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When the product is at least 150 million years old you might think there is not much new to say about natural stone, but a visit to The Natural Stone Show at ExCeL, 14-16 March, will quickly dispel that idea. There are new stones being introduced to the market all the time, processed and finished in new ways, and fixed and treated with increasing sophistication to enhance performance such as slip and stain resistance.

Whether used in a modern idiom alongside glass and steel or for a more traditional look, stone continues to be a material of choice for a vast range of projects, from landmark buildings such as the EMBT/RMJM Stirling Award-winning Scottish Parliamentary Building to modest wet rooms and kitchens in domestic property.

The infinite variation of colour and texture in granite, marble, travertine, limestone, sandstone, slate and the rarer and more exotic stones that can be seen at the Natural Stone Show offer an unparalleled palette for the discerning designer. Here’s just a taste of what’s new at The Natural Stone Show this March:

Marshalls Street Furniture (MSF) are launching a new range called Stonelements at the Stone Show. Using the highest quality granites, the MSF-designed range offers co-ordinated furniture elements that provide function and form for urban spaces using clean design profiles. The first collection, called Simple, includes seating, spheres, bollard and benches available in rough hewn or mirror polish finishes. www.marshalls.co.uk/streetfurniture

Forest Pennant Ltd is a new company established by Formpave, a concrete paving company, to supply what they call Royal Forest Pennant natural stone paving from the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire. Blocks of blue and mixed colour pennant stone are quarried and sawn into 50mm thick random lengths with three standard gauge widths and a sawn or shot-blasted finish. Kerbs, ancillaries and other sizes of paving can also be produced. www.forestpennant.com

Wachenfeld Naturstein with their UK partner Spiral Construction produce natural stone facades and cladding systems in sandstone, limestone and granite. Wachenfeld offer a complete service of design, manufacture and installation. The company also manufacture a range of spiral, straight and curved staircases using invisibly reinforced natural stone treads. These are suitable for both commercial and domestic applications and are offered with matching flooring and tiles, as shown in the picture. www.wachenfeld-naturstein.de

A new product that has taken the worktop market by storm is quartz composite. It is manufactured from quartz and resin into slabs that are processed by the same machinery used for processing stone. As strong as many granites, although also a little more expensive, it is appreciated for its consistency and because it can include elements such as the ‘sparkle’ in Starlight pictured here. Starlight is supplied by B-Stone, a new wholesaler in the UK opened by Belgians. Most of what they sell is stone, but they also have an exclusive arrangement to sell Diresco quartz products in the UK.

Visit Stoneguard who will be demonstrating a lightweight natural stone panel which shares some of the same technology used in the American space programme. As used in the construction of The MacDonald Hotel, Sheffield, pictured here on the left..

Faber Marble Group will be exhibiting their travertine at the show for the first time in a wide range of finishes from honed to tumbled for tiles, slabs, pavers and cladding. www.fabermermer.com.tr

Gundelsheimer Marmorwerk who specialise in the quarrying and processing of Jura limestone and Solnhofen Stone will also be present to highlight some of their recent high profile UK projects. They supplied the honed finish Jura limestone used by Arup Associates in the pictured project, Plantation Place. At the time this was the largest construction project in the City of London covering 1.2 hectares of the square mile. www.gm-gundelsheim.de

For a full show preview click here.

Pre-Register Now

Admission to the show is free but if you pre-register you will receive:

A personalised entry badge giving you fast track entry to the show so you can avoid the queues

A free show catalogue on arrival (normal price £4)

£5 discount off a subscription to the Natural Stone Specialist

£5 discount off the cost of the newly-published 2006/2007 edition of the Natural Stone Directory

To pre-register for the Natural Stone Show 2006 Click here and complete the form on the show website. Your express entry badge will be mailed to you four weeks before the show.

Also if you have colleagues who would like to attend simply forward this email to them or call the organisers on 0115 945 3887 for free entry tickets.

For full information on the Natural Stone Show 2006 including the most up to date exhibitor list, visit the show website at http://www.stoneshow.co.uk/

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Subject: Discover what’s new in the UK stone industry

Visit: http://www.stoneshow.co.uk/

For more information please contact us at:
Telephone: +44 (0)115 945 3887
Fax: +44 (0)115 985 2651
Email: stoneshow@qmj.co.uk

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