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See also:
Grande Pinnacle Award https://www.stone-ideas.com/121024/grande-pinnacle-award-2025-helix-park-2/ and Tucker Design Awards https://www.stone-ideas.com/121474/natural-stone-institute-pinnacle-and-tucker-awards/
Submissions for the next edition are open until June 20, 2026
Eleven projects were honored with the Pinnacle Awards of Excellence 2025. This internationally renowned prize recognizes exceptional creativity, beauty, originality, and craftsmanship in the use of natural stone in commercial and residential applications. The initiator is the US Natural Stone Institute (NSI).
New in this year was that five projects were also bestowed with the Tucker Design Awards. We show them in a separate report.
Jury members were: Lee Becker, Hartman Cox Architects, (ret.); David Castellucci, President at Natural Stone Consulting Group (ret.); Jake Fox, Waterstreet Studio; Charles “Chuck” Muehlbauer, Technical Director at the Natural Stone Institute; Buddy Ontra, BoStone.
Submissions for the next edition are open until June 20, 2026. The entry fee is US$125 for the first entry and US$100 for each additional entry.
Below, we show photos of the award-winning projects of 2025 and provide excerpts of the descriptions, which we have taken from the NSI brochure.
Category Architectural Carving, Lettering & Sculpture: Cathedral of Saint Thomas More, Arlington, Virginia. The Cathedral of Saint Thomas More underwent a renovation in 2023. Architect O’Brien and Keane and the Diocese of Arlington brought Rugo Stone on board to perform the stonework in this massive renovation project. Rugo Stone’s scope included the following items – marble altars, ambo, altar rail, sanctuary platform, steps, risers, paving, the cathedra (Bishop’s Chair), deacon’s benches, tabernacle and a marble baptismal font. The cathedra features a coat of arms of intricate marble inlay made with tiny, delicate waterjet-cut pieces in various colors, and sandblasted engravings of text. The sanctuary floor is completely decorated with stone.
Award Recipient: Rugo Stone, LLC, Lorton, Virginia (Stone Consultant/Supplier/ Fabricator/Installer)
Architect: O’Brien & Keane
Stone Fabricators: 3D Stone, Polycor (Swenson Granite Works) Pedrini Mario & Co
Stone Engineer: PICCO Engineering
Stone: Azul Macaubus quartzite, Bianco Carrara Campanili marble, Bianco Carrara Gioia marble, Jasper, Giallo Sienna marble, Grigio Trambisera marble, Verde Giada marble
Photos courtesy of Rugo Stone
Category Architectural Carving, Lettering & Sculpture: Saint Patrick’s Church, Walla Walla, Washington. Saint Patrick’s Parish Church, situated in historic downtown Walla Walla is a Gothic-style building that was founded in 1859. This 166-year- old institution is renowned for its exquisite Italian marble, particularly its stunning high altar. However, like many places of worship, it underwent significant alterations due to the design trends of the 1970s, which stripped away much of its original character. The renovation project involved gutting the sanctuary down to its core, focusing on restoring the high altar, creating a new baptismal font and communion rail.
Award Recipient: Mario & Son, Liberty Lake, Washington (Stone Designer/Consultant Fabricator/Installer)
Architect: Design West Architects, P.A.
Stone Supplier: Bonotti Stone Trading International
Stone Tile Installer: Caruso’s Floors
Stone: Bianco Carrara marble
Photos courtesy of Mario & Son
Category Commercial Exterior: Montage Big Sky, Big Sky, Montana. The magnitude of Montage Big Sky hotel is what you will notice first. It is the largest building in Montana, boasting more than 518,000 square feet of luxury. Located less than an hour from Yellowstone National Park, the resort is surrounded by wilderness. Gallegos’ team of craftspeople carefully and strategically hand-placed over 54,000 square feet of moss rock sandstone veneer on this project. They were able to bring the beautiful aesthetic of nature to this property, which is seated in the Spanish Peaks community. Each stone was hand-picked from farms in Oklahoma and Arkansas, palletized and then sent to Montana. Gallegos had to meet stringent requirements for the color, size, and percentage of moss on the stones for this project.
Award Recipient: The Gallegos Corporation, Wolcott, Colorado (Stone Fabricator/Installer)
Architect: Hart-Howerton
Stone Supplier: Quarry Works Incorporated
Stone: Prairie Fieldstone Moss Rock sandstone
Photos courtesy of The Gallegos Corporation
Category Commercial Exterior: Johns Hopkins University Adaptive Reuse Exterior Façade Renovation, Washington, DC. Repurposing a former museum into an urban “stacked quad” for Johns Hopkins University demanded extraordinary creativity – and over one million pounds of marble. The stone became the defining element of the new identity, expressing monumentality, balance, and permanence along Pennsylvania Avenue while establishing a clear JHU presence in Washington, D.C. From the project’s first inquiry – an unnamed, privately funded landmark in the nation’s capital – the choice of stone was central. Extensive study of color tones, angles, and finishes guided the selection process. Dozens of 12×12 samples and ten full slabs were reviewed to establish a controlled range that captured the marble’s natural beauty while ensuring consistency and cost efficiency.
Award Recipient: Tennessee Marble Company, Friendsville, Tennessee (Stone Supplier/Fabricator)
Architect: Ennead Architects
Stone Installer: R. Bratti Associates
Stone: Light Rose marble
Photos courtesy of Tennessee Marble Company
Category Commercial Interior: The Frick Collection New York, New York. Making major renovations to a 1914 historic mansion in New York City provided monumental challenges. The original stones were historic materials whose production had stopped or is minimal. Wilkstone’s work included the installation of marbles from subcellar levels through to the reception hall and up to the second floor. The reception hall was the focal point of the renovation and included 1,700 square feet of Botticino Classico surrounded by Breccia Aurora Blue border stone and 2,500 square feet of Indiana limestone walls. Wilkstone’s dedicated team spent four years on this magnificent project and are very proud of its historic legacy.
Award Recipient: Wilkstone Paterson, New Jersey (Stone Fabricator/Installer)
Architect: Selldorf Architects, Beyer Blinder Belle, Architects & Planners
Stone Supplier/Fabricator: T.I.A. Marble
Stone Fabricator: TexaCon Cut Stone
Stone: Botticino Classico marble, Breccia Aurora Blue marble, Rouge Griotte marble, New Macchia Vecchia marble, Nembro Rosato marble, Pietra di Prun Bianca limestone, Indiana Standard Buff limestone, Chiampo marble, Tea Rose marble, Grolla Beige marble, Absolute Black granite
Photos courtesy of Wilkstone
Category Kitchen & Bath: Custom Marble Kitchen, Huntsville, Alabama. The client approached Ceramic Harmony with a specific vision for her kitchen, inspired by a picture she found. She was unable to find a fabricator locally who could bring her vision to life until the firm was recommended to her. The scope of work included a range area with built-in recessed shelving on both sides and a full slab hood front, a window area clad in marble with an inside/ outside pass-through bar, and a triple waterfall island in the center of the room. The project involved the challenge of wrapping the slabs on all three legs of the island to ensure the material flowed around to the inside as they would be visible.
Award Recipient: Ceramic Harmony, Huntsville, Alabama (Design/Stone Consultant/ Fabricator/Installer)
Stone Supplier: Antolini Luigi & C. S.p.A.
Stone: Calacatta Macchia Vecchia Super Extra marble
Photos: Ben Stark Film
Category Renovation & Restoration: Saint Patrick’s Catholic Church, Washington, DC. Saint Patrick Catholic Church, the oldest Catholic parish in Washington, DC, underwent a significant sanctuary renovation in September 2024. The scope of work performed was extensive and required a careful balance of craftsmanship, technical precision, and respect for the architectural and liturgical heritage of the church. A new sanctuary platform, or Predella, was installed to elevate the altar, requiring selective demolition of the existing structure, construction of a new three-level CMU foundation, and an extension of the paving and steps to the new rear wood altar, the reredos. For the new sanctuary elevation, Rugo Stone selected and installed Bianco Carrara marble.
Award Recipient: Rugo Stone LLC, Lorton, Virginia (Stone Consultant/Fabricator/Installer)
Architect: Franck & Lohsen Architects
Stone Supplier: Pedrini Mario
Stone: Bianco Carrara Michelangelo marble
Photos courtesy of Rugo Stone
Category Renovation & Restoration: Saint James Catholic Church, Arlington, Virginia. The architect and the owner entrusted Rugo Stone with the complex task of dismantling, modifying, and reinstalling marble elements throughout the sanctuary, as well as furnishing and installing several new marble assemblies. Rugo Stone’s scope included dismantling and relocating the existing main altar forward to allow for a new rear altar, relocating existing statues, tabernacle, and a marble baptismal font, modifying the existing marble altar rail to widen the gate opening in the middle, furnishing a new marble ambo and a marble Madonna statue.
Award Recipient: Rugo Stone, LLC, Lorton, Virginia (Stone Consultant/Supplier/Fabricator/Installer
Other Project Team Members
Architect: O’Brien and Keane
Stone Fabricator: Pedrini Mario
Stone: Botticino Classico marble, Bianco Carrara marble, Breccia Aurora marble, Rosso Levanto marble, Verde Issoire marble, Jasper
Photos courtesy of Rugo Stone
Category Residential – Single Family: Post-Tensioned Stair, Long Island, New York. A one-of-a-kind monolithic stair, this post-tensioned stone structure merges ancient material with modern engineering, transforming 50 large-format treads into a sculptural, gravity-defying ribbon of marble. Clad entirely in Danby Fantastico, a domestically quarried New England marble, the stair expresses refined minimalism through bold veining and luminous tone. Structural analysis confirmed that veining orientation was critical – each block had to be hand-selected and marked with quarry masters to ensure both strength and visual cohesion. The honed and sealed treads, each 4′-9′′ wide and weighing 770 pounds, were digitally modeled to integrate four post-tensioning ducts, concealed wiring channels, and recessed LED lighting within their marble cores.
Award Recipient: PICCO Engineering, Concord, ON, Canada (Stone Consultant/Engineering)
Stone Fabricator/Installer: Precision Stone Inc., Westbury, New York
Architect: Thomas Juul-Hansen, LLC
General Contractor: S. Donadic Inc.
Stone Consultant: The Stone Masonry Company, Ltd
Stone Engineering: Webb & Yates Engineers
Stone Supplier: Vermont Quarries
Stone: Dany Fantastico Marble
Photos: Julie Florio Photography
Category Residential – Single Family: Private Residence, Washington, DC. The “Slayton House” is the second of three residential projects ever designed by the world-renowned architect I.M. Pei, celebrated for his works at the pyramids, at the Louvre in Paris, and the East Building of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. It is a designated landmark and listed in the National Register of Historic Places, was extensively renovated and expanded by Robert Gurney Associates in 2020 and built by Peterson & Collins. The project involved extensive use of travertine for the interior and exterior floors, pool paving, pool coping, steps and pavers on pedestals. Achieving consistency between the interior and exterior stone finishes was a major challenge due to large, vaulted ceilings and glass walls at the front as well as the rear. The visual flow of pavers between interior and exterior spaces had to blend perfectly.
Award Recipient: Rugo Stone, LLC, Lorton, Virginia Stone Consultant/Installer
Architect: Robert Gurney Architects
Stone Supplier: Pacifici SpA
Stone: Navona travertine
Photos: Anice Hoachlander Photography LLC
Category Residential – Single Family: Lake View Residence, Cisco, Texas. Introducing the Lake View Residence, a spectacular architectural gem nestled in the beautiful landscapes of Texas. This impressive project spans a whopping 60,000 square feet of luxurious indoor space, complemented by over 10,000 square feet of thoughtfully designed outdoor areas. Commissioned by a client who truly values privacy, this residence embodies a perfect blend of elegance and innovation. What makes this project truly stand out is the stunning radial rotunda, composed of hundreds of intricately milled rounded pieces. Each element underwent a detailed design and approval process, ensuring that everything fits together flawlessly. The complexity of these pieces pushed the manufacturing team to unleash their creativity and fully utilize their stone mill capabilities, resulting in breathtaking craftsmanship.
Award Recipient: TexaStone Quarries, Garden City, Texas (Stone Supplier/Fabricator)
Architect: Robert Trown and Associates
Stone Installers: Wilks Masonry Metro Masonry
Stone: Hadrian limestone Permian Sea Coral limestone
Photos courtesy of TexaStone Quarries