I suppose I decided to become an architect after discovering my love of art in any form and the endless fascination with the science and geology of our planet Earth. Or, more simply, it could be because my mother gave me strict instructions that, as a girl, I had to embark on studies that would ultimately prove useful in society. 

My love of architectural stone really started when, as a student, I visited York and came upon York Minster. This magnificent York stone structure is the 4th Minster to have been built on the site and is the largest medieval structure in the United Kingdom. The building was begun around 1220 and was deemed complete more than 200 years later in 1472! 

The contrast of the solid stone with the large areas of stained glass makes this a very special construction, not to mention the fact that the Minster was built without the deep foundations we would have used today. Yet it has stood intact for so many centuries and while work is ongoing to repair and support it, the residents and visitors to York will gladly contribute to the survival of this great building.

Learning to use different types of stone came to the fore when I began working for myself. Projects were mainly residential for private clients. The opportunity to use a variety of different stones was present and I tried to make good use of it. 

The darker, more durable, igneous granites were more suitable for exterior use and internal areas requiring heavy wear, such as kitchen worktops. Yet these dense stones were not flat masses of rock without beauty. Glittering crystalline formations catch the light or foliations of other elements and compounds from the earth’s crust / mantle create painterly swirls and splashes of colour. 

The carboniferous sedimentary York stone with its subtle markings caused by the inclusion of minerals such as quartz, mica, feldspar, clay or iron oxides was excellent for structural stonework and for paving. The paler more homogenous look of Portland stone lent itself to sculptural features and cladding / paving for a modern, minimal look.

The small calcite crystals in the sedimentary limestones meant that this material was better suited to indoor use, and worked particularly well in bathrooms and shower rooms . However, as this look began to be adopted increasingly by other designers and architects in the late ’80s and ’90s, I began to utilize the variety of colour and foliation in the metamorphic marbles. 

Tiles were used less frequently as slabwork gave rooms a more unique look. More recently, a full height kitchen splashback was installed using ‘Black and Gold’ marble slabs. The slabs had been quarried over a century ago! They had been lying around various marble yards before being purchased by favoured marble suppliers and craftworkers Livra in London.

In discovering these stones, architecture then became art, as spaces could not be designed completely without seeking inspiration from a particular slab of stone that had been quarried. This was ‘natural’ art and was all the more powerful having been created over millions of years being subjected to the most rigorous of processes including pressure, fire and heat, ice and water and the sheer weight of the earth’s crust.

As natural stone suppliers, Livra have proved that their company is more than just a business involved with stone. Louis Livramento, the founder of Livra, has a real passion for stone. He will travel all over the world to investigate and source unusual materials, which in turn will provide inspiration for designers like myself. The stone is displayed like art in the workshop. This goes a long way in helping to convince reluctant clients to chose natural stone or assisting keen clients make final decisions as to which stone they would prefer. Working as a team means that we are constantly trying to push the boundaries as to what we can and can’t do with natural stone. 

Understanding first-hand how various stones stand up to cutting and carving gives one a head start when it comes to specifying particular stones for certain purposes. For example, slate breaks into shards, so complicated intricate small-scale shapes would be more difficult to achieve than if one were to use a more homogenous marble, for example. Whether a limestone being used as a utility worktop is given a honed finish or polished finish becomes an important decision. The honed finish will be more forgiving of watermarks etc whereas the polished finish will require more maintenance by the client.

I am currently trying to encourage Livra to work with maintenance companies to produce a package of aftercare / maintenance services to offer clients who have invested in natural stone throughout their house and gardens. 

I would also like to be able to use more indigenous stones. There are some beautiful stones coming out of North Yorkshire other than the sedimentary sandstones. The difficulty is, how to make this a commercial industry when the pockets of usable material are so fragmented due to the geological history of repeated glacial activity.

Over the years my insistence on putting forward stone as a material to use in the construction and creation of buildings and interiors has been met with scepticism. Before this millennium, some clients and contractors favoured man-made alternatives as they were seen as ‘cutting-edge’ materials, which meant the resulting design was firmly in the modern, progressive movement. Since then, there has been increasing attention paid to the issue of global warming and using eco-friendly materials. 

Taking stone from the earth is sometimes seen as not being environmentally friendly. I believe it is less environmentally friendly to put together various man-made and natural compounds, subject them to man-made processing, which in itself requires enormous energy usage, to produce materials that have limited life-spans when compared with natural stone and that very quickly date with passing fads and marketing strategies. 

The other property of stone that I am keen to introduce in my design is its ability to retain heat. The Romans made good use of the hot water system of the thermae to run under marble floors that acted as a re-cycled underfloor heating system. Suddenly a material that is thought of as hard and cold becomes luxuriously warm. Plumbed underfloor heating systems are always recommended now in my interior design projects.

Indeed, using natural stone is a commitment and it is one that should last several generations. It is to me, the ultimate form of re-cycling.

The quarrying of stone is also very different when compared with the extraction of other substances from the earth’s crust – oil, coal, etc – where what is left behind is either an eye-sore or toxic residue. In some countries the stone and marble quarries are works of sculptural art themselves. Carrara in Italy is one such example. 

The use of natural stone in interiors from the ’90s to the present is seen as a trendy option for the modern designer. Certainly in large commercial spaces stone adds that additional touch of glamour. In homes, I believe discerning clients are going for a more enduring classic (as opposed to classical) look, and stone in conjunction with materials such as natural wood and glass give this desired result.

Catherine Charles-Wilson completed an undergraduate degree and a post-graduate course in architecture (gaining a post-grad Arch Diploma with Distinction from UCL, London University) and embarked on her practical training before finally becoming a chartered member of the RIBA. She worked for a variety of practices specializing in commercial, large-scale projects to housing associations. She then worked on private residential projects alongside an interior designer whose background was fine furniture and cabinetry. Her wish that architecture should mean interior as well as exterior design was being fulfilled as she worked on complete projects that exposed her to bespoke interior design involving craftsmen working in different fields and materials – wood, glass, metal and, of course, stone – as well as structural design.