ORLANDO, FL -- Thursday, February 23, 2017 marks the first U.S. National Tile Day, declared by the Registrar at National Day Calendar to be observed annually every February 23. National Tile Day was originated by Coverings' PR agency to help raise awareness of the benefits and beauty tile offers consumers. This effort is a lead-up to the show's major "Why Tile" campaign, which will be announced at Coverings -- taking place from April 4 to 7, 2017 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, FL. The following is a glimpse of a few of the numerous tile displays that will be showcased during the international stone and tile exhibition.

Fifteen stone and tile projects were acknowledged at the fourth annual Coverings Installation & Design (CID) Awards, a program that honors outstanding design and installation of stone and tile in residential, commercial, sustainable and international projects. A panel comprised of notable editors, leading designers, installation experts and representatives from Ceramics of Italy, the Tile Council of North America (TCNA), Tile of Spain and National Tile Contractors Association (NTCA) evaluated nearly 150 submissions based on technical execution, unique material applications, and overall design and purpose, and awarded high honors to those projects demonstrating spectacular stone and tile applications. In total, $20,000 in prize money was awarded to the winning designers and installers during the inaugural CID Awards & Opening Night Celebration, held Tuesday, April 14, 2015 at the Orange County Convention Center.

“The projects submitted in the 2015 Coverings Installation & Design Awards program once again represent some of the highest levels of skill and creativity in the tile and stone industry,” said Karin Fendrich, Coverings show director. “Coverings congratulates and commends all the designers and installers from these winning projects for truly illustrating visionary designs and exacting installation techniques.” The following is a look at the projects that were recognized in the stone categories.

Projects were judged and awarded separately on technical installation and design. One Grand Prize winner for both design and installation in each category (residential and commercial) was chosen.

The grand prize in the residential category was awarded to Phoenix-based installer Alpentile and designer Wendy Lesueur of Mesa, AZ, for a pool and deck in Scottsdale, AZ. The top commercial honors went to installer KEPCO+ of Salt Lake City, UT, and designer Ross Nadeau of SWA Group in San Francisco, CA, for a massive water feature at City Creek Center, a mall in Salt Lake City. Each of the top honorees won a $1,000 cash grand prize.

Nadeau and KEPCO+ earned the commercial grand prize with the stunning recreation of City Creek, a natural spring-fed stream that was moved underground a century ago to prevent flooding as Salt Lake City grew. The new above-ground, man-made creek bed, which runs through the City Creek Center mall, stretches over 12,000 feet and cascades over three waterfalls, the tallest of which is 18 feet high. Painstaking attention to detail was required for this immense project, as well as careful work to maintain the integrity of the waterproofing system.