The visitor centre at the Giants Causeway in Northern Ireland, with its columns of local basalt reflecting the geological feature of the Causeway itself, is one of the five top projects in the International Architecture Award in Stone run in conjunction with Marmomacc stone exhibition in Verona.

The visitor centre was featured in Natural Stone Specialist magazine, August 2012 issue (click here to read that report).

This is the 14^th edition of the prize for architectural works in natural stone, which is presented every other year.

Curated by architect Vincenzo Pavan, the Award has always been an important part of work of the Marmomacc Observatory, with its huge panorama of international stone architecture that interprets a world of new techniques and languages in architecture.

For the 2015 Awards, the jury was Francesco Dal Co (Department of Architecture, University of Venice), Juan José Lahuerta (ETSAB, Barcelona, Spain), Werner Oechslin (ETH Zurich, Switzerland), Cino Zucchi (Department of Architecture, University of Milan) and Vincenzo Pavan (Department of Architecture, University of Ferrara). They assessed 31 projects from 18 countries.

After thorough analysis and extensive discussion, five projects were selected for their architectural quality involving an expressive use of stone. The judges considered that these projects represent a clear and significant panorama of the best achievements on an international scale.

They said of Henegan Peng Architects' Giants Causeway Centre, with its stonework by Northern Ireland specialists S McConnell & Sons: "The sharp lines of the floor plan and the inclined planes of the roofs are made meaningful by the designers' choice to use tall columns of different sizes in the elevations. Their dark surfaces punctuate the rhythmic alternation of empty and filled spaces and give significance to the whole envelope emerging from the soil." 

The other four works chosen are: 

• Emre Arolat Architects' Sancaklar Mosque in Istanbul, Turkey
• David Chipperfield Architects' Museo Jumex in Mexico City
• Max Dudler + Atelier WW's Tower Buildings in Hagenholzstrasse in Zurich, Switzerland
• Perraudin Architects' Massive Stone Social Housing in Cornebarrieu, France

An 'Ad Memoriam' Award has also been made to Adalberto Libera (1903-1963) for the Horizontal Residential Unit in the Tuscolano Quarter of Rome built in the 1950s during post-World War II reconstruction.

The selected works will form an exhibition of drawings, photographs, videos and models during the Marmomacc stone exhibition in Verona this year (30 September - 3 October) in an Architecture & Design area in the Castelvecchio Gallery between Halls 2 and 3.

The Show will also host the official Awards ceremony when the Architectural Awards will be presented to the winners in the Marble Forum.