VALS STONE

In the beginning, there was fire and light, mountains and water. Over the ages, oceans, mountain chains and wide plains were formed; but something very important was missing: Humans sought an abode, wanted protection and safety, and thus the first huts arose. Due to the fact that construction gave them pleasure, architects and builders were very much sought-after. As a consequence, houses, villages and cities were built. Entire landscapes changed. Construction became an expression of civilisation. Truffer AG continues this expression proudly with its 50-million-year-old Vals Stone.

We are familiar with beautiful, ancient cultural sites, such as the pyramids, the Taj Mahal or simply a beautiful farmhouse in the Emmental. Every building tells a story about the builder and certainly about its residents. Some constructions survive for thousands of years, others are meant for generations. However, these constructions all have something in common: They shape our world. In this way, architects have changed and imprinted our surroundings. Today, living is more than simply having a roof over your head. Habitation becomes an expression of our personality, reveals our dreams and expresses our relationship with the environment.

Today’s architecture encompasses an enormous range of different stylistic directions and a flood of materials. Not everything erected is meant to last a long time. Modernity sweeps away a lot before becoming established, which is sometimes a good thing. Nevertheless, how do lasting values develop out of construction, which will also be admired by later generations? Obviously, we cannot chisel everything from stone in the same way that the Greeks built their temple or the fathers of the church erected their cathedrals and palaces in ancient times. But still... feeling a 50 million year-old material around you is a very pleasant sensation.

The early people living in Vals built the first houses in their village out of stone. That was a long time ago. Since then, much has changed. But the stones have remained and the people of Vals continue to use Vals Stone as the building material for their structures.

Today we can report about the use of Vals Stone in modern times. First of all, the famous Bundeshausplatz in Berne is made out of the unique material. The Café Fédéral, with its beautiful façade, mirrors itself in the stone. The thought, that the representatives of the Swiss people walk over Vals Stone before they enter the Bundeshaus makes us proud. The world-famous Therme Spa, constructed out of the same stone, has become a pilgrimage site. The architect took his inspiration from the beauty of this material and allowed the stone to play the main role in his work. In the city of Zurich, strolling across the Sechseläutenplatz, one can again feel it; the Vals Stone, laid out at the Opera's feet. Like a huge carpet with all its facets, with the fine colour nuances, the fine glimmering mica platelets. It records the mood of the daytimes, the seasons, shines with the sun, adapts to the fog and demonstrates its diversity in the rain – an inspiration for many to involve this stone in their planning.

Also beyond our borders, the Vals Stone generates enthusiasm, captivating architects, allowing builders to dream – just as we are fascinated by the creativity, originality and radicalism of the originators of these projects. From the capability to read the stone, implementing it at the correct locations in a suitable form so that it can enjoy life in all its beauty and charismatic radiance. We marvel at the project of a wine cellar in the vastness and solitude of Wyoming, are fascinated by the precision, diligence and seriousness of a building in the middle of Tokyo where art is exhibited and lived; or the headquarters of the Eaton Corporation in Cleveland, Ohio, where the stone plays a prominent and global role symbolised by the map of the world precisely cut out with water-jet technology. A médiathèque – media library – arises in Paris, built for the general public for the sake of their culture; the architecture electrifying through its radicalism, sawn stonework in Vals Stone with a seamless transition to the roof, as well out of stone.

The realisation of a private villa in Kessel, Belgium. The cubic shape of the building in a dialogue with stone and wood. Sawn precision stonework in the layer heights of 3.1, 4.7 and 6.3 cm and a wall thickness of 8 cm plays the stone role. The exterior floor tiles of the same material – cut in larger dimensions and with the grain of the stone – transition into the façade, where the stone changes into long planks of layered masonry, cut against the grain. The Vals Stone as a grey-green structure of quartz, feldspar and mica, with mysterious patterns, some of which calm and others more vivid, shows a new appearance in the water, where shimmering, reflecting light touches the surface of the water and draws attention to the stone. Perhaps the 50 million-year-old origination process of the stone explains the eternal fascination of this material, going through a fast-paced time with a lot of new inventions, disappearing as quickly as they come up.

We quarry Vals Stone in the canton of Graubünden, Switzerland and manufacture it exclusively in our own stone works. Our stone factory is equipped with the latest machines for stone processing. We employ around 55 employees and are one of the leading stone companies in Switzerland.

We ensure a careful handling of the stone and do not see our material as an industrial mass product. The unique geology in the valley of Vals caused by the folding of the Alps some 50 million years ago, makes Vals Stone a very special rock. Therefore, we would like to use the stone in very special locations for extraordinary projects.

We are mountain people and thus not quite sociable. However, we will not forget established business relations so quickly.

Truffer AG
Natural Stone Quarry
Liemschboda 168B
CH-7132 Vals/GR

T +41 81 935 16 42
F +41 81 935 15 54
E quarry@truffer.ch