The hunt is on for the best projects in natural stone as entries are invited for Stone Federation Great Britain's Natural Stone Awards 2010.

The Stone Awards are the highlight of the stone industry calendar, when the industry comes together with its clients, architects and designers to recognise the pinnacle of achievement.

The Awards are presented every other year at a glittering ceremony in a prestigious London venue in November.  This years event is taking place at Lords Cricket Ground in London on 26th November.  Details of how to book will be available shortly.

Any member of the team involved in a project, from the stone supplier or contractor to the architect or client, can enter and any project that has used stone is eligible, whether or not it involved a Stone Federation member.

The only criteria are that the project must be within the United Kingdom and the construction work must have been completed within the three-year period ending 2 April 2010.

The entries will be judged by a panel of architects supported by an expert in stonemasonry from the Federation. A short list will be created from among the entries, so it is important that the initial entries are well presented with supporting drawings and photographs. The projects shortlisted will be visited by the judges in order to reach the final decisions.

They will be looking for excellence in the design and execution of the stonework, sympathy of scale to any surrounding buildings or features and, in continuous street frontages, a relationship to any marked general horizontal or vertical pattern.

They will look for an understanding of the requirements of stone detailing and weathering to give a clean and minimum maintenance building or landscape development. Additionally, they will be looking for innovative use of stone.

The Award categories are:

1 New build (with separate awards for modern cladding and traditional masonry)
2 Repair and restoration
3 Interiors
4 Landscaping
5 Craftsmanship

Once again there will also be a special award presented, if a project is considered worthy of receiving it, for sustainability. The winner will be selected from the other categories and entrants are encouraged to highlight any special considerations regarding sustainability in their entries.

Stone, by its very nature, is a sustainable material created by nature over millions of years. Its extraction and processing are low energy procedures. The inclusion of this special category in the Awards, introduced for the first time last time, is part of Stone Federation's on-going sustainability strategy. Projects of any size are eligible for all categories, the quality being more important than the cost.

The Awards present an unrivalled opportunity for publicity, not just for the winners but for the industry in general. And the Awards lunch is an excellent opportunity for stone companies to show their appreciation of the team that comes together to create outstanding projects.

Entry forms can be downloaded here. Closing date for entries is 23 April - and although that might seem like a long way off, it will soon be here, so start preparing your entry now.