Entramado de Piedra

Developed through a collaboration between Webb Yates, Lanik and Rosal Stones, the concept challenges long-held assumptions about stone by exploring its use in a form normally associated with steel: a doubly curved gridshell.

Traditionally, stone has been limited to massive compression structures such as arches and vaults. This design instead uses prestress and geometric stiffness to create a shell that is both delicate and structurally efficient. Drawing on over a decade of stone research and development at Webb Yates, the project demonstrates how stone can operate as a forward-looking, materially honest alternative to steel or concrete.

The proposed gridshell spans 8.5m x 7.2m and rises to 3.6m at its peak. Its form comprises 82 unique Abadía stone elements, a high-strength dolomitic limestone quarried from the Granada plateau with compressive strengths comparable to structural steel.

Using recycled remnants originally intended for Rosal Stones’ Ama Petra project, each piece is cut with a tolerance of less than 2mm and designed to work primarily in compression. A 10mm bar grouted through the centre of each element provides the minimal tensile capacity needed.

Assembly uses Lanik’s Single Layer System nodes, adapted with only minor modifications. Parametric modelling allowed the team to refine the geometry, coordinate interfaces and ensure that the shell’s tight tolerances could be achieved in practice.

Work is progressing to realise the pavilion, creating a public demonstration of prestressed stone and its potential as a low-carbon structural material.

Entramado de Piedra shows how strength, efficiency and beauty can be achieved without relying on heavy volumes of material. Prestressed stone provides stiffness without mass, steel is pushed into tension only, and reclaimed stone keeps embodied carbon exceptionally low. Together, these qualities point to a future in which stone is treated not as a relic of the past, but as a viable and intelligent material for contemporary construction.

“In recent years as an industry we seem to have forgotten how to utilise form and structural stone. This structure is the perfect marriage of the two and shows what a world where flat concrete slabs are left behind could look like.”

— Dan Cole, Associate Engineer at Webb Yates.