The masonry is a 4" thick nominal dimension. Now, because it is a "chopped" product, sometimes some pieces end up a little thinner, especially at the edges. But, in general, it is typically 4" throughout. It is used for both interior and exterior installations. There are no "corner" pieces per se, just slab rock cut to fit. The same holds true for the tapered element. The masons chip and cut those manually to fit. Meaning the face is tapered but the horizontal joints are either chipped or saw cut level so they lay flat on one another. It is very labor intensive and takes a good mason, which this job had. I'm not a mason, but I would say that the challenge with using a thin veneer to go that high is twofold. First, it would have to have some kind of backing as I don't think it can stand vertically on its on. Whereas the 4" stone is a self supporting element itself. Secondly, it seems like a masonry product of a thinner thickness would want to have the tendency to "hinge" at each course or joint. I think if the thin veneer is laid agains a framed backing and board of some kind it would probably work. I don't know what part of the country you are in, but if you would like to talk to a couple of our local (Austin, Texas) masons I could put you in touch with them. They would be much better sources for masonry answers than me.

One other comment about our stone in Texas. Typically, as I said, we use a 4" nominal thickness stone. Although stone can be cut and shaped into any size, the typical face stone dimensions are in modules of 4", 8" and 16" in both height and length. Most masons use a combination of those incremental sizes to form the various patterns.