Recently we were delighted to welcome the 2024 winners of the RIBA Scott Brownrigg Award for Sustainable Development to our London studio for the final presentation of their research, ‘Unlocking Indigenous Stone Construction in the UK: A Guide for Sustainable Sourcing’.

The research team – Giulliana Giorgi, Jennifer Haines and Matt Robb, supported by Dan Cole, Dariya Cheremisina, Liam Kelly, Charlie Stuart, Sam Walters and Jonny Boon – set out to explore a timely and pressing question: how can indigenous UK stone play a more meaningful role in decarbonising the built environment?

While natural stone is widely associated with heritage or decorative applications, the research challenges this perception. It demonstrates that UK stone has significant, and often overlooked, potential as a low-carbon structural material, particularly when used in load-bearing, self-supporting or hybrid applications. When sourced regionally and specified with minimal processing, indigenous stone can offer clear whole-life carbon advantages over concrete and fired clay alternatives.

Crucially, the research shows that the barriers to wider adoption are not geological or technical. Instead, they are systemic. Fragmented supply chains, limited access to standardised data, skills erosion, and procurement models that delay material decisions all contribute to stone being specified too late - or not at all. As a result, large quantities of structurally viable stone are currently downcycled to aggregate due to misalignment between design expectations and material realities.

A key message from the research is the importance of early-stage decision-making. When stone is considered from RIBA Stages 0–2, rather than as a late-stage material substitution, issues of cost, programme, risk and supply can be addressed proactively. Translating stone into familiar, standardised formats - such as bricks, blocks, panels or prefabricated systems - also helps it integrate more easily into contemporary construction workflows.

The research culminates in a publicly accessible online platform designed to support these early conversations. Through the website, users can download the Indigenous UK Stone Sustainable Resourcing Guide, which provides comprehensive information for architects, engineers and planners on sourcing indigenous stone, including geological characteristics, quarry locations, environmental considerations and best practice for sustainable procurement. Visitors can also explore an interactive quarry map showing active UK stone producers, with geological data, stone types and quarry contact details, and watch a short documentary exploring the contemporary UK stone industry and its future potential. Together, these tools are intended to inform early-stage decisions around provenance, supply and embodied carbon, supported by an integrated carbon calculator - helping architects, engineers, clients and contractors better understand availability, provenance and impact at the point where design decisions matter most.

Beyond carbon, the work highlights the wider value of indigenous stone. Supporting regional supply chains, skills and quarrying communities is positioned as part of a just transition to low-carbon construction - one that strengthens local economies, anchors identity and builds long-term material resilience.

The presentation concluded with a UK Stone Roadmap and a clear call to action for the industry: to reposition stone as a contemporary, structural material; to accelerate shared standards and data; and to strengthen collaboration across design, engineering, fabrication and education.

We are proud to support research that is optimistic, rigorous and grounded in the realities of delivery - and that opens up practical routes to reducing embodied carbon in the built environment.

Explore the research platform.