in the heart of downtown Washington, DC, guests are exposed to a simply designed lobby with visually stunning features. Throughout the project, our Company worked diligently with Studios Architects to choose a color scheme that would achieve a clean, welcoming, and visually stunning appearance to visitors of the building.

The most significant and most intriguing feature of the lobby is the Noir St. Laurent Feature wall. This wall, which stands 18’ x 24’. The panels are enormous, roughly 9’ long x 4’ wide, and they were fabricated and installed in a diamond book match pattern, using only 1/16” joints. The challenge here was to find a block that would allow for a beautiful book match pattern and include the highest amount of red veining available in Noir St. Laurent. To complete the wall, the block was specially picked in Italy, with the help of the quarrier, the owner, the architect, and our Company’s President/Owner. Due to the large piece sizes, there was virtually no waste, so the block and the resulting slabs had to be perfect in color and vein character.

Located directly in front of the feature wall stands the elliptical staircase made of Corinthian Beige Mable. What makes this staircase so unique is that each cubic stair tread is individually supported. Due to the design of the geometry, each tread is a separate piece size and configuration. The landing is also one solid 4” thick panel roughly 8’x6’. To accomplish such a unique design, our team and the Steel contractor worked hand in hand to coordinate each element of the project. The outer part of the cubic tread is cantilevered beyond the steel support system and is integrated with the baluster system. The railing posts penetrate each stair tread, and a load of weight is shifted to steel brackets located on the underside of each tread. The exceptional craftsmanship of this staircase allows for the stairs to look as though they are floating in the air. This precise fabrication was achieved through diligence and cooperation from the steel contractor, the general contractor, and our team. At the bottom of the elliptical stairs sits a visually stunning raised plinth. This plinth, constructed of Noir St. Laurent, carries the same radii as the elliptical staircase.

Corinthian Beige marble was also used for the paving within the Dewey Ballantine lobby, and at the reception desk. A total of approximately 4500 square feet of Corinthian Beige marble was used to complete this lobby. Winner 2007 MIA Award of merit for Interior Stone.

Location: Washington, DC
Completion: 2007
Owner: Akridge
Architect: Studios Architecture
General Contractor: James G. Davis Construction
Size: 35,000 sqft
Services: Design, fabricate book matched marble in Rugo’s factory, installation

This project is the new headquarters for one of the leading think tanks in Washington, DC. This project has achieved LEED Platinum, one of only 4 buildings in Washington, Dc to achieve this status.The building was designed to be fully occupied by the owner. The exterior design takes some of its character from the National Gallery of Art East Wing. The exterior cladding is 2” thick Tennessee Pink marble, and the building design calls for solid 6” corners, to create massive acute angled perspectives. The elegant impeccably blended marble cladding frames the main elevation planer glass curtain wall, and at the 9th floor dramatically cuts back to form a 1,500sqft stone soffit for the directors balcony.

This 9th floor soffit spans 86’ wide without a column, and was designed for 3’ deflection. The original design called for 2” thick soffit panels, but this weigh was deemed far too heavy for the expected snow load deflections so Rugo developed a design using light weigh ¼” thick stone faced aluminum honeycomb panels to reduce the load to 7 lbs/sqft vs 35 lbs/sqft. This entire soffit deflection condition was a very unique challenge, and Rugo’s solution, to the knowledge of all the team members had never been done.

All of the arcade level column cladding is a series of parallelograms, which made all of the panel fabrication and alignment very complicated, all of the acute and obtuse angles created a zero tolerance plan configuration condition which made the fabrication and installation very challenging. Winner 2014 MIA Pinnacle Award for Excellence.

Location: Washington, DC
Completion: 2014
Owner: Center for Strategic and International Studies
Architect: Hickok Cole Architects
General Contractor: Hitt Contracting
Size: 35,000 sqft
Services: Design, Fabricate, and install interior marble walls, floors, stairs, desk