Natural Stone: A Visually Appealing and Versatile Construction Material

For eras constructers, designers, and architects have been using natural stone to adorn the interiors as well as exteriors of many buildings. This natural construction material has great appearance and superiority, which can be used to design unique surfaces. Additionally, construction using natural stone is mostly durable. The raw material has a wide array of applications in the safeguarding of historic monuments and appealing designs, and even in modern-day construction designs.

The global market for natural stone is attaining massive fame and demand as natural stones such as granite, limestone, onyx, marble, travertine, and sandstone are used in an extensive array of application areas like flooring, kitchen countertops, fireplaces, wall cladding, and others. As per a report by Research Dive, the global natural stone market is projected to garner a revenue of $53,550.3 million by 2028, growing with a CAGR of 4.6%.

Why is Natural Stone Gaining so much Popularity and Demand?

The main reason behind the growing demand and popularity of natural stone is its versatile nature. Natural Stone also greatly differs in terms of their technical features such as compression strength, water absorption, and heat storing capability or frost resistance. The appearance of this material does not divulge anything about its superiority: an inexpensive natural stone and a high quality natural stone have the same look but may have utterly dissimilar features. Hard rocks like basalt or granite are more appropriate for exterior applications in buildings, while softer materials like marble or porphyry are more popular in interiors designs. The suitability of a stone for a particular area of application depends on its properties and essential environmental necessities such as weight and weather circumstances.

Natural stone material has to go through various suitability tests which are based on European or German standards, before entering the market. Stonemasons can make use of numerous methods to work the exterior of a natural stone in numerous techniques. Depending on whether the stone material is pulverised, cut, sharp, broached, polished or refined, a novel look and feel can be formed.

The extraction of natural stone needs merely a small energy expenditure. The stone withstands - for instance, in the form of slate roofing - for nearly 90 years. Moreover, natural stone can be effortlessly discarded and recycled as it does not contain any major contaminants.

Different Uses of Natural Stone in Construction Projects

Natural stone has been greatly used in industries, gardens, and landscape designs as well as in cladding and design of private or commercial constructions. Clay slate, for instance, can be used as a robust, stable roofing stone on momentous and modern-day constructions. Limestone, granite, and basalt adorn sophisticated exterior frontages of shopping malls, museums, or residential buildings. Grit or gravel can be used to beautify paths in a park or garden. Also, high-quality stair tiles and flooring can be built using sandstone or marble.

The Bottom Line

In the recent years, natural stone has witnessed a revolution, mainly owing to its environment friendly properties. The exceptional feature of natural stone is its versatility which makes it a suitable choice for every area of application, be it frontages, roofs or floorings, thus providing architects and constructors innumerable design choices. From earlier times, structures such as castles, palaces, churches and others build with natural stone have been remarkably impressive and demonstrate the durable nature of this material. Nowadays, even in the modern architecture designs there are several spectacular projects which make use of natural stone as a key construction material. Some of them have, therefore, been selected for or bestowed German as well as international awards. This outstanding construction material is certainly going to linger as a vital material for eras in the construction industry.

About the Author(s)

Princy A. J

Princy holds a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from the prestigious Tamil Nadu Dr. M.G.R. University at Chennai, India. After a successful academic record, she pursued her passion for writing. A thorough professional and enthusiastic writer, she enjoys writing on various categories and advancements in the global industries. She plays an instrumental role in writing about current updates, news, blogs, and trends.