Mingei International Museum

Quarra Stone Company fabricated and supplied Vals Quartzite for the comprehensive transformation of the Mingei International Museum, located in the historic Mining Building on the Plaza de Panama in San Diego’s Balboa Park. Following the renovation, the museum reopened in 2021 with expanded public spaces, new galleries, gathering areas, and architectural interventions designed to connect the museum more directly with the surrounding park and community.

As part of the transformation, designer Jennifer Luce of LUCE et studio selected Vals Quartzite as the stone material throughout the museum’s stone scope. Quarra Stone fabricated and supplied the material for the staircases, bathrooms, restaurant back wall, and the floor and wall applications surrounding the feature bench area — a cohesive stone presence carried across the museum’s public spaces.

A central element of the project is a custom 40-foot-long stone bench designed by Jennifer Luce and Kei Tsukamoto of LUCE et studio. Quarra Stone fabricated the bench at its facility in Madison, Wisconsin, translating the custom design into a large-scale stone element integrated into the museum’s interior.

The stair treads incorporate Vals Green in contrast with Vals Grey used for the ADA strips, creating a deliberate variation within the stair design while maintaining a cohesive material palette across the project.