Polishing Portland

The last lot of stone for the project has arrived from Portland in Dorset. The blocks will form part of ‘Zebra Rock’ and the bases for the ‘Leaf seat’ and ‘Seed Stack’. The Portland is such a contrast to the Irish Blue Limestone in so many ways. The stone range is distinguished by its creamy colour and the fossilised shells it contains, combining a number of qualities ideal for building. It’s easy to work, allowing intricate design profiles to be created, and is particularly suitable for detailed facades. These qualities have made it one of Britain’s most popular and widely used building stones – From Maidstones very own County Hall to St Paul’s Cathedral, they have all been built using Portland stone!

While everything was still on the pallet I couldn’t resist starting on sanding back one of the blocks and drilling the fixing holes. As it's starting to get a little crowded in the workshop there will need to be a little bit of housekeeping take place later so I can start working out the order of how and when all this stone will be carved.