The award recognizes buildings from all over the world that have used natural and engineered stone from companies in Andalusia
The 35th edition of the Premios Macael was awarded, as usual, in 10 categories, and awards were also given to projects in which Engineered Stone Dekton was used. The Association of Marble Companies in Andalusia (Asociación de Empresarios del Marmól de Andalucía, AEMA) bestows the prize.
The award ceremony is traditionally a big event in the Marble region. This time, however, it was even more so than usual, because the Spanish royal couple honored the stone sector in the province of Almeria with their presence. Don Felipe and Doña Letizia attended the festive event and presented the prizes to the 10 winners. Letizia, by the way, had hosted the event herself exactly 20 years earlier in November, at that time under the name Letizia Ortiz and in her role as a journalist for a television channel.
We name the winners and render an abbreviated version of the jury’s tributes:
Category International, North America: to MCA Systems Inc. for the Villa Dustin Bailey project in Dallas, USA, which includes numerous elements made of stone. Of note are the multiple ornamental elements on the façade and adjacent exterior walls with an entry portico in the form of two towers along with decorative window and columns.
Category International, Europe: to the Templo de Meditación (Meditation Temple) in Málaga, executed in traditional oriental architecture with 100 columns made of Spanish limestone, which was also used for the main entrances of the building. It is the world’s 6th temple of its kind and the largest of three in Europe.
Category International, Asia: to Villa Saba in Bali, Indonesia, a private summer home, whose design and choice of materials were inspired by the colors of the surrounding landscape. In total, more than 6000 m² of the ultra-compact Dekton surface was used for façades, cladding and flooring, inside and out. The grades involved are Kadum and Edora.
Category International, Middle East: to the Amot Holon Building in Israel, designed by Moshe Tzur Architects (exterior architecture) and Oded Halaf (interior architecture). The 22-story building is located in the center of the city of Holon and was built for technology companies. It includes more than 22,000 m² of Dekton surface (Lunar, Kelya, Zenith and Domus) in various colors and sizes. A special feature of the project was that Dekton iD was installed, a technology that allows each surface to be customized.
Category National: to the City of Valencia for the Plaza de la Reina project, a comprehensive renovation of the most emblematic square with the Cathedral. In the redesign, more than 12,000 m² of two native travertines (Almería and Teruel) were used for the paving. All the furniture was also made of travertine from Almería, a total of 300 m³.
Category Design: to Villa Ricotta II, a private residence in Marbella, Málaga. Here 5000 m² of Paloma stone were used for cladding and flooring and 200 m³ of solid material. Particularly noteworthy are the 22 columns of up to 8 m in height, where the column shafts are made of a single piece of almost 6 m in length.
Prize for Excellence: to the architectural firm Tobal Arquitectos for its commitment to natural stone in its projects since its beginnings in 1980, with customized works that demonstrate in an outstanding way the quality of natural stone products and the great know-how of the companies in the sector.
Award to an individual: to Luis Escarcena, architect, for the renovation and transformation of the Hotel Silken el Pilar Andalucía and the Plaza de las Flores, both in the city center of Estepona, Málaga.
Blanco-Macael-Award: to the restoration of the Church of Santos Mártires Ciriaco y Paula in Málaga by architect Pablo Pastor Vega.
Sustainability Award: to the Delfín Tower in Benidorm, Alicante, where the ultra-compact Dekton surface in Zenith color was used for the ventilated façade by means of large-format customized panels. It is the first curved ventilated façade made of cast stone and the first residential tower in Spain with LEED Gold certification.
See also:
(02.06.2023, USA: 06.02.2023)
