Deciding on a worktop for your kitchen or bathroom

Stone is the best choice, whether you’re looking at beautiful period fireplaces or modern minimalist designs. New fireplaces use stones like marble and granite for the same reasons our distant (and not so distant) ancestors did: stone is heat resistant; doesn’t catch fire; doesn’t weather or change colour due to contact with heat or fire; is easy to clean; and can withstand knocks and bumps from logs, coal buckets and other equipment. But with the wide range of stones available, from granite to quartz, which should you choose? Which part […]

Located in Wiltshire, Stonehenge is one of the most famous prehistoric monuments in the world. Archeologists believe that it was constructed around 3000 BC  from, in the most part, Preseli Spotted Dolerite. This stone, which is harder than granite is believed to have been brought all the way from the Preseli mountain range in Wales, a journey of around 250 miles. How the stones were transported this distance with the meager tools the natives are believed to have possessed has been deliberated for decades. The  glacial erratic theory suggests that […]

The Ningbo History Museum’s architecture is really a work of art in it’s own right. The museum’s facade is created from brick recycled from the area and constructed on a patch of land which used to be farmland. The building is reminiscent of geometric forms and really shows how stone can be used to create contemporary, thought provoking design. Wang Shu, the architect, believes that the traditional techniques employed in the building of the museum, fit perfectly with contemporary design. I would have to agree with him, as contemporary styling […]