CED Stone

Torrington Square is located in the Borough of Camden and provides a pedestrian green space for quiet recreation and a pleasant backdrop to the surrounding buildings and streets.Materials supplied were the 40mm thick flame textured silver grey granite paving and bush hammered silver grey granite kerbs which give definition to this creative design. The silver grey colour contrasts beautifully with the 200 tonnes plus of CEDEC Red used for the wider walkway areas.

Goodman's Fields is a modern mixed-use urban quarter providing a selection of luxury apartments, coffee shops, restaurants and 2 acres of stunning landscape. Including six bronze horse sculptures galloping through the eye-catching water feature in the extraordinary new public square. We are delighted to have supplied the natural stone elements to the water feature and to all phases of this well thought out and classy development. A creatively designed, pedestrianised, public realm, Goodman's Fields is home to a modern central piazza and two new urban gardens: Four Seasons Garden and Chaucer Gardens. The first phase was opened in 2016 and the stone supply for the final phases of the project completed late in 2020.Early phases included stone supply to the wonderfully relaxing Four Seasons Garden. Which has Chinese silver grey and black paving as well as silver-grey benches and armrests. The main through fare has black and light grey setts running along several streets and there are European silver-grey coping section around the main water feature. We also supplied several hundred square metres of specially produced Tier black slate walling, used in several areas to enhance the overall appearance.Later phases had polished silver grey bench seats to the Chaucer Garden and a long radius polished bench made up from several sections and more black and light grey setts and paving. There was a mix of Chinese and European granites supplied over the different phases to ensure delivery timings matched the project requirements. This gives some nice, subtle variations in the light and dark colours across the scheme.

The UK is a nation of shoppers, with high street brands and independent retail businesses occupying a large and vital part of the UK economy. In Sunderland, High Street West is a pedestrianised street lined with small shops and cafés which recently benefited from a renovation with some new natural stone benches by CED Stone Group.Sunderland City Council wanted to include seating into the scheme that would not only have a visual impact, but also generate a sense of identity that the local community could connect and engage with. The resulting free-formed benches are now a key feature in the street, all made from different igneous and metamorphic rocks; mainly granites from China and some from Europe, including a Scottish Grampian Granite.The intended variations in colour and shape are what makes the collection of 2m curved benches so interesting and distinctive. People can choose their favourite bench to rest on after a morning of running errands, children can sit on 'their special seat' when out shopping with parents and friends can arrange to 'meet at the green one' before heading off for afternoon tea. As each bench is unique in its own way, it subtly generates a personal connection to the space. Coloured lighting installed under the benches transforms the space as the evenings close in, making the street a fun and enjoyable route to walk down.Expertly managing the delivery and logistics for the council, CED Stone Group arranged for all of the benches to be honed in the same UK factory to ensure uniformity in the quality and finish of the different natural stone materials. Sunderland City Council were delighted with the finished outcome and the changes in High Street West have been very popular with the public, giving High Street West a new presence and reconnecting it to the wider Sunderland area.

The park which is situated right next to the London Eye‚ first appeared on the public radar in 1951 when it was the site of the Festival of Britain’s prime building‚ the Dome of Discovery. The site later became a car park and remained so until 1977 when a temporary garden was laid out for the Queen’s Silver Jubilee. Later the space was neglected and fell into disrepair.The client's ambitious plan was to create a very special and unique new garden in time for it to form part of the 2012 Diamond Jubilee celebrations. Time did not allow for mistakes and quality checks were conducted at the Chinese factories to ensure size‚ colour‚ detail and finish were all checked and agreed by the design team.The main project requirement was for several hundred metres of special silver grey bench planters with both honed and flame textured surfaces. The benches were multi-sized and specially shaped yet had to flow seamlessly from section to section. The complexity of achieving this with so many radius changes and a specified 3mm joint between sections proved very challenging. The bench sections forming the outside of the park also had to include sawn anti-skateboard groove details cut to the ends of each piece.We also supplied several thousand square metres of silver grey cubes and setts to form the pathways. The setts were supplied as both special split and flame textured on the top surface and split onto the sides. They needed to comply to very tight tolerance bands and the colour through the whole scheme needed to be very uniform.We are proud to say we successfully supplied the granite to the exacting quality standards required achieving the necessary special details that have helped to make the Gardens such an attractive new London landmark. This really is an outstanding space for tourists and locals alike to visit and enjoy.Work was completed on-site in time for the gardens to form part of the 2012 Diamond Jubilee celebrations‚ some 35 years after the gardens were first created for the Silver Jubilee in 1977.

The Natural History Museum's new gardens are now open after a five-year redevelopment plan that transforms the five-acre garden into an urban haven for people and wildlife. This provides a new green oasis in the city, enhancing biodiversity and offering a beautiful space for visitors to connect with nature as well as a world-class outdoor living laboratory for ecologists and environmentalists to help them understand better the diverse and hugely important role that Urban Nature has to play in our cities.On the east side of the gardens, the Evolution Garden takes visitors on a geological journey from the Precambrian Period including 2.7 billion-year old rock, through the Cambrian period, all the way to the present with each metre of pathway from the start of the Cambrian period marking five million years of history.Within the Evolution Timeline, each geological period is represented by one or more rocks incorporated into the garden landscape, with all but two sources from across the UK. Using rocks formed during particular moments in Earth’s history, as well as plants, sculptures and brass inlays, the Evolution Garden tells the story of life on Earth, and CED Stone is very proud to have worked with the Natural History Museum project team to source and supply almost all the stone for the newly transformed gardens.We visited many quarries across the country sourcing stone for the project, and thanks to our joint efforts, there are more than 26 different rock types in the garden spanning Earth's geological periods, including a Cambrian Period slate from North Wales, Cornish Granite formed during the Early Permian Period, a Red Sandstone from Scotland formed in the Permian Period when there were deserts in Scotland, and Chalk from Northern Ireland represents the Cretaceous Period. Some of the rocks were also sourced through more unusual routes, including a farmer donating the Hertfordshire puddingstone he found on his land.The youngest stone in the gardens is Scoria. Formed in a volcanic eruption in Iceland this stone marks the Permian-Triassic extinction, a series of extinction pulses that contributed to the greatest mass extinction in Earth's history.Throughout the garden, there are rocks which can be used as seating so that visitors can rest and immerse themselves in the gardens and each rock seat will be in the period it was formed.

The supplying of Moleanos Limestone for this private residence was particularly complex to manage. There were three separate phases of the job which our Commercial Division had to identify, price and produce and with the initial phase having a very tight timescale we had to work quickly and efficiently to have everything scheduled and delivered to the factory in Portugal to start production.Over 280 different sizes of paving had to be produced, sandblasted and acid-washed for the design. Coping, Cladding and Risers were also required in numerous different sizes. Each individual size had to be scheduled out for cutting, so this was a very complex operation for the factory to manage as the saws had to be adjusted with each unit. After production, the materials were required to be sealed with Lithofin. The factory-applied Lithofin Stain to 5 sides of the paving, treads and risers, once applied the treated materials had to be dried in large drying rooms at the factory. The weather conditions affected this part of the operation as the application of Lithofin has to be done outdoors in dry conditions and unfortunately, during the production of our order, Portugal saw the worst rainfall of the summer which held up production slightly. In spite of this, the first deliveries were made during June 2018 with the project being completed in its entirety in May 2019 within the time frame specified.There were over 700 different sizes to produce throughout the project as a whole, so getting the detail right was very important. If any of the items had been produced incorrectly, then this could have been detrimental to the completion date of the project. It is a testament to the factories we work closely alongside who ensure that we get the quality and production times we need for important projects such as this. And so after months of hard work by our factory and Modular Garden Ltd who have installed this beautiful garden, the client is very happy and now benefiting from a stunning garden, with beautiful natural stone materials sealed to look it’s best as time goes on.

Rosslyn Chapel located a few miles south of Edinburgh, was founded in 1446 by Sir William St Clair as a place of worship, and to this day functions as such, holding weekly services for the community. Our first involvement with this prestigious and historic site was in 2013 when we met with Ian White Associates. They were trying to source gravel that would blend in with the Chapel and the surrounding area.An extensive restoration contract on the Chapel building was near completion, and the grounds were also in need of some repair. We were specified to supply Scotia Pink Aggregate. At that time, we provided samples and recommended our gravel stabilisation system, ECCOgravel. The budget, however, did not allow for its use, and the project went ahead using the loose aggregate.The Chapel welcomes hundreds of thousands of visitors each year, and the loose gravel was causing problems for people with limited mobility, wheelchair users and those with pushchairs.Within a couple of years of completing the first project, we received a call to meet with the architect and curator with a proposal to use ECCOgravel to solve the now obvious problem of pedestrian and wheelchair access around the Chapel.We set up a sample panel to allow the current owners, the curator and the architect to see how our product would perform. We subsequently got approval to install the ECCOgravel system.We were able to reuse the existing aggregate as a fill for ECCOgravel with only a small addition for topping up, and it is still performing exceptionally well today. No other system would be right in retaining the period look that a gravel surface provides, and this is every bit as important as providing a stable surface to walk and drive on.

There's nothing better than natural stone from the UK used in landscapes that show off their qualities in the best way possible. A brilliant example is this communal stone sculpture at one of London's most diverse developments.Connecting the town centre and the train station at Ruskin Square in Croydon, this creative space commissioned by muf architecture/art 'reverses the supply chains' and focuses on the raw materials of building developments and their 'un-made' state.The team wanted to create a communal space to be enjoyed by adults and children alike, and they envisioned a rockery area that would look like a natural rock face when viewed from the surrounding high-rise flats and buildings.CED Stone Group supplied large blocks of Caithness stone, selected straight from the quarry in Scotland by the architects. A dramatic, moving effect was created by taking advantage of the material's flat surfaces; The blocks rise out of the trees and planting, into a craggy peak. Red granite gravel was resin bonded to form porous paving and used around the trees. Naturally rounded, this gravel works well used in this way as it provides voids when bonded together.Grampian Granite paving quarried and worked in North East Scotland has a variable buff-pink colour that gives the project a lively, flowing look. Depending on the finish chosen, the colour can vary from greys to browns, yellows to buffs and pinks. Cornish Silver Grey Granite paving and kerbs contrast with the deep grey of the Caithness, giving brightness and light to the overall scheme whilst keeping to a similar palette.The main route from the town centre and train station uses the same paving materials with CEDEC Silver Footpath gravel used in the tree pits.

South Quay Plaza is a landmark development designed by architects Foster + Partners. The buildings have been designed to make the best use of the space that surrounds them and there is, mixed within the scheme, 2.6 acres of gardens. Sunlight is able to light up these gardens throughout the day and many of the apartments have dual aspect views. The client wanted lots of variation and banding within the stone for the landscape areas and finally settled on one of our very interesting and original granite options called Running River from Northern China.When using a granite with this amount of variation, it is really important to ensure that the proper controls are in place. Controlling and understanding the variation is the key to completing a project like this to the clients' satisfaction. To this end, our Commercial Director Calum Fraser with representation from Maylim accompanied representatives from the Client and the Landscape Architect to the factory in Shandong province, China.The main purpose of the factory visit was to quality check initial production, set standards and rules for colour and tonality variation, determine final size breakdown for the setts and to establish tolerance guidelines for bench production. The visit was very successful and ensured that all parties understood and agreed on all the quality control aspects required. Many potential problems were highlighted and resolved meaning that when the granite arrived on site it met the high expectations of the client.The result is a beautiful and eye-catching scheme that is original, clever and really striking. Over the first phases, we have supplied upwards of 4000m2 of paving and 1200m2 of setts.We also produced and supplied many stunning bespoke and complex benches. As well as kerbs, edgings, skirting, cladding and stepping stones. This choice of stone has helped transform the area into a vibrant, modern and inclusive space.

As part of the regeneration plan for Basildon Town Centre, the Basildon street market has been relocated to the revamped St Martin's Square. This includes for the design and installation of five large multiple section planter/seating units in flame textured, speckled, silver-grey granite. These provide a lovely, peaceful space to sit and relax when needing a break from walking around the market.Our choice of using a Spanish granite for this project was made for a number of reasons. The granite looks stunning when flame textured, it is available in very large block sizes and there is the necessary skilled masons available at the Spanish factory to handwork the finish, ensuring a neat final fit. Due to the size of some of the sections the CNC machine could only work the stone to partial completion, with specialist masons required to complete the very complex final details.Each planter included several special radius sections as well as bespoke angled corner pieces. Many of the sections tapered considerably on both width and length adding to the difficulty in producing these so that they would fit accurately with a minimal mastic joint between units. The design also included for anti skateboard grooves and a robust 50mm rounding on the upper leading outside edges.

A wonderfully vibrant redevelopment of Tindal Square in Chelmsford; using multiple granite paving elements to bring colour, warmth and vibrancy to central Chelmsford.CED stone supplied granites for this project with stones from Portugal and Scotland. The paving stones are supplied mostly with an 80mm depth, in various element sizes, with changing paving colour mixes. The overall supply over all phases, covered an area of circa 2500 M². As well as the rectangular paving, we also supplied substantial areas with trapezoidal and radial elements.The Scottish stone is the striking Murray Green Schist quarried on the West Coast of Scotland and supplied here, with a flame textured top surface.The Portuguese flame textured colours are the silver grey Ariz and the Monforte Pink, with the Saffron Beige being supplied with a shot blasted top surface to maintain and highlight that materials, beige and yellow shadings.We also supplied the black Angola granite decorative paving and ribbed tactile sections, which are also worked and produced on modern CNC machines at the Portuguese factory.Transforming Tindal Square has offered an excellent opportunity to create a new public square at the head of the High Street, producing significant benefits for visitors and residents, as well as boosting the local economy. The end result is a colourful space which gives a warm feel and has really lifted the usability and functionality of the Square.