External landscaping

The use of natural stone as a form of external landscaping in the UK can be credited to the Roman invasion and occupation of Britian between the1st and 5^th century. They are credited for building our first road network, comprised of crude rutted mud paths that were wide enough for oxen and cart.

While not all paved, this is seen as the beginning of an ongoing journey which has taken us to where we are today, where natural stone hard landscaping design and construction adds significantly to our public and private open spaces.

By the very nature of the material demands – high quality, extremely durable, of low porosity, readily available and a low carbon footprint – natural stone, from hard sandstone, limestone, slate paving, granite, basalt setts and kerbs, is the obvious material choice when considering high quality hard landscaping.

The primary British Standard reference is BS 7533-13 – pavements constructed with clay, natural stone or concrete pavers. This is a guide for the design of permeable pavements constructed with concrete paving blocks and flags, natural stone slabs and setts and clay pavers.

Hard landscaping solutions using natural stone over cementitious or bituminous based products is not only good for the environment – but it also gives a positive signal as to the value and importance to community that such spaces offer. It helps set the expectation and industry standards, and can indirectly regenerate an area through the use of high-quality materials and workmanship.

Beyond the added value and low level of embedded carbon, natural stone paving lends itself well to end of life reclamation and repurposing therefore keeping in line with being recognised as having a low full life carbon footprint. This aligns well with the developing theme of construction activity moving towards a circular market economy.