London Festival of Architecture Events

A city of extraordinary history, London displays a rich and varied tapestry of character and identity, but with one underlying common theme, buildings designed and completed using traditional materials.

Many of London’s iconic landmarks such as Buckingham Palace, St Paul’s Cathedral and the Tower of London are constructed from the classic Portland stone. Reflecting prestige and grandeur, Portland stone is distinctly British and has continued to be incorporated into building’s in our capital city for centuries.

As part of our series of events exploring the commonalties in London architecture, join us at our London Bridge showroom for a hands-on architectural masonry workshop, alongside industry leading manufacturer, Vobster Architectural. The workshop will give you the opportunity to form your own piece of Portland cast stone masonry, starting with just the raw materials that would be used in normal factory conditions. You will learn about the many uses of cast stone within the construction industry, including those that enable contemporary London buildings to blend harmoniously with the historic vernacular and the benefits of using it over natural quarried stone. After a period of one week, which will allow the pieces to dry, they will be ready for you to collect and keep.

Dates and Times:
21^st June – 4pm (1.5 hours)
22^nd June – 10am (1.5 hours)

Traditional brick components such as arches can be traced back in London architecture as far as the middle ages where between 1176 and 1209 records show a stone bridge with 19 arches was built. In more recent times, bespoke architectural details such as projecting cornices, decorative mouldings, columns, balustrades and in particular arches became commonplace in the Georgian era and continued to be present in several architectural styles such as gothic revival and Edwardian.

As part of our series of events exploring the commonalties in London architecture, join us at our London Bridge showroom alongside handmade brick manufacturer, Lambs Bricks & Stone. With a vibrant history dating back to 1901, Lambs were at the forefront of supplying the Victorian buildings of London and the surrounding areas. A long-established traditional brick maker and hands-on arch cutter, Lambs will deliver a detailed CPD seminar that aims to explore the process of manufacturing and firing oversized red rubber material and the advantages and disadvantages of traditional versus preformed arches. There will also be a practical demonstration to show how to lay a fully gauged red rubber arch to a 2mm joint by experienced heritage bricklayer Charles Reilly from Georgian Brickwork.

Dates and Times:
6^th June – 12pm