58 | “Once cutting is complete, the huge two tonne slabs of Ōamaru Stone are broken out of the quarry floor, loaded onto trucks and taken to our factory just 400 metres away.” Oamaru Stone just part of the offering Virtually any size, shape and design is possible. CONTRACTING Parkside Quarries T T Russell Fredric Timeless beauty aptly describes Oamaru stone, a natural product that has been a part of the New Zealand architectural landscape for nearly 120 years. The stone is quarried near Oamaru which is renowned for its heritage precinct, and which has New Zealand’s most complete streetscape of Victorian commercial buildings constructed of locally quarried limestone. Today the stone is extracted solely by family business Parkside Quarries which has a legacy of six generations on the family’s 316 hectare sheep and beef farm where the quarry is located. The business also incorporates a Parkside Limeworks which supplies high purity limestone for various agricultural applications. Parkside Quarries is owned by a family trust with Shane and Dustin King and their aunty Judy Mitchell working in the business. The first limestone block was extracted in 1906 with a large steam driven chainsaw mounted on rails. Today, the limestone is cut by fearsome looking three metre diameter circular blades with tungsten tips, hydraulically operated on excavators. “Once cutting is complete, the huge two tonne slabs of Ōamaru Stone are broken out of the quarry floor, loaded onto trucks and taken to our factory just 400 metres away,” Shane says. The limestone blocks are then individually loaded onto trolleys, to feed into three breakdown circular saws, 1.80 metre diameter tungsten tipped saws, which cut the blocks into the required sizes. In 2019 Parkside Quarries took a leap forward and installed a five axis computerised CNC machine. Purchased from CDK Stone a specialist supplier of stone, and stone related machinery and tools, the machine can fabricate virtually any design or profile before the stone is delivered anywhere in New Zealand. While it has a long history, Shane believes Oamaru stone tends to be underrated in the building industry today, especially in the North Island, however Parkside Quarries is gradually seeing more demand there. In architectural applications it is a durable, easy to maintain, versatile building material and sculpting stone that harmoniously complements contemporary and traditional homes, buildings, gardens and outdoor spaces. Available naturally coloured in ivory, caramel and autumnal hues, its many uses include external veneer cladding and slip, corner stones, decorative mouldings, columns, balustrades and railings. It is also a beautiful product to complement interior design elements such as feature walls, fireplaces, lighting, artwork and sculpture. “Virtually any size, shape and design is possible. We can custom cut, carve and shape Oamaru stone to create design features that steal the spotlight, or blend in harmoniously with the decor.” Parkside Quarries is expanding its service to other types of stone. “We’ve just finished a job for the Department of Conservation carving out a large piece of stone that represents the topography of a mountain range on the West Coast. That’s something new for us, it was tricky and steep learning curve.” “We also work with Takaka marble and slate and Timaru bluestone so it’s opened doors up with other New Zealand products which is good.” Oamaru Stone is available in a range of face sizes, thicknesses and finishes which provides a variety of textures and designs comprising fair faced, sawn faced, sand blasted, and split and bolstered that creates a delightful play of light and shadow on exterior surfaces. It can be left untreated, in which case it will discolour over time, but with cleaning and sealing with a product such as a Stratmore waterproof coating it will stay close to its original colour and condition. AQUELLUX high performing water repellent This versatile product has been in the New Zealand market for decades and can be used across a wide variety of materials from natural stone (including porous limestone and Oamaru Stone), cement plaster, to concrete. It is ideal for vertical and inclined surfaces. Moisture in the substrate is still able to evaporate out. Protects against: water penetration and dampness. To find out which version of AQUELLUX is best suited to your project talk to Stratmore on 0800 835 699. Or talk to us about our other high quality waterproof coatings and concrete sealers. www.stratmore.co.nz proud to be associated with Parkside Quarries manufactured in New Zealand, providing state of the art protection and performance will not change the appearance of the material under normal application conditions good absorption allows for outstanding ability to repel water superior to commonly used siliconate, silicone and silane-based products
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