For several decades Carrières du Hainaut has been the biggest producer of Belgian blue limestone on the market.
Belgian Blue Limestone has traditionally been used as the classically noble stone material in almost all the major projects in Belgium’s architectural heritage: the Palais du Cinquantenaire, the Palais des Expositions du Heysel, the Brussels and Charleroi Palais des Beaux-Arts, the Musée Horta, the Liège Palais de Justice, the Musée Mariemont, the Beffroi of Mons, the Maison du Roi on the Great Square in Brussels, the "Comte de Flandres" metro station, the Institut Royal des Sciences Naturelles in Brussels, Glaverbel headquarters, etc.
The success of Belgian blue limestone is not, however, limited to Belgium, its country of origin. The world’s most celebrated architects have been fascinated by its qualities, as demonstrated by some of the greatest architectural monuments: St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, the Australian parliament, the Bank of England in London, the Pantheon in Paris, the Place de la Comédie in Montpellier, the monument to the Walloons in New York, etc. Since it was founded, Carrières du Hainaut has played a pioneering role on several fronts:
In equipment
Carrières du Hainaut has always been a trailblazer in the use and development of new technologies, e.g. the use of diamonds for sawing blocks in the 50s.
In training
By helping to create the Training Centre for Stoneworking Crafts, Carrières du Hainaut has ensured that blue stone craftmanship will continue in the future.
In marketing
Carrières du Hainaut was the first ornamental stone company to receive Technical Approval for its overall operations with a certificate issued by the Belgian Association for Technical Approval in Construction.
This label is a solid guarantee for architects and users of Belgian blue limestone.
Marketing
For the last twenty years or so Carrières du Hainaut has put a great deal of investment into marketing, above all to prescribers, i.e. architects, but also to the general public with its famous “blue campaign”. This was in fact the first time in the European history of natural stone that a product has been promoted and publicised to such an extent in both the specialist and the general press.
