Gaudi’s unfinished masterpiece La Sagrada Familia is being built with stone from a Lancashire quarry, property of Armstrongs Group, UK. The stone was cut and profiled using Tyrolit diamond tools.

The iconic Catalan architect Antonio Gaudi planned to build 18 towers in total: 12 shorter ones on the facades and six taller ones in the centre in a pyramidal layout. The church was between 15 and 25 percent complete when Gaudi died in 1926. Work to finish it has continued with interruptions ever since. The main projects ongoing today and over the coming years are the construction of the west sacristy and the central towers.

The sandstone already used on this portion of the building came from Montjuic in Barcelona, but quarries in the region closed many years ago and it became difficult to source. So began a worldwide search for stone that would match that already used, and it is through this process that the sandstone from Brinscall quarry, near Chorley, Lancashire, owned by Armstrongs Group, was selected alongside stone from other continents. Not only is it the exact colour to match the rest of the building, but it is also free of cracks which could weaken the structure of the precious building.

TYROLIT diamond wires in diameter 8.8 mm with specific formulation and length have been supplied in order to profile the blocks and cut the slabs from Brinscal quarry blocks.

The Sagrada Familia will be completed with the construction of the west front or the Glory facade. Presently the ambition is to finish the construction of the temple by 2026 – 100 years after Gaudi’s death.