On Friday 7th December, London’s Grange Tower Bridge Hotel welcomed over 360 architects, interior designers, main contractors, local authorities and natural stone firms to the 2018 Natural Stone Awards.
Organised by Stone Federation Great Britain, the official trade association for the natural stone industry, the biennial Natural Stone Awards celebrate the best examples of the use of natural stone in construction projects from across all sectors of the industry.
This year saw hundreds of projects entered across the different categories, and particularly encouraging was the 15% increase seen in entries compared to the 2016 Awards, making the judge’s task even harder.
Stone Federation Chief Executive, Jane Buxey commented that:
“The 2018 Natural Stone Awards have been a fantastic celebration of the very best that this industry has to offer the architectural, construction and design sectors. The amount of projects featuring a mixture of traditional stonemasonry and CNC machinery is a good example of the intelligent approach taken by the sector to embracing innovation while maintaining the skills that form the bed-rock of this industry. I would like to congratulate all those involved with the winning, highly commended and commended entries for their part in the creation of these stunning projects.”
The standard of the winning, highly commended and commended projects was very high throughout the eleven categories. The category winners were all exceptional examples of the successful use of natural stone across a wide range of applications, from the soaring, cathedral like interior of Clarges, Mayfair and the stunning use of local field stone seen on Contour House, to the transformational restoration of Halifax’s Piece Hall and the expert conservation work undertaken on Westminster Palace’s Chancellor’s Court.
The Awards Ceremony was compered by sports presenter Jim Rosenthal who was assisted by voice of Strictly Come Dancing and the National Lottery, Alan Dedicoat. Stone Federation were also delighted to welcome Loyd Grossman CBE FSA as the guest speaker for the event.
The 2018 Natural Stone Awards enjoyed the support and sponsorship of a number of well-respected trade bodies and industry firms including BRE, Gallagher, Hardscape, Historic England, Natural Stone Specialist, Sandberg, SBID, Schluter-Systems and the Worshipful Company of Masons.
Guests at the Awards received a copy of the 2018 Natural Stone Awards Souvenir Brochure which can be ordered free of charge at bit.ly/StoneAwardsBrochure.