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Watch a video about Squak Mountain.

Recently I met Amee Quiriconi at the Green Peer table lunch I attend monthly with other Seattle designers. But I was already familiar with her unique countertop product as I used it in the shared bathroom of the Seattle Street of Dreams 2006 home I designed, Casa Montecito.

From graduate school paper to reality, the story of how Squak Mountain Stone™ came to be is an exciting story. Working to complete her masters degree in 2003, she prepared an economics paper requiring the students to develop a product or service that would could benefit their local economy. Specifically, find something in their community that is purchased from someone outside of that community and then develop a “substitute” for that item that could be made and sold within the local economy.

Employing her knowledge in engineering, construction and research, Amee created a unique new product called Squak Mountain Stone™.

Vanity counter in Latte

Amee started with paper that couldn’t be recycled because it was crosscut by shredders, then added portland cement, crushed glass and coal fly ash from an electric plant in her home state of Washington. After stirring, grinding and polishing samples for 18 months, she hit upon a way to make the hand-cast slabs rock hard. “It’s a recycled material that replaces real stones that have to be quarried out of mountains.” Squak Mountain Stone resembles soapstone or limestones. Learn more about it here.