St Lucia’s Jade Mountain was the recipient of the first ever GAVA Gold Award at the inaugural award reception held at the Palms Hotel in Las Vegas on November 15th. Also, the coral kaleidoscope pool of the Jade Mountain Club was chosen as the cover of the book which will be published in celebration of the award winners.

Global AquaTekture Visionary Awards salute the innovative spirit of artisans from every segment of the globe, celebrating diverse concepts from varying cultures, environments and philosophical aspects.

Gold, Silver and Bronze awards were presented to thirty-nine projects by architects, contractors, homebuilders, pool builders, artists and landscape architects from across the globe. Master of Ceremonies for the reception was internationally recognized TV Host, John Daly of REAL TV.

GAVA transcends beyond the traditional water-themed design awards by hosting an integrated world-wide competition open to design professionals of all genres dedicated to influencing and creating thought-provoking solutions. Judges from several different design disciplines rated entries on atypical designs and innovative applications that surpassed the boundaries of traditional water feature solutions.

Entries were judged on their aesthetic beauty as well as how each exemplified the objectives of the project; designs exhibiting original and diverse concepts that demonstrate respect for environmental, cultural, philosophical, and/or historical components.

Winners hailing from Australia, Canada, Mexico, Venezuela, the Caribbean and the United States will be featured in a full-colour book published by Schiffer Publishing due for release in Spring of 2010.