stoneCIRCLE

1508 London were chosen as the designers for the renovation of Jumeirah London, The Carlton Tower, the group’s European flagship hotel. The £100 million project used the designers’ experience of working in private residences to create a true feeling of being a “home from home”, using exquisite materials and fine craftsmanship for a sense of refined luxury.
stoneCIRCLE fabricated and installed marble and porcelain throughout the public areas of the hotel, with attention to the finer details of the final appearance always uppermost in the team’s minds.
The entrance hall features an oval domed recess in the ceiling, which has been precisely mirrored on the floor with an inlaid pattern of Calacatta and Moon Cream marbles, bordered with bronze. The stone was cut on the company’s waterjet machines, bonded and glued at the factory, using matching epoxy resin to render the joins invisible, and laid in large sections on site. Calacatta forms the rest of the floor and skirting with a rebated polished edge, with Moon Cream borders edged with bronze on the steps.
Calacatta was also used as cladding on the reveals and soffits of the entrances through to adjacent rooms and architraves and rebated panels of the lift surrounds. The reception and concierge desks were also in the same material, vein matched with inlaid bronze detailing.
The public washrooms on the ground floor were clad in vein matched Cremo Delicato marble with the same marble on the floor. The vanity tops in the Ladies were fabricated in Cremo Delicato and fluting was carved into the front aprons.
Also on the ground floor, the bar area was fitted with Irish Green marble to the bar top and front, as well as the shelf area behind. Next to this is a fire surround in Fior di Bosco marble.
Nearby is a patisserie unit fabricated by the company in Calacatta with bronze inlay. The marble has been fluted and wrapped in one piece round the curved ends of the unit with a fluted apron at the base of the unit on both of the long sides. The marble is vein matched throughout and can be opened to allow access to the refrigeration unit within.
The main staircase which rises from the ground floor was clad with Fior di Bosco marble risers, treads and skirting with a bullnose edge.
On the second floor, 600 x 600 mm porcelain floor tiles were installed throughout the reception and pool area, his and her steam rooms, saunas and treatment rooms.
Botticino Classico marble was used for the wall cladding and benches in the steam rooms and saunas, and for the pool changing rooms, and this was teamed with Ivory Onyx for the treatment room vanities.
The reception desk in Ivory Onyx took painstaking work to ensure that the veins matched exactly across the whole piece, including the drawers and doors which have been faced in the same material: a testament to the quality of stoneCIRCLE’s workmanship.
The pool itself had feature walls and hot tub clad in Silver Travertine. The travertine was vein-matched across the whole width of the installation to stunning effect.
The steps leading up to the raised relaxation area above the pool were covered in the same porcelain tiles as the rest of the floor with a darker quartz anti-slip feature.
Tundra Grey marble with inlaid bronze was the main material used for the stonework in the Peak Fitness club on the ninth and tenth floors, and this was used for the walkway leading to the entrance and the reception desk of the Fitness club as well as some floors inside. The treatment rooms and washrooms all had Tundra Grey vanities and wall cladding with porcelain floors. The only exceptions to this were the steam room and sauna which had sandblasted Botticino Classico wall cladding and benches.
Caesarstone Calacatta quartz was also used for window sills in the corridors and a buffet top in the restaurant on the 10th Floor.
Jeff Vanhinsbergh, director at stoneCIRCLE, commented that “it is always a pleasure to work on a prestigious London hotel, as it means that our work is going to be seen and appreciated by many people.”

The Library and Study Centre at St John’s College Oxford has won the New Build Modern Style Stone Cladding category in the Stone Federation’s Natural Stone Awards.
Wright & Wright Architects was in charge of the project, and Szerelmey was the stone contractor. The centrepiece of the project was an artwork by Susanna Heron, who turned to stoneCIRCLE with whom she had previously worked to help manufacture the piece.
The artwork, called Stone Drawing, is a shallow carved stone relief in Clipsham limestone, the same stone used in the old university buildings of Oxford, sourced from Stamford Stone who are the sole suppliers of Clipsham stone. The work is situated on both external and internal faces of the west side of a new Library and Study centre for St John’s College Oxford and was completed in 2018. The original 17th century St John’s College library is housed within Canterbury Quadrangle, one of the greatest Baroque architectural quadrangles in Oxford and the Study Centre adjoins it.
The carved external wall is 6 metres high and 17.4 metres long and is comprised of three overlapping sections, which are stepped and separated by windows in the reveals. For the exterior relief Susanna Heron took into consideration the way that rain might be directed over the relief, with the idea that weathering would gradually adapt the line of the carving over a long period of time. This consideration created a drawing of water-flow and light. Further reflections are to be seen in the pool of water at its base which will reflect the carving and throw light up the wall and into the interior.
The carved stone relief on the interior walls of the library is more shallow and a mirror image to the exterior. It measures the same 17.4 metres length but with a reduced height of 3.7 metres.
Everyone at stoneCIRCLE is delighted to have been able to collaborate with Susanna Heron, Wright & Wright Architects and Szerelmey on the award-winning project.
More details on the stoneCIRCLE site www.stone-circle.com

Course and Flow, a work by Rachael Champion was commissioned by St William Property Developers and Dallas-Pierce-Quintero, the architects working with them on the Hornsey Park Clarendon development in the Haringey Heartlands Regeneration scheme.
The piece was fabricated by stoneCIRCLE from a 4 ton block of Mandale Derbyshire Fossil limestone; the largest that was available at the time. Champion was inspired by the Moselle Brook, a hidden stream that flows through the borough of Haringey, and created a topographical map with the river delineated in blue resin. Words, phrases, and places relating to the Moselle and its route were carved into the block’s surface creating a feeling of its social history and the context in which it exists.
The artist is interested in the juxtaposition of nature and the built environment: she deliberately left the bore holes from the quarry and the registration marks from the CNC machinery visible in the finished work. The sides of the block were also left untouched to provide a seating area for residents and visitors, and to highlight the physical transformation that the stone has undergone.
It took stoneCIRCLE 3 weeks to complete the work which spent a week being carved on the 5-axis machine before being transferred to the workshop for the designs and inscriptions to be carved, and the river channel to be filled with blue epoxy resin.
To make it easier to transport the underside was milled out, making the weight of the finished piece approximately 2500 kg. Its finished dimensions are 65 cm x 110 cm x 265 cm. It was craned into place and inaugurated by the Mayor of Haringey at a ceremony in October 2020.

On 18th August 2020, stoneCIRCLE welcomed the Minister for Trade, Ranil Jayawardena who is also the local MP for North East Hampshire where the company is situated. He was accompanied by Tristan Robinson, the local councillor for the area.
Steve Vanhinsbergh, one of two brothers who run stoneCIRCLE, and his team spent an enjoyable hour showing him around and discussing the challenges of doing business in the current climate with both Covid-19 and Brexit complicating matters.
The photo shows them inspecting a sodalite slab from Brazil which is destined for use in a prestigious retail project in Covent Garden, London. The visitors also saw some work in progress for retail, hotel, domestic and artistic projects currently being fabricated in the workshops.
stoneCIRCLE is a Basingstoke-based stonemasonry business which has been fabricating stone for both domestic and commercial use for over 50 years, since the company was founded in 1968 by the current owners’ father. It has grown to be one of the largest stone fabricators in England, supplying architects, contractors, designers and kitchen and bathroom showrooms.

Following the commission to supply and install a marble staircase for the Fine Watch Room for which they were highly commended in the Natural Stone Awards, stoneCIRCLE was asked to work on the refitting of the Harrods' Beauty Hall project.
The designers, G.A. Group's intention was to create a modern interpretation of a "Great House" or stately home 'from a bygone era where service was personal and every need was catered for; to provide a sanctuary to escape from the stresses and pace of city life, a haven for pleasure and relaxation.' And in order to achieve this they made great use of luxurious marbles throughout the space.
The work was carried out in 2 phases. In the first which was opened in June 2019, stoneCIRCLE installed Golden Spider, Aramis White, Giallo Siena, Rosa Portugallo and Carrara marble floors. On sections of the floor around the columns, Golden Spider and Giallo Sienna marble have been laid in an acanthus pattern, cut on the waterjet machine, to mimic the acanthus motif on the columns. The walls were clad in Calacatta Lincoln and the columns in Travertine. The company also made pieces of furniture and counters in White Estremoz and Rosa Tea marbles and White Onyx.
A grand staircase linking the hall to the Beauty Services Suite below is resplendent in Golden Spider marble tread risers and curved string course.
The second phase was the White Hall which was completed in autumn 2019. Here stoneCIRCLE installed approx. 900m² of terrazzo flooring in white, beige and grey with brass trim. They also made counters in Breccia Capraia marble, and Calacatta Lincoln marble wall cladding for the walls and 12 columns.
All materials were sourced in Italy during visits by the client team and Steve Vanhinsbergh, one of stoneCIRCLE’s directors. stoneCIRCLE made full use of their Slabsmith photo station, photographing the marble for the walls, columns and counters and then matching the veins to produce the very best results.

stoneCIRCLE has made a further investment in its Basingstoke plant with the delivery of a Comandulli Speedy System machine for creating the edge profiles on the worktops that it fabricates. This follows the recent acquisitions of a Techni 5 axis waterjet cutter earlier in 2019 and an Omag 5 axis machine in 2017.
The company is committed to investing in the best technology to enable it to fabricate stone quickly and accurately, allowing it to offer its customers excellent quality and service.

Samantha Thornton was commissioned to convert one of her existing stone sculptures, the Diver in Ancaster Weatherbed into a larger version for a client. The Wiltshire-based sculptor approached stoneCIRCLE to produce the reproduction. The company used their large Omag 5-Axis machine to carve a 1600kg block of Jordans Basebed Portland stone. The CNC technology meant that they could manufacture the sculpture directly from a 3D polystyrene model that Samantha Thornton had provided.

The final sculpture measured 123cm high x 102cm long and weighed 850kg. It was fitted onto a 1200kg black Irish Kilkenny Fossil marble base 810mm x 810mm x 650mm high before being shipped to France where it is now installed in the grounds of a chateau in the Loire valley.

Samantha Thornton was commissioned to convert one of her existing stone sculptures, the Diver in Ancaster Weatherbed into a larger version for a client. The Wiltshire-based sculptor approached stoneCIRCLE to produce the reproduction. The company used their large Omag 5-Axis machine to carve a 1600kg block of Jordans Basebed Portland stone. The CNC technology meant that they could manufacture the sculpture directly from a 3D polystyrene model that Samantha Thornton had provided.

The final sculpture measured 123cm high x 102cm long and weighed 850kg. It was fitted onto a 1200kg black Irish Kilkenny Fossil marble base 810mm x 810mm x 650mm high before being shipped to France where it is now installed in the grounds of a chateau in the Loire valley.

St John’s College Oxford appointed Susanna Heron to prepare a work of art for a new Library and Study Centre at St John’s College with Wright & Wright Architects. She turned to stoneCIRCLE with whom she had previously worked to help manufacture the piece.

The resulting artwork, called Stone Drawing, is a shallow carved stone relief in Clipsham limestone, the same stone used in the old university buildings of Oxford, sourced from Stamford Stone who are the sole suppliers of Clipsham stone. The work is situated on both external and internal faces of the west side of a new Library and Study centre for St John’s College Oxford and was completed in 2018. The original 17th century St John’s College library is housed within Canterbury Quadrangle, one of the greatest architectural quadrangles in Oxford and the Study Centre adjoins it.

The carved external wall is 6 metres high and 17.4 metres long and is comprised of three overlapping sections, which are stepped and separated by windows in the reveals. For the exterior relief she took into consideration the way that rain might be directed over the relief, with the idea that weathering would gradually adapt the line of the carving over a long period of time. This consideration created a drawing of water-flow and light. Further reflections are to be seen in the pool of water at its base which will reflect the carving and throw light up the wall and into the interior.

The carved stone relief on the interior walls of the library is more shallow and a mirror image to the exterior. It measures the same 17.4 metres length but with a reduced height of 3.7 metres.

stoneCIRCLE's work for the Harrods Fine Watch Room was highly commended at the Natural Stone Awards 2018.
Rundell Associates were the architects tasked with refurbishing the Fine Watch Sales area in Harrods, Knightsbridge and choose to work with stoneCIRCLE for the stone fabrication involved. The project was to manufacture and install curved quarter book matched marble panels to the walls and solid marble treads to create a new staircase positioned in an elliptical opening in the floor which links the two areas of the Fine Watch Room. stoneCIRCLE also fabricated walnut travertine back panels to the display cases on the wall.
A single block of Cipollino Cremo Tirreno marble was selected in Italy by Mike Rundell, designer and founder of Rundell Associates and sourced through McMamilloyd of Great Bedwyn for the walls. Crema Marfil was selected in Spain for the stair treads, apron nosings and floors.
The slabs needed to be sawn to different sizes to allow for the panels to curve round the walls of the elipse. The walls and stairs were modelled in 3D by stoneCIRCLE to ensure that these sizes were correctly calculated. From the modelling a cutting schedule detailing the thicknesses and sequence of each slab from the block was sent to Italy so that the block could be sawn. The slabs used at each end of the ellipse were thicker to allow for the tighter curves.
Once the slabs were in the company’s Basingstoke factory they were photographed on the Slabsmith photo station and rendered so that the book matching could be worked out. This was then approved by both the client and architect, before the slabs were cut and shaped on the CNC saws ready to be honed by hand.
The approximate weight of the finished wall panels was 240 kg each and the individual treads were roughly 275 kg, so for installation a ceiling scaffold had to be in place from which was suspended a gantry crane and a chain block hoist.
The walls and tread supports were built by Jaysam in metsec to a drawing agreed with stoneCIRCLE. The walls were of 18mm ply covered by 12mm Wedi board. The original time allowed for the installation was 4 weeks but the company was told that the scaffold and gantry were coming down and had to speed up the installation to have all of the treads and wall panels in place in 2 weeks. The panels were adhesive bonded to the Wedi board and mechanically fixed with stainless steel L brackets and pins.
Mike Rundell said "The sweeping staircase is a significant new architectural feature that we hope will be enjoyed by customers for years to come".

The RIBA Stirling Prize for Architecture has been awarded to Foster + Partners Bloomberg space in the City of London. PAYE was the stone contractor for the building and they commissioned stoneCIRCLE to work on the granite panels for the reconstructed Temple of Mithras in the building's basement.

stoneCIRCLE carved lettering and a representation of the ancient walls as the timeline of the streetlevel at different depths as you descent the stairs to the Temple.

More details and architectural plans can be found on the Bloomsberg case study.

The stunning main double staircase in the four-storey apartment building at Knowle Hill Park is made from Calacatta marble, and was manufactured and installed by stoneCIRCLE. The building created by Millgate is accessed via a gated private driveway and forms part of the Knowle Hill Park development, set in 45 acres of parkland in Cobham, Surrey.

The New Ludgate scheme consists of two buildings nestled between St Paul’s Cathedral and Ludgate Circus. It has won the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) top prize for Commercial Office Building of the Year 2016 and the City of London Building of the Year Award and is shortlisted for the NLA Office Building of the Year Award.
Two New Ludgate is a £260 million development by Land Securities, the UK’s largest commercial property developer. It provides 193,000 sq ft of Grade A office accommodation and 7,500 sq ft of prime retail space. Two architectural firms were involved Sauerbruch Hutton designed the building and Fletcher Priest designed One New Ludgate and oversaw the scheme.
The main reception for Two New Ludgate has a feature wall in Portland Stone. The curved wall is 8m high and 30m in length. stoneCIRCLE was one of 3 firms involved in manufacturing the frieze and they used the latest CNC processing machinery alongside 3D modelling to ensure pinpoint accuracy. The stones had to be sanded by hand after manufacture to remove machining marks. You can get more information and images here: http://www.stone-circle.com/two-new-ludgate

stoneCIRCLE recently completed an intricate inlaid polished marble floor. The floor which was commissioned for a private client in London was produced in Nero Marquina marble inlaid with Venato Fantastico flower petals and stems with Botticino Classico centres to the flowers. Venato Classico was also used to create feature joints in the design. The design was produced using stoneCIRCLE’s waterjet cutter.