It has been a good start to 2005 for Johnsons Wellfield Quarries as they pick up the stone supply contracts for the V&A in London and Morrisons\' new headquarters in Bradford, as well as winning a major landscaping Award.

The V&A Museum\'s project is for its redesigned 19th Century Italianate Courtyard Garden, while Morrisons want £1.15million of Crosland Hill Hard York stone for their new head offices at Gain Lane.

The V&A courtyard garden is being redesigned following an anonymous donation of £2million to the Museum. A competition for designs was run in 2003 (the designs from the six internationally acclaimed landscape architects who entered it were pictured in NSS in September that year). The winner was Kim Wilkie, from the UK. His new garden should open to the public in the summer.

The design, based on the traditional simplicity of a garden courtyard, includes more than 2,000m2 of Johnson\'s buff coloured Crosland Hill Hard York stone paving, together with a central steppe ellipse that gives the garden the flexibility to transform into a scene for display, theatre and festivities.

Kim Wilkie is working closely with Patrick Woodroffe, the lighting designer for the Rolling Stones, to accentuate the feature ellipse stonework using jets of water and bands of light. The central space, in red sandstone, can be flooded to create a shallow reflecting pool, or filled with heavy fog for night lighting.

Working under the umbrella of project manager Bovis Lend Lease, the stone supply contract, worth more than £225,000, is being undertaken by Johnsons at their Crosland Hill works in Huddersfield. They are working in conjunction with masons S McConnell & Sons in Northern Ireland. Szerelmey, the London specialist masonry contractors, are fixing the stone.

This prestigious contract continues Johnson\'s involvement in the supply of York stone to London. They have previously supplied it to The British Museum, Buckingham Palace, The Globe Theatre, Paternoster Square and the Tate Gallery.

And the multi-million pound development for Morrisons Supermarkets, accommodating 1,500 employees and providing a central base for Morrisons\' national retail operations, which now includes Safeway, is a vast York stone and glass building designed by Bradford Architects Alan Eden, Michael Hellawell & Associates.

It is being built by York-based Shepherd Construction with stonework being fixed by another York company, J W Smith (Masonry) Ltd.

Johnsons\' involvement includes the supply of more than 4,500m2 of pitched face walling; 63 large circular, ashlar columns, each 8m high, that will go around the perimeter of the building; and more than 1,200m2 of 100mm thick rubbed ashlar facing together with associated cills, copings and band courses. The three-storey building rises to Morrisons\' signature rooftop \'clock-tower\'.

And the landsacping Award that Johnsons\' stone has been involved in is for the regenration of Downham Market\'s town centre, which features Johnsons\' Crosland Hill and Moorfield Hard York stones. The scheme is overall winner of the Pedestrian Environment category of the Local Government News Street Design Awards.

Downham Market, in Norfolk, with its historic narros streets and quaint alleyways, was regenerated to the designs of landscape architects Sheils Flynn. It was praised in the Awards for its innovative design features and sympathetic use of materials.

The York stones from Johnsons were included in the specification via material experts Hardscape Products of Bolton. The stone is used as paving to the town square and specially designed walls, signs and information points. Most of the stone is solid section, fine rubbed ashlar.

One wall, in Crosland Hill stone, includes carved murals drawn by local school children. And at the heart of the square sits a stunningly designed central water pump, featuring a massive York stone plinth, mortised and core drilled to receive the water engineering items.

The success of the project, say Johnsons, stems from a creative collaboration between architect, stone supplier and contractor, showing that specifying high quality, long-lasting natural materials is still the key to achieving a beautiful, yet functional environment that benefits all stakeholders - general public, market traders, local retailers and visitors alike.