SSQ’s founder and Managing Director Ahmed El-Helw tells the story of its celebrated Riverstone phyllite, now marking its twenty-fifth anniversary.
Today, phyllite is a world-leading architectural stone, prized by architects, developers and quality-conscious self-builders around the world for its beauty and versatility.
But 25 years ago, the material was relatively unknown.
That’s not to say it was new. It’d been around a long time – a very long time. 560 million years, in fact, if you count the incomprehensibly lengthy period it spent developing in the Earth’s crust.
But compared to other natural materials used in construction, like slate and stone, its use was much less common, and its huge potential for roofing, cladding and flooring went relatively untapped.
I’m not going to claim that SSQ achieved that single-handed – but I’d like to think that we’ve played a part in showing the world just how fantastic a material phyllite is.
Finding phyllite
It was 25 years ago this year that SSQ launched the Riverstone brand – our world-class Argentinian phyllite.
By this stage, SSQ was already a leading supplier of quality Spanish slate. Since the 1980s, we’d been sourcing material from the best Spanish quarries – which traditionally had only gone to France – and bringing it to customers around the world.
But we’d also decided we wanted to add other strings to our bow – to find other outstanding natural materials that could help our clients maintain a competitive edge, and stand out from the crowd.
Photo: Bodmin Jail
Going in search of those materials was a major undertaking for us, and quite daunting. We’d built an impressive reputation off the back of our uncompromising quality standards when it came to natural slate, and we knew it’d be an extremely hard act to follow.
So we scoured the world for material that would meet our exacting requirements – and eventually, our search took us to Argentina, where we found phyllite.
Originally, hundreds of millions of years ago, it was a soft rock like shale or mudstone.
Then it was buried, and over almost unimaginable lengths of time, heat, pressure and chemical activity turned the clay minerals inside it into flake-shaped mica minerals. Those mica minerals gradually enlarged, and were forced into parallel alignment.
We call the result ‘phyllite’. The word stems from the Greek word ‘phyllon’, or leaf, which seems a strange name until you look at it up close – it’s got a greenish tinge, and can be split extremely thin.
But the bottom line from a construction perspective is that phyllite is a fantastic roofing material.
Really, it exists in the perfect geological sweet spot. The extra millennia have made it harder and stronger than slate. But it’s not yet become so hard that it’s impractical for roofing purposes.
Its mica flakes, and the tiny crystals on its surface, give it an unmistakable silky appearance – known in the industry as a phyllitic sheen – and its attractive grey-green colour instantly distinguishes it from other products on the market.
Unparalleled quality
In Argentina, we found world-class phyllite being produced by the San Luis quarry in the country’s La Repressa region.
I was immediately impressed with both the quarry, and the material it supplied, so we began buying it in. The Riverstone brand was born.
Over time, the product proved so popular with our customers that it made financial sense to buy a stake in the quarry, and I became a shareholder.
Then, we took the relationship a step closer, and SSQ acquired the operation outright. Because of that, we’re able to guarantee the quality of the material we produce to a far greater extent than a customer that just buys in from an external supplier.
Photo: Bodmin Jail
We’ve had Riverstone extensively tested, with impressive results. Assessed to ASTM C406 standard, Riverstone was awarded an S1 rating, indicating it will last a minimum of 75 years.
It’s also been tested to see how reactive the iron oxides on its surface are. Highly reactive iron oxides lead to discoloration and leaching over time. Riverstone, on the other hand, received T1 classification – meaning it’s highly unlikely that any leaching will occur.
It's for that reason that Riverstone comes backed with some of the most extensive guarantees in the industry. Choose Riverstone, and we’ve got you covered for a hundred years.
25 years of excellence
On Riverstone’s 25th anniversary, I want to take this opportunity to recognise the incredible skill and expertise of the staff who operate the San Luis quarry – and thank them for their two and a half decades of tireless work.
It’s only thanks to their efforts that we’ve been able to bring Riverstone to thousands of customers around the world, from nations around Europe, to America, Australia and beyond.
I’m excited to bring Riverstone to thousands more new customers in the decades to come.
If you’ve got a project that would benefit from one of the best natural roofing solutions the world has to offer, speak to SSQ - call 020 8961 7725 or email info@ssq.co.uk.
For more information, visit www.ssqgroup.com.
