History of Materials

Our Materials

Formed millions of years ago, stone is constantly being evolved by the forces and effects of our planet. Although there are literally millions of combinations of rock, these are categorized into essentially three types; sedimentary, igneous and metamorphic. All of them have variants which make beautiful stone for enhancing your home.

Sedimentary

Sedimentary rocks are produced by the movement of water or wind. Material, which may have been blown or washed, settles and with time and pressure forms rock. Some of this rock, such as that excavated from ancient river and sea beds, makes beautiful slabs of stone when polished. Often individual pebbles (which have travelled a short distance) surrounded by fine washed sands (which have travelled a long distance) and fossil remains can be seen. When cut and polished, these slabs unfold a fascinating story of the history behind the creation of our planet – their imperfections and randomness add to the uniqueness of their origin. Breccia, Limestone and Banded Ironstone are just some of the hundreds of beautiful stone types formed in this way.

Igneous

Igneous rocks are formed when magma (molten rock beneath the Earth’s surface) cools and solidifies. Because many of these rock types contain complex minerals they form crystals within their structure. These crystals might occur randomly, be aligned, or lie in layers giving rise to stunning visual surfaces in our polished slabs of stone. Extremely hard and durable as a work surface, Granite is one of the most common igneous rock types in the world. Made up of three different minerals (feldspar, quartz and mica) Granite is generally quite uniform in its structure and comes in a variety of colours and levels of polish owing to each type of granite’s unique mineral combination.

Metamorphic

Metamorphic rock is formed when either Sedimentary or Igneous rock is subjected to heat and pressure below the Earth’s crust. High grade metamorphic rock, such as the beautiful green and red Eclogite, forms from basic Igneous rocks deep below the Earth’s mantle whilst lower grade metaphorphic rock such as Slate is formed nearer the surface. Because quality and consistency is important to us we prefer to work only with high grade material, those rock types formed deep below the surface. Metamorphic stone slabs often show features of stretching, squashing and fracture and includes stone like Marble, Fault Breccia and Tectonite.

Manmade Quartz Stone

As if nature hadn’t provided enough variety, there are now high quality manmade stones which are proving extremely popular. They are made from crushed quartz crystals which are bonded together by a special resin producing a uniform worktop with a warmer feel to the hand. Manmade quartz bridges the gap between nature and technology.

The process begins with combining a high percentage of natural quartz with resins and pigments. Then through a patented process, the resins bind the quartz. The result is a highly durable stone product. Produced various thicknesses usually 30mm or 20mm. It can be used in a variety of applications, including kitchen worktops, bathroom vanities.

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