Question 1

1.	Why did Sir Christopher Wren choose Portland Stone to build St Paul’s Cathedral?

Accepted Answer

The original St Paul’s Cathedral was ruined in the Great Fire of London in 1666, and Sir Christopher Wren was commissioned by King Charles II to rebuild it. Wren’s design was for a far grander St Paul’s than the original building, so he set about finding materials that would help him achieve this objective.
Wren considered several different building stones before choosing Portland Stone because while it has the advantage of being easy to work with, (in those days all cutting and carving was done by hand by skilled stone masons) it was also strong enough to bear the load of the huge, heavy lead dome crowning the cathedral. But that’s not all. Other advantages that contributed to Wren’s choice are Portland Stone’s inherent resistance to pollution and the British climate, the white/cream colour which provided a perfect contrast to London’s narrow, poorly-lit streets, and Portland’s location on the coast which made it easier to transport the quarry blocks to London by sea. 
Whatever his reasons, using Portland Stone to rebuild St Paul’s was a roaring success which has contributed to St Paul’s position as an iconic landmark, and Wren’s reputation as a visionary architect. Wren’s choice of Portland Stone proved so popular, architects throughout Britain soon followed his lead.

Question 2

2.	Why has Portland Stone been used so extensively across the world?

Accepted Answer

Following the rebuilding of St. Paul’s Cathedral, Portland Stone earned a reputation among clients and architects alike for being the first choice when a building needed to convey grandeur. Where other building stones or brickwork were used for lower profile buildings, Portland Stone was, and still is, seen as the only option for prestigious, high-profile buildings. This explains why Portland Stone was used in the construction of several law courts and practically every town hall in Britain built during a certain period.
Reinforcing it’s pedigree even further, Portland Stone was selected as the world’s first Heritage Stone approved by Global Heritage Stone Resource https://www.stone-ideas.com/64790/global-heritage-stone-resource-ghsr/.(https://www.stone-ideas.com/64790/global-heritage-stone-resource-ghsr/)  Portland Stone’s reputation is so revered internationally that it has become the unofficial benchmark for future natural stones to be added to the Global Stone Heritage register

Question 3

3.	What are the most famous Portland Stone buildings?

Accepted Answer

When you visualise London's West End or the City, you'll notice familiar, off-white Portland Stone buildings are the backdrop to almost every picture. So many of the buildings and monuments in Central London are built from Portland Stone we could list hundreds. For brevity, our list only includes the most well-known. 
Central London
St Paul’s Cathedral
The Tower of London
The British Museum
The Bank of England
The Cenotaph
Buckingham Palace
Westminster Abbey
Admiralty Arch
The Guildhall
The Old Bailey
The Royal Courts of Justice
The Royal Opera House
The National Gallery
The National Portrait Gallery
Tate Britain
BBC Broadcasting House
Senate House, University of London
Covent Garden Piazza
Nova Victoria
The Ritz
Bvlgaria Hotel, Knightsbridge
Chanel Flagship, Bond Street
Apple Flagship, Regent Street
Ralph Lauren Flagship, New Bond Street
Mui Mui Flagship, New Bond Street
Selfridges, Oxford Street

Around Britain
Belfast City Hall
Royal Courts of Justice, Belfast
Stockport Town Hall
Manchester Central Library
Cunard Building, Liverpool
Port of Liverpool Building
Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral
Leeds Civic Hall
Islington Town Hall
Chelsea Town Hall
Shoreditch Town Hall
Colchester Town Hall
Barnsley Town Hall
Crawley Town Hall
Sheffield City Hall
Sheffield Central Library
Cardiff City Hall
Swansea Guildhall
Nottingham Council House
Coventry War Memorial
Armed Forces Memorial, Lichfield
Southport War Memorial
National Maritime Museum, Greenwich
Queen's House, Greenwich
Queen Mary Building, University of Greenwich
Trent Building, University of Nottingham
Nancy Astor Building, University of Plymouth
Parkinson Building, University of Leeds
St John’s College, Cambridge University
St John’s College, Oxford University
Brasenose College, Oxford University
Ashmolean Museum, Oxofrd
House of Fraser, Bristol

International
United Nations (UN) Headquarters, New York
National September 11 Memorial & Museum, New York
Auckland War Memorial Museum, New Zealand
Burberry Flagship, Shanghai
The Custom House, Dublin
National Gallery, Dublin
City Hall, Dublin
Casino Ostend Kursaal, Belgium  
St. Lawrence (Sint-Laurenskerk) Church, Rotterdam

While Portland Stone is the primary building stone for the majority of the buildings and monuments listed above, in some cases it is used as a complementary stone or as a replacement during refurbishment, modification or improvement work.

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