Piedra Morada Residence: A Three Year Stone and Tile Program Above the Palisades
Technical Brief
- Stone and tile installation program executed under direct subcontract to Breakform Design, Inc., general contractor
- Architecture by Glen Irani for a 9,500 square foot residence on a hillside site
- More than 7,400 square feet of interior and exterior installation in the base scope, spanning eight bathroom programs, a 2,250 square foot first floor field, rec room, laundry, and two patios
- Master bathroom program of 1,100 square feet of Dekton across the shower walls and ceiling
- Pool deck program of approximately 1,500 square feet in large format Dekton
- Mosaic tile at the curved staircase wall, carrying continuously into the ceiling plane
- Anticrack membrane at all floors; lath, scratch and brown float at all walls
- Dekton Domoos by Cosentino, 0.8 cm slab format, fabricated and installed at the entertainment level countertops
Project Matrix
The Program
Set into a hillside above the Palisades, the Piedra Morada Residence is a 9,500 square foot home designed by architect Glen Irani and delivered by Breakform Design, Inc. as general contractor. CAD Stone Works joined the project in August 2020 under a signed subcontract covering the full interior and exterior tile and stone installation program, and remained engaged through final scope in 2023.
The base program alone covered more than 7,400 square feet: a continuous 2,250 square foot first floor field, a 786 square foot rec room, laundry, two patios totaling nearly 1,200 square feet, and eight complete bathroom programs.
Eight Bathrooms, One Standard
Each bathroom was executed as a full program: floors, shower floors, shower walls, vanity walls, and integrated niches. The master bathroom carried the most demanding scope in the house, with 1,100 square feet of Dekton installed across the shower walls and the ceiling plane in large format panels. Overhead installation at that scale leaves no tolerance for substrate shortcuts, which is why every wall in the program was floated with lath, scratch and brown before a single piece was set.
The Mosaic Staircase Wall
The stair volume is wrapped in mosaic tile across a continuously curved wall that rises through the full height of the space and carries without interruption into the ceiling plane. Setting small format mosaic across a compound curve at that scale demands constant control of coursing, joint alignment, and surface plane, piece by piece, across every change in geometry.
The Field and the Exterior
Every floor in the program, interior and exterior, received an anticrack membrane before installation. On a hillside site, that substrate discipline is not a formality. It is what keeps a 2,250 square foot continuous field flat and quiet for decades.
The exterior scope grew as the project developed. The pool deck, delivered as coordinated change order scope, brought approximately 1,500 square feet of large format Dekton to the terrace level, executed in sequence with the deck elevation work and finished with a stone wall cap at the pool area.
Materials
Dekton by Cosentino defines the most demanding surfaces in the program: large format panels across the master bathroom walls and ceiling, large format tiles across the pool deck, and Dekton Domoos in 0.8 cm format, procured directly through Cosentino and fabricated and installed by CAD Stone Works at the entertainment level countertops. The staircase volume is wrapped in mosaic tile across a continuously curved wall and ceiling. The balance of the field program was installed in large format tile specified by the design team.
Working With Breakform Design
Breakform Design runs an integrated practice across architecture, fabrication, and construction, and held the general contractor role on this project. The engagement ran on a signed subcontract with structured progress billing, milestone coordination against cabinetry and finish trades, and change order discipline across three years of evolving scope. The relationship carried through final installation in 2023.
Documented Work
The Piedra Morada Residence is documented in the construction portfolio of Breakform Design. CAD Stone Works executed the stone and tile installation program for that residence.