13th Annual Saint-Gobain International Gypsum Trophy Recipients Revealed

Since its inception in 1998, the Saint-Gobain International Gypsum Trophy has been given out every two years to recognize the most cutting-edge, skillfully-executed innovations in drywall systems and plastering. The 13th annual Gypsum Trophy competition was held in Athens on April 28th, 2023. Seventy-three initiatives from twenty-seven nations competed in six categories for fifteen awards.

The 13th Saint-Gobain International Gypsum Trophy Recipients

The collaborating contractors use their expertise and imagination to complete exceptional projects using Saint-Gobain plaster and dry lining technologies. Some are extensions of already existing landmarks, while others are wholly original. Similarly, some initiatives required the efforts of over a thousand workers/teammates, while others required the efforts of only a handful. Read on to learn more about this year’s Saint-Gobain International Gypsum Trophy honorees and the Awards.

The Winners

1) Grand Prix

Project Name: UAE Pavilion (Pearl Dome) – Expo 2020
Country: United Arab Emirates
Company: PMK GROUP

The official bird of the United Arab Emirates is the falcon, and this bird’s vision inspired the design of the UAE Pavilion by well-known architect Dr. Santiago Calatrava. The United Arab Emirates Pavilion promotes harmony and unity among the country’s history, present, and future by emulating these ideals in its design. This is the first project in the Middle East with exceptionally complicated circular curving.

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2) Façade Prize

Project Name: Hotel St. Martin
Country: Italy
Company: MIT Appalti S.r.l.

The idea for the new Hotel St. Martin came from the desire to breathe new life into a historic building in the center of Rome, steps away from Piazza della Repubblica and in a prime location for promoting the city’s reputation. The recently remodeled hotel features 134 rooms, three suites with private patios, a cocktail bar & restaurant, a fitness facility, and a convention center with space for up to 200 people. All rooms are distinguished by their abundance of natural light, modern aesthetic with soothing colors, and high-quality materials and finishes.

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3) President’s Prize

Project Name: Nivy Mall
Country: Slovakia
Company: HB Reavis Slovakia a. s.

Nivy Mall is an innovative idea that combines cutting-edge features and essential municipal services. This project’s unique chance to develop the entire New Nivy zone is exemplified by its integration of a state-of-the-art bus terminal, a shopping mall with a solid collection of brands, a fresh food market, and a public green roof with many alternatives for urban activities. Having secured a crucial missing link, the New Nivy area may now be considered an integral part of the dynamic downtown core of Bratislava.

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Winners by Category

1) Non-residential

Award: 1st Prize
Project Name: Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp
Country: Belgium
Company: Muller Complete Afbouw België BV

The Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Antwerp, Belgium, has undergone a massive, all-encompassing restoration project. The exhibition area was increased by 40% thanks to converting four of the building’s ancient patios into additional museum space. These renovations have prepared the 19th-century KMSKA building for modern times. The structure serves as a meeting place for two distinctly diverse cultures. The new museum takes visitors through unexpected vertical sensations, from the gleaming white exhibition halls to the secret chambers, long stairs, expansive sightlines, and different gradations of sunshine.

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Award: 2nd Prize
Project Name: Fraunhofer IEE Institute
Country: Germany
Company: OKEL GmbH & Co. KG

The new Kassel research institute building has a gross floor space of around 13,400 m2, housing workplaces, laboratories, and technological equipment. As a result, there are new, stricter standards for the most significant levels of security, versatility, and future adaptation.
Okel GmbH & Co. KG oversaw all technological development, architectural planning, and implementation. A vertical sound-absorbing wall spanning several stories and 21 meters in height, sloped at an inclination of around 6 degrees to follow the receding floor levels, posed a unique problem in the foyer reception hall. OKEL’s dry lining specialists once again prove they have a “knack” for challenging, expansive endeavors. The German panel praised the complex designs that were instantly apparent and the many subtle touches that only became apparent upon closer inspection.

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2) Plasterboard

Award: 1st Prize
Project Name: Waldorf Astoria Cancun
Country: Mexico
Company: Aplica y Recubrimientos S.A de C.V

The natural mangrove reserve behind the Waldorf Astoria Cancun hides its 173 luxurious rooms. It’s the best of both worlds, blending traditional Mexican culture with cutting-edge luxury. The resort’s interiors are designed to provide guests with a unique depiction of the region’s natural beauties via various materials (glass, metal, wood, natural fibers), textures, and lighting sources.

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Award: 2nd Prize
Project Name: Meta India (formerly Facebook)
Country: India
Company: Ambience Interiors Pvt. Ltd.

The Gurugram location, Meta’s first free-standing office in Asia, covers over 1,35,000 square feet across six stories. ‘Centre for Fuelling India’s New Economy’ is also located there, with plans to educate and certify 2.5 million innovators and 10 million small business owners over three years. Meta’s largest local staff from Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp work out of this office. The layout of the offices mixes elements from digital, physical, and augmented realities.
Artwork by Pratap Morey, Rohini Devasher, and Sameer Kulavoor, all well-known in their fields, decorates the new office and speaks to India’s cultural and ideological diversity. As a bonus, the US Green Building Council has awarded the structure with the Platinum LEED rating.

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3) Innovation

Award: 1st Prize
Project Name: Bangkok Boulevard Clubhouse
Country: Thailand
Company: TKK ONE GROUP CO., LTD

This “Club House” of the exclusive residential community is modeled like Mont Blanc and adds considerable worth to the surrounding homes. The structure’s visual appeal is a primary determinant of its value. It provided a continuous roof for high-end Thai private residences and communities.

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Award: 2nd Prize
Project Name: University of Alberta Dentistry Pharmacy Building
Country: Canada
Company: Kerr Interior Systems

The Dentistry Pharmacy structure at the University of Alberta has been renovated since 2020 as part of an initiative to centralize administrative and academic resources. The structure dates back to 1922. The Faculty of Science and the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science share this 42,000-square-meter building, which houses sophisticated, collaborative research, laboratory, and classroom space. The facility will serve as a community hub, accommodating various educational, scientific, service, and administrative departments.
The famous building was constructed in stages beginning in 1922, and its recent renovation combines old and contemporary elements to provide a spacious, cutting-edge environment for education and research. Everyone will feel at home there like they have a key to the main entrance.
The building’s 1922 brick front and brand-new, seven-story North Wing provide a seamless transition between the campus’s past and bright future.
For the past 22 months, Kerr has meticulously planned, restored, reinforced, and rebuilt components throughout the 1922 structure, all while establishing a cutting-edge, contemporary, and inventive seven-story North Wing.
The seven-story glass addition to the north of the building from 2012 now forms a seamless whole with the century-old brick front from 1922.

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4) Residential

Award: 1st Prize
Project Name: Sustainable Residence Limassol
Country: Cyprus
Company: Marcon Designs Ltd.

The plan was to construct the first sustainable home using Cross Laminated Timber (CLT) in Greece or Cyprus.
Almost twenty years of research into this building have proven that it is the industry’s future, a sentiment shared by SG. As a carbon sink, timber is a viable option for mitigating the effects of climate change. When properly maintained, a timber building has an indefinite lifespan, and its building process may go quickly.
Timber buildings are guaranteed to stand even in Cyprus’s highly hazardous zone. Insurance companies also often charge less to cover timber buildings. The goal was to obtain cutting-edge acoustic, fire, and thermal insulation qualities by combining existing building materials with Saint-Gobain’s cutting-edge drywall and insulation technologies.

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Award: 2nd Prize
Project Name: DY Patil University Hostel Blocks
Country: India
Company: DHIPL Projects Pvt. Ltd.

DY Patil University has a vast 65-acre campus with dorms for both genders and housing for faculty and staff. To accommodate the growing number of students, the hostel underwent a multi-phase development that included the construction of new dormitory structures. The first five stories are reinforced concrete and steel (RCC), while the rest are composite steel. The higher stories are held up by a ‘crown structure’ made of steel and hangers. Their primary need was a rapidly assembled, 37,000-square-foot truss-supported building with an overhang.

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5) Ceilings

Award: 1st Prize
Project Name: SeaWorld Abu Dhabi
Country: United Arab Emirates
Company: International Decor Co. LLC

Thanks to SeaWorld Abu Dhabi, Yas Island will soon be home to the area’s first Marine Life Theme Park. When it opens to the public in 2023, the Park will have several themed areas where visitors may have thrilling experiences and vibrant ecosystems where diverse species can coexist naturally.

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Award: 2nd Prize
Project Name: Acquamotion Gramado
Country: Brazil
Company: MB Rodrigues

Acquamotion, South America’s only indoor theme water park, occupies about 50,000 square feet. Natural thermal springs and specialized air conditioning ensure year-round thermal comfort. Because of the constant humidity and steam in the building, the Glasroc X plasterboard gave it all it had to create an indoor sky with all the details and angles it could muster across a ceiling area of over 6,000 square meters.

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6) Plaster

Award: 1st Prize
Project Name: Luma Foundation
Country: France
Company: Ile De France Plâtrerie

After finishing up with Louis Vuitton, architect Frank Gehry began work on the Luma foundation tower. Frank Ghery’s vision for this pharaonic-era project, which took five years to construct and required cutting-edge tools like 3D modeling and building information modeling (BIM), was strictly adhered to. Aesthetic and technical excellence: the company’s work distinguishes this outstanding cultural endeavor with its rarity and uniqueness on a global scale.

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Award: 2nd Prize
Project Name: Langley Park House
Country: United Kingdom
Company: George Jackson Ltd

A five-star hotel with superb quality fittings and furnishings, housed in Grade 2* historic Palladian mansion from the 18th century. Extensive restoration of historic plasterwork and installation of exquisite Glass Reinforced Gypsum (GRG) ceilings throughout a hotel and a 2,000 square foot (280 square meters) spa. The work package included heritage lime plaster, fibrous plaster, and GRG cornice repairs, with particular attention paid to their integration with the existing fabric of the building’s pending listing.

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As Jean-Luc Gardaz, CEO of Saint-Gobain’s Mediterranean countries, put it, “The International Gypsum Trophy is a fantastic opportunity for all of us at Saint-Gobain to communicate with the people using our products, the skilled tradespeople on the ground, with whom we can share our expertise and gain new insights. We value their input, take their suggestions seriously, and rely on them to impart their wisdom, and in exchange, we offer our full backing to our clients at every stage of their projects, from the first stages of research to the last touches.”
Jean-Luc Gardaz continues, “We have risen to the top of our field because of the reliability of our service and the quality of our products. This International Gypsum Trophy is our way of saying thank you to our loyal clients and recognizing their growing expertise and professionalism as a result of working with us. , “We are all here to credit those who use our Saint-Gobain solutions to make the world a better home.”