Realizing a vision in stone Swapping his scalpel for a chisel, Beverly Hills plastic surgeon Dr. Randal Haworth MD was hands on in the design and construction ofhis new ojj‘ice lobby, which included a mammoth reception counter made from Carrara marble by lenniter Richinelli When designing his new office for his plastic surgery practice in Beverly llills, CA, Dr. Randal llaworth MD was drawn to while marble In create the look he envisioned. ntients visiting the office of I)renowned plastic surgeon Dr. Randal Haworth MD in Beverly Hills, CA, will observe firsthand the doctor’s flare for design. As the former Chief Resident in Plastic and Renonstructive Surgery at the UCLA Medical Center and recipient of the title of “Plastic Surgical Consultant Of The Year for 1993-94,” I-laworth excelled in science and medicine, but always remained in touch with his artistic side. As a result, it was no surprise how intimately involved he became in the design and construction of his new office space, which features an extensive amount of stone. “My inspiration for the lobby was simply the notion of lime,” explained Randal. “Amongst the seemingly infi- nite number of both inorganic and 66 August Z01? | Stone World For the lobby walls, an alternating formation of both protruding and recessed multi-tiled pieces was individually assembled in sections from a 1-are and now unavailable source of distressed unfinished 2- x 8-inch marble tile veneer. organic ‘things’ on this planet, only the human being can be affected psychologically by the idea of time passing. Of course, everything on this planet, including those entities we consider permanent, such as the mountains, oceans and atmosphere, physically change over time. However, it is only the human who can be con- sciously aifectecl by the concept of time and consequently react to the present and plan for the future. “‘l‘he bmwn, white and gray palette, including the dual-toned aqua and cobalt blue sofa, reflects the basic molecular foundation of Mother Earth herself, while the repetitive pattern formalired by the textured shone walls represents what is ostensibly immuta- ble and ‘forever/” Haworth went on to say. “ln contradisfincfion to this is the massive 18-foot-long marble reception counter, which is transformed from violent, yet beautiful chaos, into a tra- ditionally refined smooth surface. As a metaphor of how modern plastic sur- gery can make unappealing forms into beautiful ones, the sculptural transfor- mation reminds us we can change how we appear over time.” The doctor explained how he has always been attracted to all types of stone construction since he was a child attending the King’s School in Canterbury, England, which he said is purportedly the oldest school in the world. “Many of the classrooms and dorms were based within ancient Gothic stone buildings surround- ing the 1,400-year-old Canterbury Cathedral, so for me, stone represented stability, strength and wisdom. Stone is far more than just a construction mate- rial — within its austerity lies timeless beauty,” he said. The lobby walls consist of an alter- nating formation of both protruding and recessed multi-tiled pieces – totaling 120 square feet “l had each tile section individually assembled from a rare and now unavailable source of distressed unfinished 2- x B-inch mar- ble tile veneer that came in old wood crates from Italy,” said Haworth. “The oombinal-ion of the particular texture — along with the pattern and manner in which it was assembled – was chosen to maximize depth.” The showpiece of the 240-square- foot office lobby is the mammoth reception desk made from two massive slabs of Carrara marble. These were divided into nine pieces in order to complement the full 18-foot length of the counter. “The stone materials were chosen from both an aesthetic and practical standpoint,” explained Randal. “I was looking for a white purity for the wall themselves, while the slabs for the reception counter were chosen for a certain multi-variegated pattern, as well as thickness. The thickness was needed to accommodate both violent carving and impart mass in the end.” The stone was supplied by Empire Marble in San Fernando Valley, CA. The installation When it came to the stone installa- tion, Randal was intimately with the 1-ton reception “Indeed, I rolled up my involved counter. sleeves to carve and polish the structure and ulti- mately camouflage its seams because, it turned out, l was the only one who knew what I envisioned,” he explained. “l experimented with a number of painterly techniques in order to visu- ally unlfy the individual sections of marble as one horizontal massive rock. For the foundation, a pony wall was set up as the main anchoring frame span- ning frorn the left corner adjoining the tiled wall to the right suspended hand- icap accessible section. Creating and anchoring the recep- tion desk was a trial-and-error process, explained l-laworth. “As experienced and proficient as they were in their craft, I realized my team was inad- equately prepared for what I wanted Stone World | August 2017 67 The Carrara marble slabs were cut into nine pieces and then assembled to create the mammoth reception counter. ‘Work was then dune ho smooth out the seams. The main attraction of the office lobby is an 18 -toot-long reception counter made tram two massive slabs of Carrara marble. to create,” he said. “It was basically my fault because my inexperience did not allow me to realize theirs in han- dling this one idiosyncratic aspect of the total project. It was as much about structural engineering as it was about art. I realized that when you are utiliz- ing others to translate your vision of something that is unique and out of their comfort zone, you must seek top specialists in that particular medium you want to work with. For example, despite the innumerable conversations and detailed drawings I provided to the architect, project manager. engi- neer and marble craftsman, the form of the counter during construction began to differ widely from what I was envi- sioning. lt was fortunate that l arrived after surgery just in time before the glue and mortar dried so that I was able to have the nine stone pieces repo- sitioned to my “ln a similar vein, the person l commissioned to do the carving was woefully oft course in terms of ele- gantly decreasing the texture of the marble from left to right to convey the analogy from chaos to perfection,” Haworth went on to say. “With dead- lines rapidly looming, I realized that I had to take matters in my own hands to become quickly proficient with the Makita saw, power sanding and the plain old chisel and mallet until the wee hours of the night.” While there were some bumps in the road during construction, Randal was pleased with the final outcome. “Since wehavernovedintoournew officeore and half years ago, the subjective raw emotional feelings as an artist during the act of creation have now dissipat- ed,” he said. “I am affected by it in in a more objective way. lam amazed that I created what I feel is a magical, mod- ern yet spiritual space which brings an element of strength and peace that will not vanish with time. Marble since CrecoRoman times has fascinated humans, as evidenced in temples nest- ing our desire of eternity. Design today still wants to echo the perpetual against nature’s backdrop. Yet, nature will always be ahead of us in our creative search which can only be successful if we understand and respect nature before we attempt to perfect it.” El 68 August 2017 I Stone World