Scan Magazine | Design Profile | LITHOS Natursten ApS
Working with sandstone When Hasse and Gitte Vilstrup were renovating their garden, they found the supply of paving quite dull. They therefore took matters into their own hands and set up Lithos, becoming Denmark’s first supplier of sandstone from India, and they have since taken Denmark by storm. By Josefine Older Steffensen | Photos: Lithos
“What we found was that most of the paving available in Denmark was made of concrete. There’s nothing wrong with concrete, but at the same time it often all looks the same, and we wanted something more colourful. So we went to an exhibition in Germany and loved all the variety of the natural stone there, so we got some for our own garden and wanted other Danes to have some as well,” explains Hasse. Hasse and Gitte established Lithos in 2007. Lithos means ‘natural stone’ in Greek, and over the last decade Lithos has become one of Denmark’s leading suppliers of sandstone and slate. Through strong personal and professional relationships with both suppliers 32 | Issue 111 | April 2018
and customers, the future of Lithos is firmly set in stone.
A high-quality family business “What I love most about what I do is the relationship we have with our suppliers in India. Over the years, we have gotten to know each other incredibly well and have even been to their children’s weddings. We work with two families there, and they have become like part of our family,” says Hasse. Together with their suppliers they have quality tested the natural stone to the highest level. Sandstone is believed by many to be unable to survive the varying climate in Denmark, however the paving that Lithos sells is of the high-
est quality. It is tested to ensure that it can withstand frost, rain and fluctuating temperatures. “That’s another reason why we’ve worked with the same people since we started out,” Hasse explains. “Over the years, we’ve tried to import from other suppliers, but we’ve always come back to our partners in India, because we can ensure the quality and safety of the products. It’s extremely important to us that what we’re selling is the best you can get.”
Making the customers happy Safety and quality are some of the main reasons why people keep coming back to Lithos. Another reason is the variety on offer. The company has both sandstone and slate in a range of colours, textures and sizes. The slate fits with the traditional Scandinavian style, while the sandstone provides more texture and adds a touch of ‘hygge’. The sandstone comes in six different colours, some of which even have small fossils in them.