http://www.ConcreteDecor.net

Concrete Decor - Index

Concrete Decor - Concrete Decor Magazine, The Journal for Decorative Concrete - Index

GEO-
ILLUSIONS
SYNTHETIC ROCK FEATURES
Lakeland Co. has created several natural-looking faux rock features at Rolling Hills Wildlife
Adventure in Salina, Kan. Even gray rock needs several colors to look realistic and add dimension.
In replicating rock,
coloring is the most
obvious key to success
or failure. It either rings
true or it’s a near miss.
— Jim Jenkins,
Synthetic Rock Solutions
62 | www.ConcreteDecor.net | Dec. ’07/Jan. ’08
Photo courtesy of Lakeland Co.
by Amy Johnson
Artistry, fantasy and heavy-duty craftsmanship
converge in creating natural-looking artifi cial
environments from synthetic rock panels. Applications
range from animal habitats to luxury homes, with parks,
restaurants, shops and hotels in between. There seems to
be no limit to the creative possibilities of this medium.
Synthetic advantages
Synthetic rock panels have several advantages over
natural stone. On a large scale they are obvious. A 40foot
zoo environment or a backyard cliff would be nearly
impossible to install using heavy stone, even if the
materials could be found. But the weight advantage also
applies on a smaller scale, say with a garden wall.
Jim Jenkins, president of Synthetic Rock Solutions
and owner of training consultancy JPJ Technologies
Inc. in Sheridan, Ore., has installed both. He says that
stone installed on a building facade weighs in at about
21 pounds per square foot. Cultured stone installed
with mortar weighs about 15 pounds per square foot.