The development potential of Scotland’s building stones
Synopsis: Scotland is an extremely geologically diverse country with a rich history of building in stone. The once-common practice of using locally available stone for building has resulted in a wide variety of Scottish vernacular architecture. Not only this, but Scotland also became an important exporter of high-quality building stone around the world. However, since its zenith during the 19th century, the Scottish stone industry has seen a precipitous decline. Nowadays only a limited quantity of the stone used in Scotland is sourced from 17 ‘indigenous’ quarries and the vast majority of the 198 building stones recognised in Scotland are no longer available. Re-establishing a building stone industry in Scotland has the potential to create skilled jobs in rural areas, decrease the embodied carbon of building projects using stone, and help conserve nationally important buildings. This talk will outline Scotland’s past and present building stone industry and present the results of a recent investigation into the potential of thousands of disused quarries to be successfully redeveloped to supply building stone to a modern market.
Speaker Biography: Imogen Shaw is a Building Stone Scientist based at the British Geological Survey in Edinburgh. She has a master’s degree in Earth Sciences and provides scientific expertise on the geological properties and context of Scotland’s current and historic building stones to a wide range of stakeholders, including conservation professionals, quarry operators, and local government.
Post meeting networking: It is hoped to have some time after the presentation for networking and socialising at a venue close to the lecture theatre.
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