Gareth Davies Stone

On second week of November I visited Italy to inspect a small mock up and the blocks reserved for our order destined for the Bank of China specified by TP Bennett. During our trip we also managed to visit the quarry where this particular limestone is actually mined. The quarry has been in operation for 30 years, just 10 years ago they decided to go underground to avoid a difficult layer of two of fractured and poor quality blocks. The project we has been working on has been running for some time and the material had changed slightly from when the San Remo had been first sampled (Please note though this is a feature now of the material so should be considered for future projects!).

The San Remo had become slightly finer in grain and typically at one end of the block there was a darker band of material, not too out of character as we expect directional rushes through the tiles but this was not something seen previously in samples and although only in 20 -25% of the material had this band we decided to try to manage it out of our order by changing how to produce the tiles.

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I visited Carrara this week with Commercial Stone Limited to select marble for a project in Central London. The two senior in house architects from the Development company also attended with a very specific idea as to what they wanted.

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This week I visited a factory in Rapolano, Tuscany to inspect slabs for a small but important reception area in the Gherkin. The day started slowly making our way to Rapolano using the old road from Lucignano where we had stayed the previous night. With two level crossings we spent for what  seemed like most of the morning sitting waiting for the trains to pass and the barrier let us by. We got to there eventually and proceeded to start shifting the slabs and bundles to allow us to see the specific features of the blocks available.

The stone for this project needed to be spot on as there is an existing Silver Travertine floor installed that we had to match, samples had been sent to site from the factory to make sure we had the right bed and type of Silver Travertine and this was a visit to carry out the fine tuning and to ensure the architects exact requirements were met.

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This week the Shell Gris Honed Marble tiles arrived in London to be checked and sent onwards to Italy to be assembled onto a raised access flooring system before being returned to UK and installed in the Qatar Lounge at Heathrow T4.

The specification for the access flooring suppliers was for a tolerance of +/- 0.5mm on all dimensions. Normal tolerance for 600x600x20mm tiles we would insist on is +/- 1mm on length and width and 10% on thickness. so this was a tall order.

We measured one whole crate of 51no tiles, plus random tiles form other crates. the dimensions on the 600mm length and width was very accurate and with the exception of two tiles, all fell within the required tolerance. The thickness was also excellent for the tiles in the crate we inspected. only when looking and measuring along the side of all crates did we see a little variation in thickness. Only 1mm under but outside the tolerance all the same. we therefore sent an extra crate to accommodate this potential problem once the material arrives in Italy. Better safe than sorry as the program is really tight. The material was exceptionally good in colour and consistency. I think it will be a great installation especially as we have a bush hammered feature wall, servery counters, vanity tops and a water feature to supply too. watch this space!!

This week I visited a granite factory in Vigo, Spain to inspect flamed granite coping stones for the Canary Wharf Crossrail project. Flying into Porto and driving across the border into Spain we arrived in Vigo late that night. The next day the contractor and I arrived at Eurobandas early to check the production. I must say the inspection was very easy, the coping was perfect and the contractor (Commercial Stone Limited) said as much when we saw the example that had been produced. Dimensions spot on, flaming perfect and colour consistent. Some of the raw material had slight movement and darker veins, CSL requested they avoided any inconsistent markings where possible.

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Here are some images from a dry lay and completed project for which we supplied some beautiful light classic, Navona and Walnut travertine for. Unfilled Navona on the walls, resin filled (for performance)cross cut on the floor in both Classic and Walnut.

The building was the reception in the DS3 tower at Canary Wharf, the client Fitch Holdings and the architect KPF. The stone was fixed by Commercial Stone Limited.

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This week we visited the stone fair in Verona. An annual pilgrimage for all stone bods from Europe and beyond. It is a big challenge to remain focused and remember what stone types, colours and formats you have been asked for during the past year of trading by architects, contractors and clients alike. This year was no different but here are a few materials that caught the eye. New, old and unusual.

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Owners of a beautiful house in Beaconsfield contacted me via the website looking for Blue Savoy marble for their master bathroom. The slabs that had been sourced by another stone company were not good and left the client in the lurch. we visited site and advised the biggest size possible considering the material and shape and size of the space. We decided on a 1200x600x20mm tile and placed the order directly with the factory in the French Alps.

With the Blue Savoy on order it materialised that the client also needed a considerable quantity of Rosal limestone. A small quantity of this Portuguese limestone had already been supplied but the clients were looking for a different source. We presented samples of the Rosal CDV that matched perfectly. After sample approval we supplied 700sqm of 900x600mm tiles, some smaller tiles with Blue Savoy insets, carved columns, wall cladding, a swimming pool surround and copings.

The end result of both the Rosal and Blue Savoy was stunning and the client very happy. I would like to go back and take some professional photographs at some stage and will post them if I do get the chance. We have an excellent Portuguese limestone supplier and this project illustrates the quality they can offer from the tile selection, cutting accuracy, packing and the beautiful carved items including the canterlevered staircase.

This week I popped into a factory we intend to work with promoting English limestone products. Fireplaces, balustrades, copings, walling stone and of course wall and flooring stone. The full details of the products on offer will follow shortly and we will upload the lines onto the product pages but they were keen to promote their Ironstone. I thought it was quite exciting even in a sawn finish and block as you can see here. in honed and polished it will look stunning. more info to follow on this too.

Last November we gathered a load of our stones together in a factory in Verona to film mock ups in order to show clients the full picture when it came to variation, or as fuller picture as you can give without samples in hand. this task had started by organising the shipmentstones from France, Portugal, Germany and various locations in Italy itself.

When all stones were in one place we set up a couple of sets and went about drying the stones and chosing the ones we thought depected the material correctly. Arranging the lighting and backdrop took ages, getting the stones even and making sure the light was not too harsh and more atmospheric bacame the focus. Not easy, myself and my business partner Spencer had to think long and hard about every aspect including lugging around loads of stone it was both physically and mentally challenging (clearly a couple of lightweights!).

You can see the films along with films shot in the studio of just one stone using close ups and pans in the product section under the relevant stone. I think they are OK (a perfectionist and a lightweight) and filming more than one tile together is essential for understanding the overall aesthetic. I would say though, the studio option is a LOT less work but we wont stop filming the mock ups as we did here, the benefits as too great. take a look at the Jura Beige Bush Hammered  http://www.garethdaviesstone.co.uk/stones/jura-beige-bush- hammered or the Kesra Brown http://www.garethdaviesstone.co.uk/stones/kesra-brown-honed-limestone as examples, one showing texture and the other colour, markings and movement.