Lunchtime CPD Seminar Series ‘Stone Futures’ - Number 5: Guilliana Giorgi and Iain Maclean – Stonut and Brochs
The Stonut: A Facade for the Future?
The Stonut is an Allies and Morrison prototype for a prefabricated, load-bearing façade module adapted from proven concrete “donut” cladding technology and developed in collaboration with Webb Yates Engineers, FMDC, and Albion Stone. It builds on recent momentum in structural stone research but shifts the focus from isolated exemplars to scalable solutions compatible with modern procurement and delivery models. The talk will share the design concept, prototype development, and forthcoming testing regime, highlighting the potential of structural stone to reduce embodied carbon while reimagining its role in modern methods of construction.
Giulliana Giorgi is an architect at Allies and Morrison, where she leads research into low-carbon material education and innovation within the Climate Change Group. She is co-developing the “Stonut,” a prefabricated stressed-stone facade module designed at Allies and Morrison. Alongside this, she leads Unlocking Indigenous Stone Construction in the UK, a RIBA-funded research project which received the 2024 RIBA Scott Brownrigg Award for Sustainable Development. Giulliana also teaches at Ravensbourne University London and contributes widely to discourse on natural materials and healthy building environments.
Brochs
Iain makes the case that craftsmanship and architecture aren’t just skills—they’re cultural memory. He explains why resurrecting an Iron Age broch is a timely act of identity, and takes the audience inside the various setbacks, breakthroughs, and remaining hurdles on the long journey to build the first broch in two millennia.
Iain Maclean is a founding director and vice chair of the Caithness Broch Project, where he helps shape the organisation’s long-term vision to reimagine an iconic Iron Age Broch for a modern audience. His work blends practical construction skills with community-led development, storytelling, and strategic planning—aimed at strengthening local identity and creating lasting cultural and economic legacy for the Far North.
Please book your place for numbers whilst the link for joining the CPD is:
https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_MThjMTRiNDUtNmJhMS00MmJlLTg2YWItNDBmODYxMDRhZjcz%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%2251a0a69c-0e4f-4b3d-b642-12e013198635%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%228ea6f67d-91bd-45cd-bf2c-cc739219134c%22%7d
Meeting ID: 394 587 975 874 4
Passcode: Pe28no3m
