At Coverings 2026, we honored 25 outstanding projects that demonstrated spectacular craftsmanship and creativity in the use of tile and stone. This week we’re spotlighting the 2026 CID Award winner for Commercial Stone Design.

Gipson Play Plaza features 15-feet of cascading water, a 40-foot curved stone vault you can walk behind and 3 arches, each stone weighing 600 pounds. This is no ordinary public park feature. Inspired by Western North Carolina’s natural waterfalls, this 18.5-acre destination transforms former hospital ball fields into a living, breathing civic landmark. A 222-foot feature wall winds through the space in 26 color courses of varying stone. Fog, mist, and spray jets animate a theatrical fountain that doubles as performance venue and playground. Eighteen months of design. Two and a half years of construction. Landscape architects, quarry specialists, structural engineers, and masons — all working in concert. The result? Twenty acres of engineered topography that feels like it was always meant to be there.