Page 8 - Bulletin 19 2015

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Problematically, many of the new additions that are presented to us are of an inferior standard

especially when stone is involved. The modern use of stone a lot of the time tends to use the
material as if it were a kind of decorative masonry wallpaper, therefore bypassing the

essential character of the material which of course is structural and load-bearing. (Fig. 1.7.)

As the architectural historian Gavin Stamp says to people following his guided tours of
modern London, “Almost every change that has taken place has been for the worse”. Sadly,

this applies to many other places around the world. I believe that we need to prevent and,

better still, reverse this all too familiar trend in relation to our unique coastal environment.

The Importance of Stone to Architecture and Building

I would like first to present some of the qualities of stone which make it not only pleasing as

a building material but in fact crucial to the nature and future of buildings. (Fig. 1.8) I believe
one cannot underestimate the power of stone in creating and more importantly maintaining a

building’s heritage. I also believe that a key problem with the buildings of our time has to do
with the profound thinness of the materials and detailing used. (Fig. 1.9.)

Fashion plays a huge part and currently we often find in our local trendy additions a certain
fetish when it comes to corrugated iron. Here we see an example where the stone has been

quite carefully restored but then crowned with an alien tin shed; a solution which in my view
is inappropriate both to the actual building and the area as a whole. I would go further and

argue that in a single act of selfishness and lack of urban manners, this example sets a

shocking precedent. (Fig. 1.10.)

I will expand on this later. Next I provide a brief introduction to the actual material under
discussion, namely stone.

General Types of rock

There are many different types of rock which, for the purposes of this talk I have reduced to
the three basic categories.

Igneous rock eg. granite. This is extremely hard and is used mainly for kerb-stones, flooring