Choosing Colour, Format, Surface and Thickness for Portuguese Limestone Cladding

Specifying limestone cladding means settling five things that are easier to take in a logical sequence than one at a time: colour, format, surface, thickness and corners. This guide sets them out in that sequence, with the dimensions we confirm and the options for bespoke cutting. There is no single right place to start — some projects begin with the elevation and work back to the stone, others begin with the stone and adapt the detail. If you are undecided on any of these points, that is entirely normal — send us what you do know and we will help you work through the rest.

This guide sets out the five decisions in an order that keeps a specification coherent: colour, format, surface, thickness and corners. MonteLuso Stone supplies Portuguese natural limestone from Central Portugal to architects, developers, contractors and wholesalers, prepared for facades and wall cladding.

Colour: one range, five tonal directions

The Portuguese limestone we quarry spans five tonal directions: white, beige, ochre or rust, blue and grey. These are tones of the same material rather than five separate product lines, and they are available across every format and both surfaces described below.

The three collections group those tones into families so that a specification has a starting point rather than a colour swatch:

• Luminous Ivory carries the white and pale ivory ground along with soft beige.
• Sunset Gold covers the warm range: sand and beige through honey to deeper, naturally oxidised ochre.
• Alpine Heritage is the cool family, with blue-grey and neutral grey.

Because it is a natural material, tone varies piece to piece and delivery to delivery, and the variation is part of the specification rather than a tolerance to be eliminated. The practical way to settle colour is to agree a representative sample set, and on larger projects a mock-up panel on site, and to agree the accepted range in writing before production starts.

Format: the geometry of the wall

Format is the decision that carries the most weight, because it fixes the drawing, the setting out and the visual rhythm of the wall. Three formats are supplied.

Irregular

Individual pieces typically approximately 25–35 cm across, with dimensions and shapes varying. There is no continuous coursing, so the wall reads as one continuous surface rather than as a grid. The setting out is partly determined on the wall by the installer, who selects pieces for size and proportion as the work proceeds.

Rectangular

Rectangular pieces are supplied in heights of 10, 15 and 20 cm, with lengths up to 60 cm. Both surfaces are available in this format, and the thickness varies. A coursed rectangular format brings order to the elevation: the horizontal line becomes readable, joints can run continuously, and the wall sits comfortably against modern window openings and concrete or brickwork in the surrounding fabric.

Because the height is fixed but the length is not, a rectangular wall still carries variation, and it is best planned as a coursed layout with lengths distributed rather than as a rigid grid of identical pieces.

Multiformat

Multiformat combines larger and smaller pieces in one delivery. Rectangular pieces are combined with smaller complementary pieces, and the exact mix varies between deliveries. This is deliberately not the same geometry as the Rectangular format: Multiformat is a mixed-size composition in which the larger pieces set the scale and the smaller ones fill the rhythm, whereas Rectangular is a single coursed height taken from 10, 15 or 20 cm.

For elevations with many interruptions — reveals, services, changes of plane — Multiformat absorbs those breaks visually, which is why it is often the most forgiving choice for a refurbishment facade.

Surface: two options, all formats

Two surfaces are supplied, and both are available across Irregular, Rectangular and Multiformat:

• Natural split-face. The stone is opened along its natural bedding and the resulting fracture becomes the visible face. It is not flat, and no two pieces are identical.
• Hand-chiseled. The face and arris are worked by hand, giving a flatter, more even relief with a readable rhythm of chisel marks.

Surface and format are separate axes. A rectangular piece with a hand-worked face is a Rectangular format with a hand-chiseled surface — rectangular is the geometry, hand-chiseled is the surface. Keeping the two on separate lines in a specification avoids the confusion that arises when they are merged into one phrase.

If the wall is to be judged by how it holds light, the split-face guide on surface behaviour and formats works through that question in more depth.

Thickness: preferred bands and special options

Thickness is normally set in relation to the wall build-up, the substrate and the fixing method, and it is agreed with the project designer and an experienced stone installer rather than chosen for appearance alone.

At 2–3 cm and 4–6 cm, the indicative coverage is approximately 25 m² and 20 m² per pallet respectively, with an average pallet weight of 1,300–2,500 kg.

Special thicknesses are 6–8 cm and 8–10 cm. These are produced for projects that want a more substantial wall — a deeper reveal between pieces, a heavier arris, and a surface that reads as mass rather than as facing. Thicker material is also the usual choice where the wall should hold its own against a robust, plain architectural language, and it suits alpine and mountain projects for that proportion alone; it is a visual and constructional decision, not a claim about how the material behaves in cold conditions. For the thicknesses where it is documented, the indicative coverage is approximately 15 m² per pallet at 6–8 cm; no coverage figure is published for 8–10 cm, and pallet quantities for that band are confirmed per specification and per quotation rather than taken from a table.

All MonteLuso limestone references are also available in 8–10 cm thickness.

Dimensional information for the range is gathered on the technical specifications page, and material quantities and pallet counts for a specific thickness are confirmed with the quotation.

Corners

Corner elements are preformed L-shaped pieces that wrap the external angle, so the thickness of the cladding is not visible and the elevation reads as solid stone masonry. They are available in all formats used for the cladding.

Corners are measured and quoted separately, per linear metre, not by area. A plan with one long elevation and a plan with three short ones can produce very different corner totals at the same cladding area, which is why corner length is taken off dimensioned drawings wherever possible.

Confirmed dimensions and bespoke cutting

The dimensions in this guide describe the range, and for a broken natural stone they are nominal. Confirmed dimensions for a project are the ones stated on the quotation and on the setting-out drawing, not a figure inferred from a web page — which is why we are careful to qualify every size here rather than present it as a fixed guarantee.

Beyond the standard range, custom sizes, special thicknesses, bespoke cutting and project-specific formats are available on request, including pieces designed for a particular coursing, a stepped detail or a specific opening. These are made to order. For standardised material drawn from stock the agreed estimated delivery is two to six weeks, and the selected specification together with its availability is confirmed with the quotation rather than presumed in advance. A bespoke requirement is produced to order, and its lead time is confirmed with the quotation because it depends on the specification rather than on a stock figure. If a project needs a dimension that is not in the range, the useful thing to do is describe the requirement with a drawing rather than to try to work around it with a standard piece.

A workable order of decisions

1. Fix the cladding area and take off corner lengths in linear metres.
2. Choose the format, because it determines the geometry and the setting out.
3. Choose the surface: natural split-face or hand-chiseled.
4. Set the thickness against the wall build-up and the fixing method.
5. Choose the tonal direction, and agree the accepted range on samples or on a mock-up.
6. Confirm whether the standard range is sufficient or whether bespoke cutting is required.

The collections overview shows the three families and the products within them, and individual pieces such as Luminous Ivory Rectangular (LI/RT) and Luminous Ivory Hand-Chiseled Rectangular (LI/HC) show how format and surface combine in practice.

Contact us with the approximate area, the format, surface and thickness you have in mind, and the country of delivery, and we will come back with a written quotation, confirmed dimensions and a lead time.