The Stone & Surfaces Show, which takes place from 12–14 May 2026 at ExCeL London, is the only industry trade show in the UK that has a section devoted entirely to natural stone. This year, the show presents a unique programme of talks, films and photography hosted at three venues which focus on this versatile, beautiful and organic material. 

The Stone Demonstrator at Earls Court is a prototype building promoting stone as a low-carbon structural material.

Main Stage

The show kicks off with two consecutive panel discussions, both moderated by architect, broadcaster and writer George Clarke, which champion stone as the sustainable structural material of the future. The first talk focuses on The Stone Demonstrator, a 3-storey, low-carbon prototype building located at Earls Court in London. The inspiration behind the installation will be discussed by the team behind it — Justin McGuirk from the Design Museum's Future Observatory initiative; Marcus Paine from Hutton Stone, current President of the European Stone Federation; engineer Eleonora Regni from Webb Yates; and Pierre Bidaud from the Stonemasonry Company.

The second talk explores what is preventing architects and developers from Specifying structural stone at scale. Peter Runacres from The Earls Court Development Company, architect and masterplanner Roger Hawkins from Hawkins\Brown, and Giulliana Giorgi from Allies & Morrison who has developed a research platform devoted to UK stone, discuss whether challenges lie with cost, education or regulation. 

A kitchen and bathroom with natural stone surfaces specified by London and Middle East-based interior design and architecture studio Project London 

Interior designers often choose the wrong stone or don’t understand the importance of maintenance when Specifying stone for interiors. Becca Cranfield from Athena Stonecare leads a panel of experts – James Journet from Ca’Pietra, Fred Kirkness from Barr Build and Marcelina Janiszewska from Project London – to discuss best practice.    

Office building Trehus (above, photo: HUB) and Groupwork’s residential building on Finchley Road (below, photo by Tim Soar) are  pioneering the use of natural stone as a low-carbon material in construction 

Two panel discussions focus on landmark buildings that showcase the innovative use of stone as a low-carbon structural material. Amin Taha from Groupwork architects, Steve Webb from engineers Webb Yates, and Ben Ayling from stone supplier Lundhs discuss the challenges they faced during the construction of mixed-use residential building Finchley Road as it nears completion. Timber-framed office building Trehus in Maidenhead, commissioned by property developer HUB, will be clad in natural stone, reducing embodied carbon by 40% compared to a traditional, steel-framed building. Kirsten Haggart from architects Waugh Thistleton, Jordan Poultney from Albion Stone, Mark Berridge from Hess Timber and Peter McColm from Szerelemy discuss how Trehus could become a proof of concept for sustainable construction moving forward.  

Photography and video from Chris Hopkinson (above); feature-length film Milestone (below)  

Surfaces Cinema 

Photographer Chris Hopkinson from Chromaphotography christens the new Surfaces Cinema with a projected selection of his architectural photographs and a short film documenting the mining of Portland stone. 

Two feature-length documentary films take up the narrative. Milestone reveals the human stories embedded in four natural stones (granite, slate, limestone and marble) across Portugal, from ancestral craftsmanship and ethnographic traditions to global architectural projects and sustainable innovation. Unlocking Indigenous Stone traces the journey of indigenous UK stone from quarry to contemporary construction, revealing the environmental, cultural, and technical dimensions of building with local materials. Through conversations with quarry operators, architects, engineers, and industry specialists, the film explores how stone can re-emerge as a scalable, low-carbon material for 21st-century architecture. 

Wishing Well in Jersey by Fieldwork Architects (above); Tideway by Hawkins\Brown (below) 

Architects will also present recent case studies that showcase the use of stone in a range of projects. Fieldwork Architects have transformed a dilapidated bungalow in Jersey into Wishing Well, a three-bedroom house which embraces a contemporary, elemental character expressed through rammed earth and locally quarried granite. Cream-coloured limestone has been used as a continuous band that travels up the staircase and forms the kitchen worktops and stone framework that houses custom timber cabinetry.  

Founder of Studio Folk architects and RIBA Rising Star Edward Powe will share insights from recent and ongoing residential projects in his talk Designing with Natural Stone Bricks from Studio to Site, and Marko Neskovic, partner at Hawkins\Brown, presents materiality, detailing and the reasons behind the stone choices at the new Tideway riverside parks in London.  

Architects’ Theatre 

Engineers from Webb Yates will discuss stone grid structure Entramado de Piedra (above); Klaas de Rycke will present case studies including  La Maison-R in Stone at Chateauneuf ©Moa Architecture, Andrey Permitin (below) 

Presentations at the Architects’ Theatre seek to educate visitors about the potential applications of natural stone in architecture. Klaas De Rycke, partner at Bollinger+Grohmann, proposes the case for Expanding the possibilities of stone in architecture, while Dan Cole and Rosie Hudson from Webb Yates engineers present two case studies of Lightweight stone space and grid structures that have generated new insights and challenges. In their talk From one life cycle to the next, Matthew Barnett Howland and Dido Milne from CSK Architects will discuss two stone reuse projects that challenge the common perception of building components  

A Fresh Vision for the Future  

“The Stone and Surfaces Show builds on the legacy of its predecessor, celebrating the versatility, beauty and enduring strength of natural stone,” said Sam Patel, Divisional Director of the Super Event, which unites Stone & Surfaces, UK Construction Week and FutureBuild. “From thought-provoking panel discussions on the Main Stage to immersive films, photography and expert-led talks across the Surfaces Cinema and the Architects’ Theatre, the programme highlights how this ancient, organic material is not only timeless, but increasingly vital to the future of low-carbon construction in the UK.” 

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