Natural Stone Show Back To London

LONDON – With more than 300 exhibitors, the Seventh Natural Stone Show will return to the ExCel exhibition center here on March 14-16.
The biennial event is backed by the Stone Federation Great Britain and the National Association of Memorial Masons, as well as the support of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) and English Heritage.
This year’s show occurs in the wake of growth in the United Kingdom’s stone industry. The latest figures from HM Revenue & Customs show imports up 64 percent by volume and 37 percent by value between 2002 and 2004. Helping to drive that growth is the continuing introduction to the market of new sources of stone from all over the world, and at the Natural Stone Show there will be material from more than 40 countries.
The event also includes a series of demonstrations encompassing fixing, interiors (tiles and worktops), pointing, paving and screeds. In addition, there is a special Conservation Area where experts from English Heritage, Historic Scotland, the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB) and the Dry Stone Walling Association will be among those available to discuss issues and offer working demonstrations of craft skills
In conjunction with the Natural Stone Show is the Natural Stone & Building Conservation Conference on the use of natural stone in construction and conservation organized by the RIBA, English Heritage, Stone Federation Great Britain, Architects’ Journal and Natural Stone Specialist.
There will be 25 papers presented, with the first sessions covering issues relating to the use of stone in construction in general, and the second dealing specifically with conservation
“Stone is up there with glass and steel as a modern construction material,” says Richard Bradbury, the event’s director. “If it’s not on an architect’s palette or in a developer’s vocabulary they are depriving themselves of a vital ingredient in so many award-winning projects.”