Hallandia Gneiss

Sweden

Stone-glass art with hallandia Gneiss, Sweden

Local native name

Hallandsgnejs

Year designation

2017

Lithology

Gneiss; granitic to granodioritic migmatitic orthogneis

Aesthetics

Dark reddish grey to light greyish red with winding veining

Geological settings

Proterozoic – Fennoscandian Shield;part of a lithologically heterogeneous polymetamorphic high-grade orthogneiss complex (protolith rocks are 1,6 – 1,7 Ga old)

Location

Halland County, coastal areas

Stone-glass art with hallandia Gneiss, Sweden

An exclusive stone from Sweden

Remnants of about 500 quarries (including small examples) have been documented in the area. Today only 2 -3 quarries remain in operation. Today, the stone is most widely used for flooring and paving applications. Kitchen tops, stair steps etc are also quite common. It is, together with Swedish diabases, one of the most popular stone types used by architects for sculpted stone.
In the late 1800, during the Swedish industrialisation, the stone industry in Halland expanded greatly and export started with shipping primarily to Denmark, U.K. and Germany and for paving use. One of the bigger companies at that time, in Halmstad, had 400 – 500 workers employed.
To our knowledge, there is no UNESCO World Cultural Heritage based on the Hallandia gneiss. However, several prominent buildings in Sweden (mostly castles and manors) are protected by the Q-mark issued bye each municipality. The Q-mark is a designation for especially valuable heritage buildings etc.