Natasha Huq, Groves-Raines Architects Studios

As a conservation architect, I work frequently with stone, repairing and conserving historic masonry buildings that are often hundreds of years old. However, conservation for me is simply an approach to an existing context – it is about nurturing an awareness and a consideration of our natural, cultural and built environment. There is a lot to learn from conservation knowledge generally, in order to try and encourage the use of stone in a contemporary context.

I am based in Edinburgh and therefore constantly surrounded by stone. The city’s origins began on castle rock and go back as early as the late Bronze Age. Its geology is probably the most important factor in its formation. From the raw medieval domestic tenements of the Old Town, to the New Town’s more refined Georgian streets and crescents. From paving, boundary walls, and the public realm, to individual institutional goliaths. Before the wars, it was used everywhere no matter the function, scale, and time period, from humble to grand, from domestic to public – it was the universal solution. There was an economy of scale and an inherent circular economy due to the sheer amount it was built with, and also the acceptance of all parts of quarry production according to use, for example the use of ashlar for front elevations and rubble for rear.

If Edinburgh is a city of stone then Scotland is a country of stone – it probably has more stone buildings than any other country on a per capita basis. Historically, its stone supplies were immense, and of huge variety. Over 3500 quarries used to exist but now there are only a handful that actively quarry building stone all year round. Which is evidence that despite this legacy, Scotland is now relying on other materials and imported stone for the majority of construction, most likely due to the perception that indigenous stone is expensive and not readily available. With more demand, availability and affordability would improve, however this requires a fundamental change in the way we use the material.

How we use stone currently is a post war legacy, with the introduction of cavity walls, and favouring ‘clean’ unblemished stone as a thin external cladding layer and rejecting rubble, tonal variation and the use of masonry as a load bearing material. This has led to huge waste in quarry production, a subsequent rise in prices, and a perceived unreliability of stone as a stock item. In order to re-develop a convincing case for stone, we need to understand its natural characteristics and how it is extracted and processed. It is a natural material and we should not expect it to have uniform aesthetics. Newly extracted stone should not be viewed and judged at the point of construction. When dealing with natural materials they should have a period of time to settle and unfold appropriately within their environment.

There is merit in relearning traditional building construction, as it is inherently sustainable. The limited palette of local materials and efficiency of construction was refined through repetition. By applying similar principles to modern contexts we can simplify and decarbonise our work, but also contribute to a sense of place and identity. Edinburgh is a testament to this. We can read the city through its stonework, we can see the mark of the hand and the mark of time, as this is not an inert material – it absorbs, it weathers, and it breathes. The layers of the city can be interpreted through the stone as it reveals hints to its geology and many lives. There is usefulness, there is adaptability, there is strength and delicacy, there is longevity and ongoing re-use, and there is poetry in stone.

The author would also like to thank Ali Davey (Historic Environment Scotland) and Marcus Paine (Hutton Stone Co.) for their input into this article.