London Stone, supplier of hard landscaping materials has opened a new showroom in Manchester – its ninth in the UK. Visitors will be able to view natural stone, porcelain, and clay pavers, composite decking, cladding, metal pergolas and garden planters. 

The company was set up in 2005 by brothers Gavin, Steve and Duncan Walley and last year, was certified carbon neutral. 

Of the latest showroom, Steve Walley said: “London Stone has deep roots in the North West, so opening a brand-new showroom in Altrincham, Greater Manchester, is a proud moment for me personally and a massive step forward for London Stone and the landscaping industry. The North West region is a hotbed of landscaping excellence and home to some of the industry’s most talented landscapers and designers. We opened a northern distribution hub here two years ago and following that now with a state-of-the-art showrooms demonstrates how much we value the industry and the talent in this area.”

Sealant company LTP has extended its global presence launching its ECOPROTEC range in the United Arab Emirates. 

ECOPROTEC products are made in the UK and were developed for the contract and landscape sectors and includes sustainable surface care products for all types of natural and engineered stone both internal and external. Its range includes sealing and protection, cleaning and restoration, and aftercare treatments designed for all types of polished and unpolished natural and artificial stone, porcelain, ceramic, concrete, masonry and terrazzo.  

Established in 1982, Al Shabib Trading (AST) will now be the distribution partner for ECOPROTEC in the UAE and currently serves customers from East Africa to the East Gulf. 

Albion Stone, Hutton Stone, Lundhs, Paye, Polycor and The Stonemasonry Company have joined together to form The Stone Collective. With the view to 'educate and inspire the built environment community about the power of stone', those involved are pioneering stone as the 21st-century's low carbon, load-bearing material. 

This May, The Stone Collective will sponsor a Material Futures stream at the Footprint+ conference – an event dedicated to promoting decarbonisation in the built environment. During the London event, members of The Stone Collective will be delivering seminars including:

Towards a new stone architecture
Pierre Bidaud, Natalia Petovka (TBC) and Michael Poultney
Since architects Martorell, Bohigas, Macklay and engineer Peter Rice built the 1992 Pavilion of the Future for the Seville World Expo from granite, what has changed in the use of stone in modern buildings? During the last 30 years updated systems and technologies have enabled the development of new stone building typologies. From a simple brick to highly engineered prefabricated pre-tensioned system, stone has proven its versatility, efficiently addressing pressing issues of the over consumption of energy.
 
A perpetual virtuous cycle
Robert Greer, Marcus Paine, Thor-Anders Lundh Håkestad and Valerie Bergeron 
From extraction to use, stone is a low environmental impact material. Ready to use, affordable, plentiful and easily adapted for reuse, stone is more relevant than ever. At the heart of stone construction there is a very low carbon footprint, with no heating/cooking process required, very little water needed, with a nose to tail approach including all the wonky bits for a 100% yield of the extracted material.

Footprint+ runs from 8-9 May at Old Billingsgate, London. For more information, visit: footprintplus.com

Conservation and restoration specialist Stonehealth has launched an upgraded version of its superheated water cleaning system.

The Gloucestershire company has launched the Doff III – a new and improved, even safer and more sustainable version model of the machine favoured by architects, specifiers and cleaning industry professionals in the UK and worldwide. 

Four years and a six figure sum have been invested in the development of the new machine, which is based on customer feedback from the previous (and continuing) incarnation, the Doff Integra.
The Doff III has an improved, lighter, fully integrated pump requiring 50 per cent less power usage, a remote power control, an electronic temperature control system to reduce water consumption, and increased maximum hose length of 45 metres, while still achieving a steam heat of 150 degrees C at the end of the nozzle.

Stonehealth, which is based in Cam, near Dursley, is now targeting overall sales growth of more than 30 per cent in 2024. At the same time the company has appointed Angela Southern as business development director.

“We’re delighted with the new machine,” said Brian Crowe, executive chairman and founder of Stonehealth, “and we’re looking forward to introducing it to the market. Over the past 30 years we’ve earned a status as leaders in our field and we’ve got a catalogue of projects, from cathedrals to historic landmarks, to make us proud of what we’ve achieved. However we are always looking to improve what we do, to make our machines even easier to use and more economical. The original Doff went to market over 20 years ago and the principles have remained the same since then. But like the Integra was, the Doff III is a significant upgrade on its predecessor, and we’ll continue to innovate and create new features as time progresses.

“We care about the preservation of historic buildings and so it is important that contractors using our systems are properly trained in the right techniques and maintenance. So we have revised our Rosette accreditation system, which ensures that a community of approved contractors are available to architects and specifiers looking for best in class operators.

“We know that there are many other applications for this technology, in a variety of scenarios outside the preservation and cleaning of masonry. The possibilities for this company are endless, so we’re ready to get moving.”