Lunchtime CPD Seminar Series ‘Stone Futures’ - Number 5: Guilliana Giorgi and Iain Maclean – Stonut and Brochs

Across the autumn and winter, Scotland East Region, Scottish Ecological Design Association (SEDA) and Historic Environment Scotland (HES) are excited to launch a new lunchtime CPD seminar series dedicated to one of the most enduring yet ever evolving materials in our built environment: Stone

From its role in the earliest architecture to its potential in a low carbon future, stone carries its story of resilience, craft and innovation. This series will open up fresh perspectives on how stone can shape tomorrow’s buildings whilst drawing from its rich history.

Across the sessions, we will explore:
History and heritage – lessons from the past that that inform and inspire present-day practice

Environmental and embodied carbon – challenges of quarrying and processing stone, looking at the role stone can play in reducing the environmental impact and supporting more sustainable construction.

Development potential – explore new opportunities for local stone and how it can be integrated into projects at all scales.

Inspiring and innovation – how designers and engineers are re-imagining its use within contemporary architecture.

Whether you’re a technologist, architect, designer, engineer or simply curious about the possibilities of this timeless material, these seminars are designed to inform, challenge and inspire.

Join us at 13:00 on the first Monday of every month and bring your curiosity and discover how stone is being reshaped for the future. 

Giulliana Giorgi

Architect at Allies and Morrison,

Giulliana 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.

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.

Iain Maclean

Founding director and vice chair of the Caithness Broch Project,

Iain 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.

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.