On Friday 6th December, Stone Federation hosted the 22nd Natural Stone Awards Ceremony at London’s Leonardo Royal Tower Bridge Hotel.
Taking place every two years, the Natural Stone Awards celebrates the best examples of the use of natural stone in construction projects from across all sectors of the industry, from cladding and external masonry to interiors, and from landscapes through to restoration work.
Stone Federation Chief Executive, Jane Buxey commented:
“The 2024 Natural Stone Awards has been a fantastic celebration of the very best that this industry has to offer. This year, despite the challenges faced by the industry, the quality and quantity of entries was as high as it has ever been and is testimony to the agility, excellence and professionalism of the companies within the natural stone sector.”
The standard of the winning, highly commended and commended projects was very high throughout the eight categories. The category winners were all exceptional examples of the successful use of natural stone across a wide range of applications, from the striking natural range of stone cladding on County Durham’s Auckland Castle Faith Museum and the traditional charm of the load-bearing flint of the Private Chapel, Suffolk through to the grandeur of Rhodes House new cantilevered staircase and the city-shaping work of Glasgow’s M8 footbridge, the awards celebrated the full breadth of what can be achieved with natural stone.
A notable feature in nearly all the winning, highly commended and commended project was a sustainable project approach, whether that be using locally sourced stone, minimal waste designs or restoring the existing structure to benefit from the sustainability of retrofit.
This comes at a time when an increasing number of architects and clients are realising the whole life carbon benefits of using natural stone over other construction materials.
The Awards Ceremony was compered by sports presenter Jim Rosenthal who was assisted by the voice of Strictly Come Dancing, Alan Dedicoat. We were also joined by our guest presenter, Kevin McCloud MBE, presenter of the internationally acclaimed series Grand Designs. Alongside his work on TV, Kevin is a passionate champion of sustainable development, the historic environment and ecological construction. He is a fellow of the RIBA and in 2014 was awarded an MBE for services to architecture
The 2024 Natural Stone Awards enjoyed the support and sponsorship of a number of well-respected trade bodies and industry firms including FMDC, Hardscape, RCK Partners, Sandberg, The Society of British & International Interior Design, Schluter-Systems, StoneScape Expo, Stone Show and Welsh Slate
Guests at the Awards received a copy of the 2024 Natural Stone Awards Souvenir Brochure which can be ordered free of charge; to order a hard copy, go to https://bit.ly/4inx81a or to view the brochure online, go to www.bit.ly/NSABrochure24.
