The people at McKeon Stone have plenty to celebrate at this festive season. At London’s The Grange Tower Bridge Hotel, on Friday 7th December, Niall Kavanagh on behalf of the Mc Keon team accepted the Craftsmanship award at the Natural Stone Award for a Catholic chapel, built for a private estate in the English Cotswolds. This was McKeon Stone’s second major award for this exceptional building, whose pared-down classical lines were designed to emphasise the beauty of its materials.
Like so many other architects and designers, the chapel’s architects, Craig Hamilton, recognised the unique qualities of Kilkenny Blue Limestone. Formed over millions of years as a result of complex geological processes, this timeless natural material brings its own story to the buildings it graces.
Macarten McGroder, of Machinery Movers magazine, saw the stone and the complex equipment used to quarry it, when he visited the McKeon Stone quarry at Threecastles for the November 2018 edition of the magazine. His article describes the process in fascinating detail.
