On Friday 7th December 2018, London’s Grange Tower Bridge Hotel welcomed over 360 architects, interior designers, main contractors, local authorities and natural stone companies 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.
Hardscape were proud supporters of the awards producing all of the natural stone trophies for all of the recipients. Additionally, Hardscape were immensley proud to have played a central role in the transformation of Hull Public Realm working closely with Hull City Council as it began its tenure as the City of Culture at the beginning of this year. This project made a dramatic difference to the city with unprecedented economic benefits set to be seen for years to come and picked up a Highly Commended award in the Landscape category.
Alongside Hull Public Realm, The Piece Hall in Halifax was another standout regeneration project with Hardscape collaborators with and suppliers to Gillespies landscape architects who were worthy winners of the Landscape category. The re-opening of the UK’s most significant heritage project this summer made headline news and put the Grade I listed building firmly on the map.
Guests at the Awards received a copy of the 2018 Natural Stone Awards Souvenir Brochure.
