Few natural materials have been as consistently adapted, refined and industrialised as cork. Harvested from the bark of the cork oak tree without felling the tree itself, it sits at a rare intersection between renewable resource and high-performance industrial material. At the centre of its continued evolution is Amorim Cork Solutions, the flooring and wall systems business of the Amorim Group, whose heritage in cork dates back to 1868.

With deep roots in Portugal’s cork industry and a long-standing commitment to working with natural materials, the company has developed a portfolio of flooring and surface systems that combine cork’s inherent properties with contemporary manufacturing technologies. Under the Wicanders brand, Amorim Cork Solutions has spent decades refining how cork can be used not only as a niche material, but as a mainstream surface solution for residential, commercial and public environments.

At its core, cork offers a combination of properties that is difficult to replicate synthetically. Its cellular structure contains millions of air-filled compartments, giving it natural elasticity, thermal insulation and acoustic absorption. In practice, this translates into flooring that is quieter underfoot, warmer to the touch and more forgiving in use than many conventional hard surfaces.

Cork flooring can reduce sound transmission by up to 67%, while also delivering consistent thermal comfort throughout the year. It is also naturally resilient, absorbing impact and returning to form, which contributes to both durability and walking comfort. These qualities have helped cork move beyond its traditional association with bottle stoppers into a broader architectural and interior design context.

Wicanders flooring systems are structured around this material foundation, but enhanced through layered construction and surface technologies. Collections such as Cork Inspire, Cork Essence and Cork Go are designed to respond to different building types and usage levels, from high-performance commercial interiors to domestic spaces where comfort is a priority.

Cork Inspire combines a rigid core with cork layers to improve dimensional stability and resistance to everyday humidity, while also reducing the product’s overall environmental footprint through material efficiency. Cork Essence focuses on design expression, using cork’s natural qualities as a base for more decorative, trend-led surfaces. Cork Go, meanwhile, is positioned for residential applications, offering a balance of affordability, comfort and ease of installation.

One of the defining aspects of Amorim’s approach is the integration of visual design technologies with natural cork. Through high-resolution digital printing and registered embossing (EIR), the company is able to replicate the appearance and surface texture of wood and stone with a high degree of realism. Collections such as Wood Natural, Wood Inspire and Stone Natural demonstrate this approach, combining familiar material aesthetics with cork’s underlying performance benefits.

This hybrid method allows designers to specify stone or timber visuals without the full environmental impact associated with quarrying or deforestation. In the case of Wood Natural, for example, no trees are felled in the production process, while Stone Natural delivers a mineral aesthetic with the thermal and acoustic advantages of cork beneath the surface.

Beyond flooring, Amorim Cork Solutions has expanded into wall coverings and interior surfacing systems. Cork Pure Floor & Wall extends the material into vertical applications, while Dekwall offers a range of cork-based wall finishes designed to introduce both visual texture and acoustic softness into interiors. The Burel Cork Wall capsule collection further explores material circularity, combining cork with burel wool, a traditional Portuguese textile, and incorporating industrial textile waste into the production process.

Across all product lines, cork remains the unifying material logic. Its performance is not limited to comfort alone, but extends to indoor air quality, environmental impact and lifecycle considerations. All products are tested against stringent chemical emissions standards, with compliance across more than 2,000 potential compounds, reflecting increasing demand for healthier interior environments.

From a sustainability perspective, cork’s role is particularly significant. It is harvested from living trees on a cyclical basis, allowing the bark to regenerate over time while maintaining forest ecosystems that support biodiversity and carbon capture. Amorim positions this not simply as a material advantage, but as a long-term environmental framework that underpins its entire production model.

Today, Amorim Cork Solutions’ products are used across a wide range of sectors, from residential housing and hospitality interiors to offices, libraries, museums and public buildings. The versatility of cork, both as a natural material and as a technologically enhanced surface system, has allowed it to move comfortably between architectural contexts that demand both performance and sensory quality.

While cork has a long industrial history, its current application through companies like Amorim reflects a broader shift in surface materials: towards systems that are quieter, more comfortable, lower impact and more closely aligned with natural cycles. 

As the reality of an ageing population starts to take effect here in the UK, designers are increasingly being asked to consider how their choices can be of assistance, not least in care homes. Grant Westfield Product and Marketing Director Elliott Fairlie discusses how Multipanel wall panels are being increasingly specified in care environments where speed of installation, hygiene and reduced disruption are critical. Drawing on the refurbishment of 46 en-suite wet rooms at Spring Grove Care Home in Hampstead, North London, he explains how the system is helping streamline bathroom upgrades in live care settings where continuity of care and resident wellbeing are paramount, while also offering the effect of natural materials through high-quality printing.

“Bathroom refurbishment in care homes is never simple in live environments. The challenge is not only to upgrade facilities, but to do so while protecting residents’ routines, maintaining hygiene standards and avoiding prolonged disruption to day-to-day care.

That was the situation at Spring Grove Care Home in Hampstead, where 46 en-suite wet rooms needed refurbishing in a setting where many residents are living with Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia. In this type of environment, consistency, familiarity and routine are particularly important, making lengthy bathroom closures and intrusive works difficult to manage.

Springdene needed a wall surface solution that would deliver on hygiene, durability, ease of maintenance and installation speed, while also creating bathrooms that looked modern and welcoming rather than clinical. Traditional tiling was ruled out early in the process because of the time, specialist trades and maintenance associated with tile and grout installations.

Instead, the group turned to our product, Multipanel, a grout-free, fully waterproof alternative to tiles, helping the project team complete each wet room in just 1.5 days from start to finish. For a live care home environment, that speed was central to the success of the refurbishment.

For care home operators, the benefits of faster installation extend beyond programme efficiency. Shorter refurbishment times mean rooms can return to use more quickly, residents experience less upheaval, and care teams have fewer operational pressures to manage during the works. At Spring Grove, the use of wall panels enabled bathrooms to be upgraded floor by floor in weeks rather than months, helping reduce disruption for both residents and staff.

One of the key advantages of wall panels in care home bathrooms is the elimination of grout. In wet rooms, grout lines can require regular cleaning and maintenance, and over time may become vulnerable to mould, grime or moisture-related issues. Multipanel’s smooth, grout-free surfaces are designed to be simple to clean and resistant to mould and moisture ingress, helping reduce the burden on maintenance and housekeeping teams.

This low-maintenance performance is especially important in care homes, where bathrooms must remain safe, hygienic and easy to manage over the long term. By reducing the need for ongoing repairs, deep cleaning and grout maintenance, wall panels can help staff spend less time managing the building fabric and more time focused on resident care.

The Spring Grove project also shows that practical performance does not have to come at the expense of design. Springdene wanted to move away from the institutional look often associated with healthcare bathrooms and create spaces that felt calm, contemporary and comfortable. The panels helped achieve a brighter, more hotel-style finish while retaining the hygiene and durability required in a care setting, supporting a shift away from purely clinical aesthetics.

Accessibility was another important consideration. The refurbished wet rooms needed to support residents with a range of mobility and cognitive needs. At Spring Grove, Multipanel wall panels were combined with slip-resistant vinyl wet room flooring to create level-access, easy-to-navigate bathrooms. The design meets Lifetime Homes and accessibility standards, supporting long-term safety and usability for residents who may require additional assistance.

For specifiers, developers and care home operators, Spring Grove demonstrates how wall panels can support both practical and design-led refurbishment goals. Multipanel wall panels are described as being up to five times quicker to install than traditional tiles, while also offering a 30-year warranty, FSC certification and EPD credentials. This makes them relevant not only for care homes, but also for retirement living, supported housing and other independent living environments where speed, compliance, maintenance and sustainability all matter.

As pressure continues across the care sector, refurbishment solutions that minimise disruption while improving quality of life are increasingly valuable. Bathrooms must be safe and accessible, but they also need to feel comfortable, dignified and easy to use. The Spring Grove project is proof that you don’t have to compromise on aesthetics or performance to gain speed. Our approach allows specifiers to deliver contemporary, durable bathrooms that work for everyone — residents, staff and operators alike.”

As we’ve been reporting, there is a growing body of work that seeks to rethink waste not as a by-product to be hidden, but as the beginning of an entirely new material language. Few emerging designers have explored that idea with as much geological curiosity as Luxembourg-based Studio Jules Péan, whose New Rocks collection transforms industrial dust and local sediments into furniture and sculptural objects that appear closer to quarried stone than manufactured composites.

While the collection has attracted attention through recent appearances at Milan Design Week, Paris Design Week and Dutch Design Week, as well as recognition at the Luxembourg Design Awards and MaterialDistrict, the exhibitions are ultimately secondary to the material research itself. The work is less concerned with producing a new aesthetic than with questioning how materials acquire value, permanence and emotional resonance.

At the heart of New Rocks is a deceptively simple proposition: what if industrial waste could be treated as geological matter rather than refuse?

Working with recycled industrial dust alongside locally sourced stone sediments, hempcrete and mycelium, Péan has developed a slow casting process that allows these finely graded materials to consolidate into dense, stone-like forms. The resulting objects retain subtle evidence of their origins, with mineral inclusions, tonal variation and layered textures recalling naturally occurring rock rather than conventional manufactured surfaces.

The process deliberately resists industrial efficiency; instead of disguising imperfections or striving for uniformity, each piece is allowed to develop its own surface character, embracing irregularity as an intrinsic quality of the material. In doing so, the work echoes geological processes that unfold over time, compressing ideas of sedimentation, pressure and transformation into contemporary design objects.

The latest iteration of the research, New Rocks – Columns, extends this thinking into modular furniture. Composed of stacked cylindrical elements, the pieces possess an architectural quality that references both classical stone construction and naturally weathered rock formations. Their monolithic appearance contrasts with the knowledge that they originate not from quarrying but from reclaimed industrial by-products.

This tension between perception and provenance sits at the centre of Péan's practice. Although the finished objects read as carved or cast stone, their value lies equally in the narrative embedded within the material itself. Waste becomes structure; dust becomes mass.

That approach reflects a broader shift within contemporary material research, where designers are increasingly seeking alternatives to virgin resources by reimagining industrial side streams. Rather than attempting to imitate natural stone directly, however, New Rocks establishes its own material identity and one that borrows the visual and tactile qualities of geology while remaining honest about its manufactured origins.

Few people understand the relationship between material, craft and time quite like a stone sculptor. In this Insights piece, Zoë Wilson draws on her experience as a sculptor and historic stone carver to reflect on the enduring qualities of British stone, the importance of traditional craftsmanship and why working slowly with natural materials continues to offer valuable lessons for both contemporary design and the wider built environment.

What does a typical day look like for you?

No two days are ever quite the same, which is one of the things I love about being a sculptor. If I’m in the studio, my day is usually spent carving by hand using a mallet and chisel. I work almost exclusively with British stone, and because each piece takes weeks or months to complete, much of my time is spent slowly developing intricate geometric patterns directly into the surface.

Alongside the making, there is the less visible side of running a creative business. I spend time drawing new designs, photographing work, talking to collectors, planning exhibitions, teaching stone carving workshops and sharing the process through social media. Research also plays a significant role in my practice. I am continually studying geometry, pattern and historic carving traditions to develop new ideas.

How integral are materials and surfaces to your day-to-day?

Materials are at the heart of everything I do. I spend most days handling stone, studying its character and responding to the individual qualities of each block before I begin carving.

Working with British stone holds a particular significance for me. There is something deeply meaningful about using materials that come from the landscapes I am part of. Each piece carries a sense of place, history and continuity, and I feel a strong connection to the generations of craftspeople who have worked with these same materials before me. It also allows me to support local quarries and celebrate the diversity of stone found across the UK.

Although my finished sculptures often appear highly precise, I never want the natural beauty of the stone to disappear. The geology, colour, fossil content and texture all influence the finished piece, and I often find that unexpected details emerge along the way, like lovely surprises that contribute to the final work without being planned.

I also spend a great deal of time talking about stone with collectors, architects, designers and students. I enjoy helping people understand that stone is far more than a construction material. It is a remarkable medium with an extraordinary history, permanence and beauty that can connect people to both landscape and craftsmanship.

What are the biggest lessons you have taken forward from your original training? 

My route into sculpture has been quite varied. I originally studied Fine Art, specialising in painting, before training as a stonemason, then as a letter carver, and later completing a First Class Diploma in Historic Stone Carving at the City & Guilds of London Art School.

Each stage has shaped the way I work today. Fine Art taught me to think conceptually and to value composition, rhythm and visual balance. Stonemasonry gave me a deep respect for accuracy, materials and craftsmanship, lettercarving taught me chisel skills, while historic carving taught me patience and the importance of understanding traditional techniques before pushing them in new directions.

One of the greatest lessons was learning that precision and creativity are not opposites. Technical skill gives me the freedom to realise increasingly ambitious ideas.

Which projects are you most proud of being involved with and why?

There are several projects that have been particularly significant.

Working on the restoration of historic buildings, including the Houses of Parliament and St George’s Chapel, Windsor, gave me an enormous appreciation for the generations of craftspeople who have worked in stone before us. It was a privilege to contribute, even in a small way, to preserving that heritage.

Within my own artistic practice, I am particularly proud of a sculpture called Orbis. It represents a significant step forward in my exploration of geometry, where the carved pattern and the form of the sculpture become inseparable. It feels like the culmination of many years of research while also opening the door to an entirely new direction for my work.

What do you feel are the main challenges facing the stone and surfaces industry today?

One of the biggest challenges is helping people recognise the long-term value of natural stone. Initial cost often dominates decision-making, yet stone can last for centuries with relatively little maintenance, making it one of the most enduring building materials available.

There is also an important conversation around skills. Traditional stone carving and stonemasonry require years of training, and it is vital that opportunities continue to exist for young craftspeople to enter the profession. Without investment in those skills, we risk losing knowledge that has been passed down over generations.

Finally, I think there is an opportunity to broaden people’s perception of what stone can be. Alongside architecture and construction, there is enormous potential for contemporary artists and designers to continue pushing the material in exciting new directions.

In your opinion, what are the positives of using stone in the built environment?

Stone offers something very few modern materials can match. It combines durability, longevity and timeless beauty while ageing with dignity.

It also creates a strong connection to place. Every type of stone reflects the geology and history of the landscape from which it came, giving buildings a sense of identity that manufactured materials often cannot achieve. It is sympathetic to its surrounding environment and feels completely natural within it.

From a sensory perspective, stone brings warmth, texture and permanence. It encourages people to slow down and engage with a building through touch as well as sight. In an increasingly fast-moving world, I think that sense of permanence has become even more valuable.

How does sustainability shape your thinking and decision-making, and how do materials fit into this?

Sustainability is central to my practice. Since 2019, I have worked exclusively with British stone, reducing transportation while supporting local quarries and celebrating the incredible range of materials available within the UK.

I also work almost entirely by hand, using only a mallet and chisel for my carving. This keeps energy consumption extremely low compared with many manufacturing processes and means each sculpture is created through time, skill and craftsmanship rather than heavy machinery. Working at this slower pace also means I spend a great deal of time on each individual piece of stone, rather than consuming large volumes of material, which naturally reduces waste and encourages a more considered use of resources.

Perhaps most importantly, I hope to make work that lasts. Stone has survived for thousands of years, and I like the idea that the sculptures I make today may still be appreciated by future generations. Creating objects with that longevity feels like one of the most sustainable approaches we can take.

Natural stone and richly detailed interior finishes play a central role in the repositioning of The Harewood, a boutique workplace by MoreySmith that reimagines an existing commercial building for today's West End office market.

Completed for J.P. Morgan Asset Management following its acquisition of the property in 2024, the 26,000ft² refurbishment transforms the former 2 Harewood Place into contemporary office accommodation while retaining the existing structure. Rather than replacing the building, the project focuses on upgrading and extending its working life, preserving embodied carbon while responding to growing demand for premium, sustainability-conscious workplaces in Mayfair.

For MoreySmith, the commission also marked a return to familiar territory. The practice had previously refurbished the building in 2010, and the latest intervention builds on that earlier work to reposition the address more firmly within Mayfair's evolving commercial landscape.

"Taking a building on the edge of Oxford Street and repositioning it as a Mayfair address is exactly the kind of challenge we relish," says founder Linda Morey-Burrows. "The strength of MoreySmith's architectural and creative team, combined with the residential sensibility of Studio Morey, has allowed us to create something genuinely distinctive."

While the architectural intervention remains deliberately restrained, materiality is used to reshape first impressions and elevate the experience of arrival. A soot-washed façade announces the building's renewed identity at street level before giving way to a marble-lined entrance portal that establishes a more tactile and refined character. Inside, stone continues to anchor the reception, where marble flooring is paired with a high-gloss burr walnut reception desk, deep green mosaic surfaces within the lift lobby, timber panelling, brass detailing and carefully considered lighting.

The palette draws on the language of high-end residential and hospitality interiors rather than conventional speculative office design, reflecting the increasing convergence of workplace and lifestyle environments.

Upper floors continue this approach through the introduction of a new marketing lounge and refurbished shared amenities, alongside upgraded office accommodation designed to appeal to occupiers seeking premium space in one of London's most competitive office locations.

For J.P. Morgan Asset Management, the refurbishment balances commercial ambition with a more sustainable approach to development. "Acquiring The Harewood gave us the opportunity to reintroduce a distinctive boutique asset into one of London's most in-demand office markets," says Charlie Garai of J.P. Morgan Asset Management. "The refurbishment has been executed with commercial intent, and we're confident it will attract tenants who value quality and location in equal measure."

Rather than pursuing wholesale redevelopment, the project demonstrates how careful refurbishment can deliver both environmental and commercial benefits. Retaining the existing structure reduces embodied carbon while allowing investment to focus on the quality of the spaces occupants experience most directly.

That strategy is reinforced through a material palette selected for longevity as much as appearance. Stone provides permanence and visual weight within the entrance sequence, while timber, brass and mosaic finishes introduce warmth and texture that soften the building's commercial character without compromising durability.

Jordan Adair of RX London believes that approach reflects a broader shift within the office market. "MoreySmith bring far more than design expertise to projects like this," he says. "The team has a deep understanding of the commercial property market and how occupiers respond to space, ensuring the design is fully aligned with leasing strategy and long-term value. Their sustainability-led approach — retaining and upgrading what's already there while delivering a genuinely high-end product — adds real commercial credibility."

Rather than relying on dramatic architectural gestures, The Harewood demonstrates how the considered specification of enduring materials can redefine an existing building. Through the use of natural stone, timber and finely crafted interior finishes, MoreySmith has created a workplace that feels rooted in its Mayfair setting while responding to changing expectations of quality, longevity and experience within the contemporary office market.

Images © Peter Landers

While Wimbledon may be drawing to a close, the latest racket-and-ball-based craze has steadily been steering attention away from tennis and onto a whole new form of indoor activity. As the UK finally catches up with the rest of Europe in realising padel’s credentials, new infrastructure is being rapidly built to keep up with demand.

That’s good news for surface brands such as engineered timber surfaces supplier Havwoods, who have been specified throughout SMASH. Designed by THG Studios, this new immersive padel venue in Manchester acts as a hybrid environment for sport, content creation and live events.

The project brings together high-performance gameplay and production-led spatial design within a single interior, with timber playing a key role in balancing durability, acoustics and visual warmth. Havwoods’ Azur flooring from the PurePlank collection forms a consistent base throughout the venue, selected for its light tone and reflective quality to help counter the enclosed nature of the space and enhance the sense of openness.

Elsewhere, Fresato Oak veneer has been used to define key feature elements including the SMASH feature wall and Slazenger ball plinth. The profiled surface introduces texture and shadow, adding depth to vertical planes that shift subtly under changing light conditions. In more functional areas, Hushwood Natural Oak has been specified for the equipment display and sports recovery bar, where its acoustic properties help moderate sound levels generated by filming, events and gameplay.

Paul Moody, Global Digital & Marketing Director at Havwoods, says the project demonstrates how timber is being used beyond purely aesthetic applications.

"Projects such as SMASH demonstrate how timber can contribute far beyond aesthetics," he says. "Whether through flooring, textured wall surfaces or acoustic applications, wood helps introduce warmth, improve comfort and create a stronger connection between people and the spaces they use."

The SMASH project follows a period of broader activity for Havwoods, including this year’s Clerkenwell Design Week, where the company collaborated with Italian furniture brand True Design in its London showroom. The basement space was reconfigured as part of a three-day installation exploring the relationship between furniture, flooring and wall surfaces. The presentation ran throughout the festival and brought together a range of timber applications, from joinery and wall cladding to flooring systems, with an emphasis on material continuity across interior environments.

Alongside its project work, Havwoods has also introduced its latest WoodBook, a curated overview of recent product developments, collections and design applications that reflects the scale of its expanding portfolio. The publication includes updates across both the Henley and Venture Plank ranges, as well as the introduction of Patterna, a new collection that reinterprets end-grain timber as a series of geometric, customisable surface patterns including Chevron, Grid, Sailboat and Ladder.

Manufactured from responsibly sourced timber, Patterna exposes the densest part of the wood through cross-cut sections, combining durability with a distinctive visual texture. New colourways across the Henley range are also introduced, inspired by traditional timber vessels used in the storage and transport of liquids, while Venture Plank has been extended with a wider family of walnut products across multiple formats and laying patterns.

Havwoods also continues to expand its bespoke laser-cutting service, allowing designers to develop highly customised timber surfaces that integrate multiple species and complex geometric layouts across flooring, wall and joinery applications.

Good news for circularity fans! Low Carbon Industrial has introduced Stelapop to the UK architecture and design market, bringing a circular sheet material manufactured from reclaimed post-industrial denim to architects, interior designers and specifiers.

Developed in partnership with Saitex, one of the world's largest denim manufacturers, Stelapop transforms unavoidable textile waste generated during the production of jeans into a durable interior surface material. While Saitex has spent decades redesigning its manufacturing processes around circularity, cutting and finishing fabric inevitably produces offcuts, and a small proportion of garments fail quality control and cannot be repaired. Rather than entering the waste stream, this material is reprocessed into architectural panels.

Each 5mm-thick sheet comprises 70% reclaimed denim, combined with a water-based binder and natural rubber before being finished with a matte protective lacquer. According to the companies, a single panel incorporates around 14kg of textile waste, equivalent to approximately 35 pairs of jeans diverted from landfill.

For Low Carbon Industrial, the launch reflects a broader focus on materials whose value is defined as much by their provenance and manufacture as by their appearance.

"The core of our design philosophy has always been that materials are defined by how they are made and what they are made from," says Conor Taylor of Low Carbon Industrial. "Few materials embody this more than Stelapop, made from unavoidable post-industrial denim waste, and we're delighted to bring it to British architects and designers for the first time."

Although derived from textile waste, the panels offer a distinctive visual quality. The reclaimed fibres create subtle variations in tone and texture that shift under changing light, producing a surface with an unexpectedly mineral-like character despite its textile origins. Stelapop is available in six colourways ranging from pale blue-grey through to near black.

Designed for interior applications, the material can be cut, drilled and routed using conventional woodworking equipment, while scoring the reverse of the panel allows it to be gently curved. Potential applications include wall linings, interior cladding, shelving, furniture and bespoke joinery, as well as the manufacture of smaller domestic objects such as trays and homewares.

What’s more, circularity also extends beyond manufacture, for rather than being discarded at the end of its service life, Stelapop panels are intended to be repaired and reused wherever possible, with remanufacture into new panels viewed as a final option once further reuse is no longer practical.

The launch reflects continued interest across the architectural materials sector in finding productive uses for industrial by-products that might otherwise become waste. Products such as Stelapop demonstrate how waste streams from other manufacturing industries are increasingly being reimagined as specification-grade surface materials, broadening the palette available to designers seeking lower-impact interior finishes.

Architect and researcher Giulliana Giorgi has been leading work on an online resource exploring the sourcing, use and potential of British stone within contemporary construction. Developed through the research project Unlocking Indigenous Stone Construction in the UK, the platform brings together mapping, research, and industry knowledge to help architects, specifiers and clients better understand the UK's geological resources and the opportunities for lower-carbon, locally sourced stone. 

The project emerged from a wider investigation into the barriers preventing greater use of indigenous stone in construction and was supported by the RIBA Scott Brownrigg Award for Sustainable Development. The UK possesses one of the most geologically diverse stone landscapes in Europe, yet the UK stone industry is highly fragmented and largely composed of small and medium-sized enterprises, including quarries, processors and specialist contractors. Working alongside architects from Allies and Morrison, structural engineers from Webb Yates and Stone Federation's Matt Robb, Giorgi's research seeks to connect geology, design, procurement, and sustainability through a more accessible understanding of the UK's stone landscape.

SS: What first prompted the idea for Indigenous Stone UK, and what were the main gaps in knowledge or accessibility that you felt the platform needed to address?

GG: The idea for the platform took shape in 2024. That summer, I took part in a hands-on workshop at the Building Crafts College, organised by UCL's Oliver Wilton, where together with engineers, artists, and stonemasons we designed, carved and built stone arches and rib vaults together. Conversations there pushed me to start asking broader questions about the UK's stone extraction landscape. Later that year, colleagues from the Climate Change Group at Allies and Morrison and I came across the RIBA Scott Brownrigg Award and began shaping a research agenda around indigenous stone.

Valuable resources already existed, although the information was fragmented and often difficult to navigate. Much like the industry itself, knowledge was dispersed across geology, quarrying, design, procurement, and construction, with very few points of connection between them.

It quickly became clear that the challenge, rather than a lack of available material, was a lack of shared understanding around specifying indigenous stone. So, the ambition was to provide a foundation of knowledge that could support better decisions and more meaningful conversations across the industry.

SS: The project brings together architecture, engineering and industry expertise. Could you outline the wider team behind the research and explain how those different perspectives shaped the development of the platform?

GG: I led the research, initiated through the RIBA Scott Brownrigg Award, in close collaboration with colleagues from the Climate Change Group at Allies and Morrison. Charlie Stuart led the RIBA Plan of Work overlay for stone construction and helped translate our roundtable findings into a clear industry roadmap. Sam Walters and Liam Kelly built the mapping platform and embodied carbon calculator. Webb Yates engineers Jenny Haines and Dan Cole brought structural performance and embodied carbon expertise that shaped the platform's technical content, while Stone Federation's Matt Robb gave us a direct line into quarrying, fabrication and supply chains, and helped open doors across the sector.

It was equally important to document the people and places behind the material. Through quarry visits, interviews and a documentary made with Daryia Cheremisina, we captured the local stories, expertise and challenges that shape the industry today.

Throughout, we kept refining the language and accessibility of the research itself, because it had to speak to multiple audiences at once - from the general public to technical specifiers. I think that the complementarity of perspectives is what made the project stand out.

SS: Mapping sits at the centre of the resource. What were some of the key challenges in gathering and organizing information about indigenous stone, and what do you hope users will take away from the map itself?

GG:  Valuable knowledge already existed, but it sat across geological surveys, trade organisations, quarry websites, and technical documents, and, perhaps most importantly, in the experience of quarry managers themselves. The challenge was pulling all of that into one coherent, accessible resource, drawing on direct engagement with the industry through questionnaires and fieldwork throughout the research. It's a starting point rather than a finished product – we keep receiving feedback from quarries and practitioners, and future iterations should grow more comprehensive.

For me, mapping became a tool for making visible the relationship between the buildings we design, and the places materials come from – letting users explore what stone is available locally, understand travel distances, identify suppliers, and begin to weigh up embodied carbon.

The industry has historically run on long-established personal relationships, which can make it hard for newcomers to engage. I hope the map encourages more transparency and coordination across a sector facing real pressure from international competition and shortages in skills. A stronger shared voice matters if it’s to stay relevant and resilient in the future.

Ultimately, I want architects, clients, and specifiers to use the map as a gateway into the industry. Over time, I would like to see the platform incorporate more technical information, including EPDs, testing data and other resources that can support confident specification.

SS: The Sustainable Sourcing Guide is arguably the jewel in the crown of the whole body of work. It is a detailed and pretty comprehensive overview of indigenous UK Stone and a welcome tool for specifiers and stakeholders alike. Can you give a summary of the key elements - what can people expect within it?

GG: The guide is a practical, navigable resource. It introduces readers to the UK's geological landscape and active quarries, then walks through extraction processes, stone types, products, applications, and contemporary approaches to stone construction. From there it moves into the wider systems around the material: procurement, economics, skills, supply chains, planning and policy.

In many ways, the guide acts as a translator between the different worlds of geology and quarrying, engineering, architecture, procurement, bringing together voices that don't often appear in the same conversation and revealing the interdependencies between them.

It's built on interviews, site visits and engagement across the industry, so it sets out a balanced picture of the opportunities and the challenges facing wider adoption. More than anything, it tries to build a nuanced understanding of what sustainability means for indigenous stone - environmentally, socially, culturally, and economically.

SS: Indigenous Stone UK feels like the beginning of a much larger body of work. As the research continues, what areas will the next phases focus on, and what do you hope the project ultimately achieves for the natural stone sector and the wider construction industry?

GG: The RIBA-funded phase has concluded, but I see this as the beginning of a much larger research journey. The platform will keep evolving as a shared resource, but the most exciting opportunities now lie beyond it.

As I move into the next stage of my career, building an independent research and design practice alongside my academic work, I want to keep exploring these questions through research by design and built projects. The project has already built a remarkable network across the stone industry. The next challenge is translating those conversations into spatial propositions, prototypes and ultimately buildings that demonstrate new possibilities for indigenous stone.

More broadly, I hope the project contributes to a new local vernacular - one that responds to the realities of the twenty-first century while staying rooted in the resources, skills, and landscapes of a particular place. Success won't be measured by the map or the guide alone, but by more people engaging confidently with local materials and building architecture that's environmentally responsible, culturally meaningful, and genuinely connected to context.

The latest addition to RAK Ceramics' I Sassi Collection takes its cues from one of Italy's most distinctive historic landscapes, translating the geology and architecture of the UNESCO-listed Sassi di Matera into a contemporary porcelain surface.

Designed to evoke the character of the ancient cave dwellings carved into southern Italy's calcarenite rock, I Sassi Matera draws on the weathered textures and tonal variation created over centuries by water and wind erosion. Rather than replicating stone directly, the collection interprets its layered appearance through ceramic surface design.

The launch expands the manufacturer's I Sassi Collection alongside I Sassi Borgogna, with both ranges sharing the same base background. RAK Ceramics says this approach allows the two surfaces to be specified together while maintaining visual continuity across larger schemes.

I Sassi Matera introduces a more expressive finish by combining that shared base with decorative mineral-like flakes that add depth and movement to the surface. The result is a collection intended to balance historical reference with contemporary architectural applications.

Available in dark greige, dark ivory, dark sand and grey, the range includes coordinated decorative options and is produced in 90 x 180cm, 120 x 120cm and 60 x 120cm formats. The large-format porcelain is suitable for a variety of interior applications, from residential spaces to commercial and hospitality projects.

The collection reflects a wider trend for ceramic manufacturers to draw inspiration from natural stone and geological landscapes, using digital production techniques to recreate the visual complexity and subtle variation associated with quarried materials while offering the consistency and performance of porcelain.

Natural materials have long been central to McLean Quinlan's architecture, but with the renovation of a Lisbon townhouse, they also became a means of transforming the experience of everyday family life.

Completed for a young family, the 630m² project reworks a series of former townhouses that had been amalgamated during the 1990s into a single property. While generous in size, the building had become disconnected through years of piecemeal alteration, with split-level floors, oversized open spaces and an inconsistent palette that left interiors feeling cold, echoing and difficult to inhabit.

Rather than extending or radically altering the exterior, the architects focused on reshaping the existing fabric from within. The result is a four-bedroom family home with a separate guest apartment, where carefully proportioned spaces and a restrained palette of timber, stone, limewash and ceramic create an atmosphere rooted in wellbeing rather than luxury.

For associate architect and project lead Will Mouland, the design centred on making the house feel more human in scale.

"The house was oversized and disconnected, and we wanted to bring it back to something much softer and more domestic in scale," he says. "The project became about carefully shaping moments for family life; spaces to gather, work, play and unwind."

That approach is evident from the moment of arrival. Decorative mouldings and visual clutter have been stripped away to create a calmer entrance sequence, while the central staircase has been enclosed to establish a dedicated entrance hall. New Douglas fir screens replace the original glass balustrades, introducing warmth while allowing daylight to filter through the house.

Natural materials become increasingly important as the home unfolds. Limewashed walls soften light throughout the interiors, engineered timber flooring provides continuity between rooms, and Portuguese ceramic tiles reference local architectural traditions without resorting to overt stylistic gestures.

One of the property's most distinctive interventions occupies on the lower ground floor, where the clients' interest in wellness has shaped an entire level dedicated to relaxation and exercise. While it’s an overly and arguably misused buzzword, it can’t be argued that the outcome of Mouland and Co’s input does anything other than offer space to enhance one's wellbeing. What had once been a single expansive room has now been reconfigured into a sequence of interconnected spaces, including a yoga studio, massage room, gym, steam room, cold plunge and infrared sauna.

Here, material changes subtly define different experiences, with a lowered Douglas fir ceiling that distinguishes the wet zone, while the steam room is wrapped in matte micro-cement to create a monolithic, tactile enclosure. Elsewhere, a custom Douglas fir cold plunge and pale hemlock sauna reinforce the project's emphasis on natural finishes that age gracefully through use and sit firmly within the biophilic instruction manual.

Mouland explains that these materials were fundamental to the atmosphere the clients hoped to achieve.

"Wellness wasn't an add-on but very much the organising principle of the whole house," he says. "Natural materials were central to achieving that; there is an inherent calm to timber, stone and limewash. Subtle references to Portuguese materials helped root it in its setting without being overly literal about it."

On the principal living floor, spatial reorganisation proved just as important as the material palette. Rather than retaining the previous open-plan arrangement, McLean Quinlan introduced freestanding walls and timber screens to create a series of interconnected but distinct living spaces.

The relocated kitchen now overlooks the rear garden, where panoramic aluminium doors open fully onto a new terrace and curved timber deck. A dropped timber ceiling gives the kitchen its own identity within the wider plan, while concealed joinery hides a pantry behind flush cabinetry, reinforcing the calm visual language that runs throughout the house.

Elsewhere, bedrooms have been resized to create more comfortable proportions, while the primary bathroom adopts the same matte micro-cement used elsewhere to evoke the atmosphere of a contemporary spa. Other bathrooms are lined with softly undulating white glazed tiles inspired by Lisbon's long tradition of ceramic façades, their subtle relief catching changing daylight throughout the day.

Although the intervention is substantial, its architectural language remains restrained. Rather than introducing dramatic new forms, McLean Quinlan has relied on the enduring qualities of natural materials, careful detailing and thoughtful spatial editing to redefine the building.

The result is a home where timber, stone, plaster and ceramics work together to create interiors that feel rooted in place while supporting the rhythms of modern family life. In an era when wellness is often expressed through technology or overt spectacle, Lisbon Townhouse demonstrates the quieter contribution that materiality, proportion and craftsmanship can make to everyday living.

All images © Jim Stephenson