Architects Complete London Towers Using Structural Stone Construction

Architect Amin Taha and engineer Steve Webb have completed Petra Heights, a complex of three residential towers ranging from six to 10 storeys located near the Finchley Road & Frognal station in London. The project serves as a proof of concept for structural stone construction, which achieved approximately 30 percent less embodied carbon than traditional concrete or steel-framed buildings.

The towers utilize a facade of pink basalt and grey Norwegian larvikite and feature a world-first stone lift shaft. While the project faced development delays and a transition from a proposed timber frame to concrete, it successfully demonstrated that quarry rejects can be used for primary structures.

Taha and Webb are now campaigning to replace carbon-intensive bricks and concrete with stone. This effort includes a stone demonstrator house in Earl's Court and a planned carbon-negative development in Hackney.