Research
Visit to The Stonemasonry Company

Posted on 10 July 2023

In pursuit of zero embodied carbon buildings, a handful of our low-carbon material hunters recently headed to The Stonemasonry Company’s workshop. We were met by the company’s Creative Director Pierre Bidaud in the village of Ketton, named after the local limestone. Guided by Pierre’s expert knowledge, we navigated winding roads accommodating historic bridges, churches and homes of every stone order. It was easy to imagine how this humble material of the past could offer a low-carbon future for construction.

After viewing a range of impressive stone cutting machines, Pierre shared his 1:1 mock-ups exploring fully stone construction methods. This is what stands The Stonemasonry Company apart; brickwork, beams, columns and stairs were held together to achieve elegant structures, some using pre- and post-tensioned stone and others incorporating hand-carved elements. I confess my stomach was in my mouth when I stepped on an 85mm floor slab made up of five pieces of stone floating across two beams. Inspiring is an understatement. Watch this space for our first stone structure…