Groupwork

13/01/2026

The New Stone Age: Towards an Ethical Architecture
Exhibition
University of Toronto

Curated and produced by UK-based architects GROUPWORK, , and , The New Stone Age: Towards an Ethical Architecture champions the versatility, sustainability, and beauty of stone as a load-bearing material in contemporary architecture.

The exhibition features three large-scale stone-and-timber installations that showcase the possibilities of building with ‘augmented’ stone. Alongside these structures, the exhibition traces the historical use of stone and features projects by leading international architects. Seen together, The New Stone Age argues that stone is a viable, low-carbon alternative to conventional building materials such as reinforced concrete and steel.

Le Corbusier published Towards a New Architecture over a century ago, introducing the ‘free plan’ and ‘free façade’ as the result of material innovations in reinforced concrete and steel. Today, this system has become the default building strategy worldwide, applied indiscriminately across both single and one-hundred story structures. Such blind assumptions have come under increasing scrutiny in the era of climate crisis where the construction industry drives 40% of global carbon emissions, and in the next 50 years, the world’s building stock will double. Unless we radically rethink how we build, this growth will lock in catastrophic levels of emissions. Stone offers a compelling solution. Compared to reinforced concrete and steel, stone can contain up to 95% less embodied carbon, be assembled more quickly, and more cheaply.

This exhibition is a call to action - inviting students, architects, engineers, contractors, planners and manufacturers to rediscover the potential of structural stone and to help build a more sustainable future.

The exhibition opening event takes place on Thursday, January 22 at 5:00 p.m. ET and will be followed by a lecture with the curators at 6:30 p.m.

Special thanks also to and for their support in the production of the installations.

29/10/2025

Stone Demonstrator, London (2025)

We are thrilled to share that the Stone Demonstrator is now installed at the Earl’s Court Development site in London — a three-storey public prototype demonstrating how stone and timber are sustainable alternatives to reinforced concrete and steel in structural frames.

The construction industry accounts for 40% of the world’s carbon emissions – we must radically rethink how we build. This project presents a viable and ethical alternative: a frame like this has around 90% less embodied carbon than steel or reinforced concrete. All new buildings could be built with similar structural principles and materials, paving the way for a much more sustainable future.

The Stone Demonstrator was funded by Future Observatory – the national research programme for the Green Transition — and designed by GROUPWORK and in collaboration with a long list of suppliers and contractors.

Client: Future Observatory at
Site partner:
Funder: The UKRI Arts and Humanities Research Council
Architect: GROUPWORK
Engineers: and
Principal contractor:
Stone structure:
Hybrid stone and timber floor plate:
Dowel-laminated timber floor plate: IQ Wood
Structural stone suppliers: , Carrière de Luget, , , SigmaRoc
Stone brick facade: ,
Stone installation: Ryker Structures
Facade timber supports: Rossmore Contracts
Stone brick garden wall and seating:
Brick layers: Bishops Facades
Landscaping: Lyndon Osborn
Lighting: , .lighting,
Electrical installation:

Photography: Bas Princen

29/10/2025

23/09/2025

We are exhibiting at ! Please come and say ‘hello’.

‘The Return of Structural Stone’ has been produced in collaboration with Anne Hangebruch Mark Amann Architekten and .
is a viable, and ethical, alternative to conventional construction materials such as reinforced concrete and steel with up to 99.8% less embodied carbon.

Here, we have rethought four building elements - the beam, column, wall and floor slab - to demonstrate that an entire building can be assembled using low and carbon-negative elements.

20/05/2025

02/05/2025

Tirana Contemporary City Competition, Albania (2025)

GROUPWORK was selected as one of six international practices to enter Tirana Contemporary City, a competition to masterplan a new district in Albania’s capital.

Our proposal is drawn from the surrounding streets, extending desire lines and flexing in parts to provide generous public spaces: a central avenue, an expansive amphitheatre carved from the ground plane and a host of nooks and crannies wherein to pause, sit, and perhaps chat with a fellow neighbour or visitor.

From public spaces, ensconced by Plane and Umbrella trees, to semi-public roof terraces and private winter gardens, green spaces have been carefully integrated with the stone and timber architecture.

The project is carbon-negative, with buildings constructed using cross-laminated timber floors supported by a load-bearing stone exoskeleton. In places, the structure is picked out in gold that glints in the ever evolving Tirana skyline.

Competition organisers:
Structural and M&E engineer:
Landscape consultant:

08/03/2023

Belgium, mostly known for its fired clay brick (550kgCO2e/m3) exports, reminding us of its long and rich stone tradition…..& hoping send us stone bricks instead ….33kgCO2e/m3 7% of the embodied carbon of fired clay bricks and at €0.9 / brick cheaper too …contact [email protected]

22/02/2023

Josef Plecnik’s house left as on the day he died at 85. Born 1872, educated under the Austrian-Hungarian empire by Otto Wagner under Gottfried Semper’s influence, he saw through the two world wars, establishment of Yugoslavia as a socialist state & transformation of architecture

24/11/2022

1st Stone Brick samples arrived today from …£1.93/brick inc delivery…& at 91% less emitted total CO2 than clay bricks …& despite Polycor having to include their other global industry emissions still manage to extract&deliver these 55% less CO2 than clay bricks…. For stone brick samples & orders contact

[email protected]

11/11/2022

Polycor, one of the largest quarry owners have finally done it
Stone “bricks” , cheaper than fired clay bricks & a fraction of the embodied carbon ….could be 10% of c look at bricks if left quarry finished.
Mix with timber & it’ll be all together CO2 negative
Build more to save the planet

11/11/2022

Raphael asked Michelangelo and Leonardo to assist on his “School of Athens”….despite neither he or they saying which figures were who’s …are these deliberate signatures ?