Following discussions which took place at the Full Frontal Tile & Stone expo the Australian Stone Advisory Association (ASAA) has become an international member of the Marble Institute of America (MIA). With permission from the MIA the ASAA will reproduce a number of MIA documents, modified for local consumption, which are related to the successful selection, installation, maintenance and cleaning of natural stone.

While this material will bear the ASAA logo, it will be clearly identified as the intellectual property of the MIA. While much of the material will feature on the ASAA website, some items will be printed as ASAA guides. All materials modified for the Australian market will be approved by the MIA prior to release.

ASAA will also have an opportunity to use the Genuine Stone logo in accordance with guidelines published by the Natural Stone Council.

We have added the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics figures for imports and exports of natural stone to the members area of the web site. If you are a current financial member please contact Rowena Rowbotham for your access ‘passwords’. This information will be updated every six months. Statistics for Engineered Stone will be added in the near future.
Please click here to access the stats [disabled]

Discovering Stone ‘Global Economic Woes‘

Discovering Stone ‘Australian stone: imports and exports‘

The Australian Stone Advisory Association (ASAA) will hold the first of a series of FREE seminars on June 19 at ASAA member RMS Natural Stone premises located in Botany close to Sydney airport. These get togethers are design to provide specifiers and members of industry with prime information concerning standards, new products, installation and maintenance of stone. Seminars will be held regularly at member’s premises.

Programme – Thursday 19th June

6.00 pm:
RMS Natural Stone Director Werner Nierhoff will welcome attendees and briefly present several intriguing new products, which can be examined closely at the conclusion of the presentations.

6.15 – 6.45 pm:
The new Australian Hard Surfacing standard presents exciting opportunities to market tile & stone.

Good Environmental Choice Australia (GECA) chairman Petar Johnson will discuss the merits of the GECA 40-2008, Hard Surfacing standard. The final draft standard was launched at the recent Full Frontal Tile and Stone Exposition and subsequently officially released on April 30.

Industry members who attend will discover how they can gain an environmental summary of their products credentials. Specifiers will learn how this information should be applied in relation to specification of sustainable imported or locally produced products.

Petar will describe why the eco-label, “is one of the few environmental instruments that works at a market level”.

6.45 pm:
Questions & answers

7.00 pm:
The Yellowblock Debate

Heritage masonry consultant Jasper Swann, and Ron Powell, Manager of the Centenary Stonework Program, NSW Department of Commerce, will each give a 20 minute presentation expanding on their articles published in Issue 13 of Discovering Stone earlier this year. These articles debated various issues associated with the conservation of Sydney ‘yellowblock’ sandstone buildings, including the merits of stockpiling yellowblock sandstone, and alternative approaches to colour matching including artificial colouring. Their presentations will be followed by an open forum question and discussion session to be facilitated by ASAA Director, David West.

7.40 pm:
Questions & answers

8.00 pm:
Drinks, finger food and an opportunity to network with your peers

Members of the tile & stone industries are invited to attend. If you are interested in joining ASAA you can meet several members of the board and discover the association’s plans for the future.

Seating is limited so call Rowena Rowbotham on 03 9888 3587 to book a place at this important event or email atp@infotile.com.au.

We welcome new members:

• ECO Restoration Service Australia Pty Ltd
• Fibonacci Stone
• Natural Stone Restoration Ltd
• Sareen Stone
• Slique Pty Ltd

The Australian Stone Architectural Awards organized by the Australian Stone Advisory Association were presented at a Gala Awards Dinner which was held at the Full Frontal Tile & Stone Expo (FFTSE) on Friday, 18 April 2008.

FFTSE was held at the Sydney Showground, Homebush, New South Wales. Visit www.fullfrontalexpo.com for further information about the expo.

The awards were adjudicated by David Stevenson of La Coste Stevenson Architects and Greg Holman of Seidler & Associates.

The Premier award winner was Johnson Pilton Walker for the Hilton Hotel, Sydney, which utilised stone supplied by Gosford Quarries Pty Ltd.

One hundred and seventy three people attended the Gala Dinner.

Category	Stone supplier	Project	Winning Architect
Best Commercial Interior	Gosford Quarries	Hilton, Sydney, NSW	Johnson Pilton Walker
Best Commercial Exterior	Gosford Quarries	Camberwell Grammar School, Vic	Architectus
Best Civic Project	Melocco Stone	Bradfield Plaza Milsons Pt., NSW	Arterra Design
Best Residential Project	Victorian Bluestone Quarries	Private residence, South Yarra, Vic	B E Architecture
Best Sculpture/Public Art	BAM Stone	The Travellers, Southbank, Vic	Paul Nicholas, RMIT

The awards were adjudicated by David Stevenson of La Coste Stevenson Architects and Greg Holman of Seidler & Associates. ASAA director David West presented the awards.