Another type of earth construction is earth sheltered building of which there are several configurations. A notable example is parliament house in Canberra. Stone Historically, stone was usually a prestigious material used in buildings such as temples, palaces, tombs and monuments. This is useful as it also is indicative of some of the properties of the stone that are of interest to architects and builders. Little natural cleavage and thus expensive to quarry but usually very hard and durable and capable of taking a high polish.
Examples are granite and basalt.
Sedimentary rocks - formed from the redeposition of materials produced by the breakup of igneous rocks or other sources. Layering gives a natural weakness or cleavage plane which makes them easy to quarry. They do not take a high polish and vary in hardness and durability. Examples include sandstone and limestone. Metamorphic rocks - are rocks which undergo a change in their physical properties, but not chemical properties, as a result of geological forces of heat and pressure.