2016 Natural Stone Awards
Great Britain has a fantastic tradition, especially within the heritage building sector, of using stone local to a project. Hundreds of churches, cathedrals and historic monuments up and down the British Isles were created from stone quarried close to the site, helping create a unique local aesthetic, something commented on by The Right Honourable Michael Portillo in his address at the 2016 Natural Stone Awards. This tradition is one that has been continued as these buildings require repair or maintenance work and heritage architects endeavour to use the original stone or an alternative quarried close by.
Stone Federation’s technical helpline receives a large number of enquiries from architects and clients looking to source stone similar to the original as, in some cases, the quarries are no longer in operation. What is encouraging is that in almost all cases, these queries lead to the use of an alternative British stone, thus continuing the tradition and supporting our indigenous quarries. Through a well-established network of industry experts, the British stone industry has, on the whole, managed to avoid losing these projects to imported, and arguably, unsuitable alternative stones.
It was encouraging to see Historic England as one of the main sponsors for the 2016 Natural Stone Awards. Clara Willett, Senior Architectural Conservator at Historic England commented at the Awards that “Historic England feel its really important to support events like The Natural Stone Awards because the quality of craftsmanship, the care in selecting natural, indigenous stones and selecting suitable replacement stone is so important in supporting and looking after our historic buildings.“
The Natural Stone Awards are also a good indicator of the state of the industry and it was encouraging to see that in the 2016 awards, 100% of the stone used on the winning, highly commended and commended projects in the Repair and Restoration category was British stone. The winning project, the Wimpole Gothic Tower project in Cambridgeshire saw the structure repaired and stabilised for the next 200 years while maintaining the weathered beauty of the tower. The choice of stone, namely Barrington Clunch, came as a result of research undertaken by the principal stone contactor and English Heritage. The Awards judges felt that this was “…an exemplary way to carry out this kind of restoration.”
2017 will see one of the Federation’s other sector focussed initiatives, Stone Heritage, launched to the sector. This group will have strong links with the Quarry Forum thanks to the significant part British stone has to play in the repair, restoration and conservation of our island’s historic buildings and monuments.
If you’re undertaking a heritage project and want to explore the options that British stone can provide you with, take a look at the stone sourcing tool on the Stone federation website: http://bit.ly/BritStone.
[edit] Find out more
[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings Wiki
IHBC NewsBlog
Stirling Prize-winning Salford building to be demolished
The Centenary Building will be bulldozed as part of the wider £2.5bn Crescent regeneration project
Volunteers work to transform 100-year-old ‘hidden’ building into bothy
The building, named Druimnashallag, is located southeast of Oban.
The new ‘Arches for HERs’ Demo site, from the Getty Conservation Institute via HE
It shows how organisations responsible for historic environment records (HER) management can benefit from its powerful features.
ICOMOS-CIF 2024 Symposium celebrates 40th anniversary in Venice
It aims to critically review current practices and theories of conservation of built heritage around the world, and more.
HES establishes new national centre for retrofit of traditional buildings
HES plans to develop the centre follows £1m of funding from UKRI Arts and Humanities Research Council.
High Court rejects oral appeal against tower block decision in historic Bloomsbury
The request was for a full Judicial Review hearing against Camden Council’s approval of a 74m-high tower block in Bloomsbury.
Mayor of London and Government announce bold plans to transform Oxford Street
Plans include turning the road into a traffic-free pedestrianised avenue, creating a beautiful public space.
Crystal Palace Subway, for 160th anniversary
The remarkable Grade II* listed Crystal Palace Subway in South London begins a new era following major restoration.
National Trust brings nature back to an area twice the size of Manchester in less than a decade
The National Trust has achieved its aim of creating or restoring 25,000 hectares of priority habitat on its land by 2025.
18th-century hospital in York to become sustainable homes
A former mental health establishment founded by a Quaker in 1792 is to be converted into 120 energy-efficient homes in York.