French limestone - how changes to the industry might affect you.
If you are linked to the stone industry as an architect, designer, stonemason, distributor/retailer or developer, you could be affected by some of the changes.
Ethical Stone Register
Modern day slave labour. Child labour. Worker exploitation. Environmental damage.
Wouldn't it be nice to know that the money you spend on your natural stone project is not funding some practice that you would find unsavoury or unethical?
Topics: quarry, ethical sourcing
Blanco Macael - the Spanish marble of the Alhambra Palace
Over the last few years, we have been researching some of the more unusual Spanish limestones and marbles. The Blanco Macael Spanish marble from the southern tip of Spain is well known to us but I hadn't realised that it had such a famous pedigree or that Macael can be yellow, grey or green as well as white.
Topics: marble, marble flooring, spanish marble, facade, quarry, White marble
French Limestone
Finding the right natural stone for projects where the same material is used throughout indoor and outdoor spaces can be a challenge. As well as meeting all the usual aesthetic criteria such as colour, pattern, texture etc., the stone also needs to perform well for frost resistance, durability and slip resistance.
Last week, Steve and Denise visited the Ampilly quarry in Burgundy, France, to research options for an upcoming project. We were looking for a French limestone flooring that could be supplied in a variety of sizes, thicknesses and surface finishes and could also be cut for steps and wall copings. We had used Ampilly for the terrace at Amarestone HQ (pictured below) so it is a stone that we already knew quite well but this was the first time we had made it out to the quarry.
Topics: limestone flooring, French limestone, burgundy limestone, facade, beauval, surface finishes, pierre de bourgogne, choosing natural stone, CE Marking, chamesson, natural stone, quarry, patio, external stone, internal stone
The demand for coloured marble and strong patterns in natural stone has been around for a while now and is showing no signs of fading.
The first time I realised that it was becoming a trend was when I read an article on Remodelista two years ago. Since then, we have had lots of enquiries and a number of recent orders for so called 'ugly' marble.
One of our latest projects was to supply pink Rosa Aurora marble to the new Granger & Co restaurant at Kings Cross. Pop along to see our tables in situ.. and of course to try out the new menu! The restaurant interior was designed by Gundry & Ducker and fitted by Bluecrow shopfitters.
Topics: marble, Italian marble, bespoke, which stone, rare marble, designer, quarry, prestige marble, portuguese marble, exotic marble, quality marble
Spanish Limestone Quarry visit
Last month, Denise and Steve spent two days visiting a limestone quarry in Southern Spain to select slabs for an upcoming project. The architect on the project had specified Crema Palancar, a pale coloured limestone, for the roof terrace.
February and March were exceptionally busy months for us this year. We presented at the Surface Design Show, exhibited at Ecobuild and Homebuilding & Renovating, and several big client projects that had been in the planning stages since before Christmas had just been given the go ahead.
Topics: choosing marble, spanish marble, buying limestone, spanish limestone, Zamora, environment, water recycling, choosing natural stone, CE Marking, bespoke limestone, crema marfil, quarry, Real, crema marfil tiles, White marble, Palancar, Capri, wildlife, zero waste
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