WÜRZBURG, GERMANY -- The German Natural Stone Award is currently being organized by the Deutscher Naturwerkstein-Verband e.V. (German Natural Stone Association) together with the Bund Deutscher Architekten (BDA – German Architects Association).

The award is for the exemplary design and technically modern construction of projects in Europe using mainly natural stone. Deadline for submitting projects is January 15, 2013. The competition documents can be downloaded from the home page of DNV.

The German Natural Stone Award 2013 focuses on natural stone as an exemplary building material in terms of its environmental impacts, sustainability and energy efficiency. The award is presented to user-orientated indoor or outdoor projects of natural stone that are examples of high architectural quality, technically innovative applications and sustainable construction of natural stone.

The competition focuses on natural stone as a building material that more than almost any other material becomes a creative design element through the individual treatment of details and finishes, even in smaller projects.

The award is for the exemplary design and technically modern construction of projects in Europe, in which mainly natural stone from Europe is used and the work is performed by European natural stone contractors.

Admissible for participation in the German Natural Stone Award 2013 are finished projects in the fields of architecture, urban development and renovation and preservation of existing buildings. Such projects must have been completed after January 1, 2007 in Europe.

Nominations for the award will be made in the following four categories:

·               Public and commercial buildings (facades and interior finishing)

·        Detached houses and apartment blocks (facades and interior finishing)

·        Landscaping and open space design (gardens, parks and squares)

·        Solid components and existing buildings (stone details, renovation and reconstruction)

The total prize money for the competition is € 30,000.The German Natural Stone Award 2013 is worth € 15,000. Another € 15,000 are available for prize money for the winners in the other categories. All nominated projects will be published in various ways and be displayed at Stone+tec 2013, the 18th International Trade Fair Natural Stone and Stoneprocessing Technology in Nuremberg on May 29, 2013.
The jury comprises five well-known architects and four representatives from the natural stone industry. From all the projects entered, the jury nominates four outstanding projects for the award in each of the four categories. The jury then selects one winner in each category. One of these four category winners receives the German Natural Stone Award 2013 with its prize money of € 15,000 and the other three category winners each receive a money prize of € 5,000.

Admission is open to architects, interior designers and landscape architects working in Europe who are the intellectual creators and planners of the projects. Participation constitutes acceptance of the conditions of the competition.

For more information, contact Deutscher Naturwerkstein-Verband e.V., Sanderstraße 4

97070 Würzburg; Phone: +49 (0) 9 31.1 20 61; Fax: +49 (0) 9 31.1 45 49; email: info@natursteinverband.de; Web site: www.natursteinverband.de