Material Stories

Building sustainably at scale is still viewed as problematic, with concrete and steel seen as a default for larger developments by a risk averse construction industry but the 19th century builders of Brighton had totally nailed it with bungaroosh.

Nikolay Shahpazov is a man on a mission to change our preconceptions that sustainable materials are challenging to use at scale.

Paye Stonework and Restoration, founding members of The Stone Collective and leading stonework and restoration contractors, have seen a huge growth in interest around the benefits of Spolia.

The now famous Wally closes of Scotland, with their stunning tile-lined walls, are a legacy of the fight against the unsanitary in the 1800s.

I am an interior designer, born and raised in London who went to Scotland in 1988 to study at Glasgow School of Art. One of the things I first experienced was the subway, known locally…

Time is running out. It is becoming apparent that if the construction industry’s contribution to reaching government targets of net zero by 2050 is to be achieved, radical action is called for. Old carbon intensive practices need to go. One solution seems staggeringly simple.

From the cutting devices employed by 17th-century water mills to the cable wire cutting saws, steam-powered planers and industrial tip blades used to increase the speed of cutting granite and marble of the 1900s, the stonemason has never shied away from progress.

The 20th century marked the decline of construction in stone, the victim of rising energy costs, wars and the fashion for new materials. To understand this rapid decline and witness the change from structural to veneer, take a walk in the heart of the city of London.

Cast iron is a metal alloy, popular in architecture historically for its strength and flexibility to be cast into custom shapes. Although largely replaced by steel since the late 19th century, cast-iron is still produced for conservation projects and to a lesser extent new contemporary buildings.