Brown Qusseir.

Qusseir sits on the Red Sea, and this stone carries the hardness that comes with that geology: 0.02 % water absorption and 3,050 bulk specific gravity, the heaviest sheet in the catalogue. It is a stone specified for exposure — coastal cladding, external treads, kerbs, thresholds, anywhere salt and wetting are constant.

Where Kemet Brown is quiet, Brown Qusseir shows its crystals. Warm brown ground with lighter feldspar and dark mineral flecks, coarse enough to read one by one at close range and to hold a warm, even tone at distance.

Polished it darkens and gains depth; flamed and bush hammered it goes lighter, greyer and grippier. Because heat changes the colour, approve the sample in the finish that will be built, not in the finish that is easiest to show.

Supplied as blocks, slabs and cut to size.