ᐅ Cladding the base of the facade with stone: Should it be applied over insulation or not?

Hello everyone,

Some time ago, we purchased a house in need of renovation. The interior work is finished, and now we are focusing on the facade.
The house has 24cm (9.5 inches) concrete walls with 4cm (1.5 inches) of polystyrene insulation covered by textured render. It was built in 1973.

We want to clad the base of the house with natural stone. Gluing stone-effect tiles directly onto the insulation is not an option. The idea is to cut the insulation about 60cm (24 inches) above ground level all around. The exposed edge of the insulation would then be properly sealed with plaster, and real limestone would be installed. The joint between the limestone and the insulation should be left open with about a 1cm (0.4 inch) gap or closed completely.

Question: Removing the insulation will, of course, affect the thermal performance at the base. What kind of problems might this cause? Could moisture be drawn in? Might there be mold growth where the stone meets the insulation due to thermal bridging?

Or are there other possible solutions?

Thank you.

Why is this not an option?
Removing insulation is not very wise.
Pictures help.

Lumpi_LE schrieb:

Why is that not an option?
Removing insulation is not particularly clever.
Pictures help.

Thanks for the feedback. A friend of mine mentioned this. People often listen to others, after all.
Would you apply brick slips on top? Would that affect the insulation underneath?

What kind of pictures do you need, the current condition, or how it should look?