Abiomed

Abiomed is a manufacturer of medical implant devices including the world’s smallest heart pump.  The rapidly growing company recently expanded its Danvers, Massachusetts headquarters, a $40 million project completed in 2017 that increased the size of its campus from 60,000 square feet to 160,000 square feet. The expansion allowed the company to boost its manufacturing and research capabilities.

Stantec’s Boston office designed the new facility.  After a lengthy stone selection process, Stantec specified Grayson Slate for the exterior wall cladding.  James River Slate Co., our subsidiary located in Arvonia, Virginia, quarried the Grayson Slate blocks and cut them into oversize billets.  Then we shipped the billets to our Whitehall, New York mill where they were sliced into slabs, cut to size, honed and drilled for anchor holes.

We are flattered architect Lauren Günther commented, “Engaging with Vermont Structural Slate from the outset was instrumental to the design process.  Vermont Structural Slate facilitated cost comparisons and communicated material drivers such as what the slate quarry was able to produce.  They provided various attachment options which led to Fischer/Probe and ultimately better thermal performance.  The outcome was a marriage between technical details and beauty.”

Doug Sheldon of Vermont Structural Slate Co. adds, “We were pleased our Grayson Slate was selected as the signature stone for Abiomed and we enjoyed working through the technical issues that arose. Grayson is perhaps the highest quality slate in the world and its reflective metallic gray color, unfading weathering characteristic and depth of visual movement make it unique.”

Producing natural stone projects of this caliber takes more than just high quality stone and fabrication experience…it takes a mindset…attention to detail and constant sorting.  Every person at Vermont Structural Slate Co. has a sharp eye for detail and is committed to architects and meeting the challenges of their designs.