Wedge Group galvanizing plants proved they are the very best in the business at the 2008 Galvanizers Association Awards presentations in June.

Two out of this yearís prestigious award categories were won by major projects galvanized at Wedge sites.

The winner in the Galvanizing in Architecture Award was a housing and commercial development in Peckham, South London, which incorporated a large galvanized and glazed steel screen.

The steel was galvanized by South East Galvanizers at Witham, Essex, for its customer, Green Arc Fabrications, based at Sevenoaks in Kent, which also has a production facility in Sussex where most of the work was carried out.

The description by the winning architects, Walter Menteth Architects of London, states:

Meanwhile, the amazing Singing Ringing Tree sculpture which has previously been featured in Wedge World, was loudly singing the praises of Pillar-Wedge Ltd at Heywood, Lancashire, by winning the Galvanizing in Engineering Award.

The tree was made entirely from steel pipes and tubes - galvanized at Pillar-Wedge last year - which play low tuneful notes when the wind blows across its hill-top location at Crown Point overlooking the town of Burnley and the surrounding Pennines.

The winning architects, Tonkin Liu of London, say the Singing Ringing Tree is ìcompletely self-supporting and constructed of structural and musical tubes made from mild steel. Galvanized steel was chosen because of its durability and to withstand the rigours of its Pennine location, which in extreme cases can be vulnerable to wind speeds of 160 km/h.

Steel circular rings of varying sizes define each layer and support a plane of parallel pipes spaced 200mm apart. Computer models were used to calculate how the lines of force would transfer through the structure's layers, rings, bolts and pipes.

In all, there were 43 individual entrants in the Galvanizers Associationís 2008 Awards, divided into five categories.

These included Vincent House at Enfield which has balconies galvanized by Acrow Galvanizing at Saffron Walden, Essex, for its customer M & G Engineering Ltd of Ilford.

Vincent House is a sustainable-energy residential and commercial building, heated by natural underground energy sources and has lighting powered by roof-top solar panels.

Also on the list of entrants in the 2008 awards were sculptors Gary and Thomas Thrussell from Bodmin Moor, Cornwall, who have produced a number of high-profile commissioned artworks for local authorities and private individuals. Their work included a decorative chimney at the China Clay Country Park, St Austell, Cornwall, which was galvanized by South West Galvanizers Ltd in Crediton, Devon.

Judges for the awards were Charles Humphries (HEAT Architects), Jan Carlos Kucharek (RIBA Journal), Phil Williams (IStructE) and Iqbal Johal (Galvanizers Association). The ëOverall Winner and Sustainable Award Winnerí was Cork Civic Offices designed by ABK Architects.