Judges
Bowled Over by Innovative Franke Sink
The
Active Kitchen sink from Franke
won a top honour at the Kitchen and Bathroom Designer’s Manufacturers’
Awards 2005.
The intelligent kitchen system received a Design of Distinction award
at a ceremony held at the Brewery in London in October.
The Active Kitchen takes the concept of the workstation sink a stage
further, incorporating a food preparation zone, a specially designed
drying area for glasses and a profile bar, from which additional accessories
such as a salad spinner and grater set can be hung.
John Swain, product manager for Franke, commented:
‘People are demanding more from their sinks and we believe that
the Active Kitchen is the ultimate sink for food preparation, washing,
drying and waste disposal and we are delighted that its unique design
has been recognised by the judges.’
For further information on the Active Kitchen, visit http://www.franke.co.uk.
Ideal
Standard Shows ‘Independence’ by Winning Elle Decoration's
Design Award
Ideal
Standard has announced further recognition of its design
led strategy in recently winning the Best in Bathrooms category in the
ELLE Decoration Design Awards 2005.
The Independent Basins range from Ideal Standard's Art-Design-Sculpture
collection represents an eclectic mix of individual basins that reflect
contemporary design and modernity. Each basin represents an individual
design statement based around a geometric theme and features simplicity,
refinement and logic. The Independent Basins can be used as focus pieces
around which designers can create a full bathroom design.
Further acknowledgement of Ideal Standard's commitment to form and function
is reflected in the success of the Serenis walk-in shower enclosure
which took second place in the same award category. Serenis is designed
by Pearson-Lloyd and crafted into soft and sensual form.
This year's ELLE Decoration awards focus on great British design. Not
only will the winners be showcased in the forthcoming November issue
of ELLE Decoration but will also be on show for a month at London's
Liberty store in an exhibition named ‘New British Classics: ELLE
Decoration at Liberty’.
Ideal Standard's Marketing Manager Brian Grey comments, ‘The achievement
of both first and second place in such a prestigious bathroom design
award is a real honour and reflects the company's ongoing commitment
to beautiful yet functional design.’
For further information on Ideal Standard please call 01482 346461 or
visit http://www.ideal-standard.co.uk
BK
Installations Wins Major Contracts Award
Germany's Hausemesse annually showcases the leading manufacturers' new
ranges and design innovations for the coming year. Seen here in the
showroom at Nolte's German headquarters
is Bob Ruler of BK Installations, which handles the contracts division
of Nolte UK, being presented with the 2005 major contracts award by
Brian Evans, Chairman of Nolte UK.
Packaged
for Results - GDHA and Styropack Scoop Starpack Award for Built-In Packaging
Cooking manufacturer, Glen Dimplex Home Appliances, and Blackburn based packaging company Styropack have scooped a Silver Starpack Award for the product packaging designed specifically to house the latest Stoves built-in appliances.
Lee Robinson, quality engineer at GDHA and Brent
Lofthouse designer at Styropack
GDHA originally briefed Styropack to create a range of packaging that
could withstand the clamping pressures used both in its own warehouse
and by major customers and improve overall stackability for stockists
and distributors. All criteria has been met by this new design.
Using a combination of moulded expanded polystyrene and a timber skeleton
for extra rigidity, the new packaging has improved the handling capability
from 600lb to 1000lb of pressure and as a result, customer returns have
also been reduced.
Not only has the new packaging seen benefits from a manufacturing point
of view, but this new design now allows Stoves built-in units to be
stacked up to eight high meaning savings for retailers, stockists and
distributors in terms of both space and money.
Fully recyclable and removing the need for expensive cardboard outer
packaging, this joint packaging development is leading the way for packaging
across the cooking industry.
Jayne Hall, marketing director at GDHA commented:
‘Packaging is such as hot topic across the cooking industry and
we are delighted that Styropack have scooped this award for the packaging
they designed for Stoves built-in range. We have put a great deal of
investment into the packaging of our products to ensure that it always
considers the needs of our customers in terms of space, money and above
all, reliability. This award win is certainly testament to this.’
Brent Lofthouse, designer at Styropack commented:
‘We worked closely with Stoves to create a range of packaging that
would not only fulfil the company’s needs but also have benefits
for the end user and customers. This project is a real step forward
for the cooking market and we are delighted that this has been recognised
by the packaging industry.’
For further information on GDHA and its brands, visit http://www.gdha.com
or call 0870 458 9663 for brochures.
ArtiCAD
Wins Prestigious National Award
Producer of CAD software solutions for KBB designers, ArtiCAD Ltd, has won a national award in recognition of success in accessing international markets. Sponsored by UK Trade & Investment - the government organisation that helps UK companies trade internationally, the 2005 National Passport to Export Award was presented to ArtiCAD's directors at the Institute of Export Gala Awards Dinner, on September 13th.
ArtiCAD Directors (from left) David Gurr, Fred
Richards, Theresa Turner, Richard Turner
Marketing
Director, Theresa Turner comments:
‘We are thrilled to receive this prestigious accolade, especially
in view of the impressive competition. It reflects the tremendous hard
work put in by our entire team who have helped us to generate export
sales approaching 50% of our turnover, from almost zero, in just a few
years.’
ArtiCAD produces CAD software solutions for kitchen, bathroom &
bedroom designers and manufacturers with over 3,000 users in the UK.
In the past three years the company has established subsidiaries in
North America, South Africa and Ireland with plans to expand further
into additional international markets in the future.
First
Electrolux Fashion Award goes to Pauw
Electrolux
has presented its first ever Fashion Award to Pauw, a well respected
Dutch clothing and design brand, at the 100th edition of the Salon Prêt-à-Porter
Paris®. Runners-up were Marc Cain and Jean Paul Knott Homme.
An international jury of professional fashion experts and Electrolux
VIPs has selected the brand for its design, which the judging panel
found to best reflected the Electrolux design values: Intuitive, Simplicity,
Purity, Reassuring, Humanising and Freedom.
The Electrolux design values have been defined through extensive and
ongoing consumer insight research which has covered thousands of homes
across Europe so far. Johan Bygge, CEO of Electrolux Major Appliances
Europe and Asia Pacific presented the award to Pauw.
The award ceremony, held on Saturday 3rd September in Hall 7, showcased
the eight fashion brand nominees: Pauw, Jean Paul Knott Homme, Pablo,
Rene Dhery, Another Woman, Marc Cain, PSSY and La Petite Française.
Electrolux
CEO Johan Bygge (right) congratulates winner Pauw
Pauw
strives for the utmost quality in its products by setting high standards,
attention to detail and offering a unique and clean design. Based on
this insight the Electrolux Fashion Award jury selected Pauw for best
reflecting the appliance brand’s promise and design values.
'Competition has been very tight,' says Ulrich Gartner, Vice President
Communications Europe at Electrolux. 'All nominees presented outstanding
designs that shared many of our own values. Ultimately, the jury felt
that the stylish and creative works of Pauw best matched our own design
values. We feel that the Pauw collection would greatly appeal to our
consumers.'
The
Jury selected one nominee from each of the eight trend areas that divide
up the Salon. For the Award ceremony, each of these eight nominees was
presented to the audience through a short film, after which the winner
of the first Electrolux Fashion Award was announced. The prize for the
winner is the development of one season’s catalogue, combining
images of the collection with Electrolux appliances.
The runner-up, Marc Cain will receive a patterned Electrolux refrigerator
of which there were 14 concepts prominently displayed at the Salon.
Third place was for Jean Paul Knott Homme, who will receive an Electrolux
appliance of choice for his workspace.
The Jury, consisting of Electrolux heads of design, marketing and public
relations and European fashion experts as Thierry Prévost from
the Gallerie Lafayette Berlin, Claudine Verry from Printemps Paris,
Lottie Önnesjö from Modedrive in Stockholm and Torbjörn
Rusck from Sweden”s Ström, were fully briefed on the design
values of Electrolux prior to the voting process. The jury translated
these values to clothing design during their judging rounds.
This is the first time an appliance manufacturer has granted a fashion
award at the renowned Salon de Prêt-à-Porter Paris®.
Pauw website: http://www.pauw.nl
A
Joint Project from e15, Dornbracht and Alape – Honoured with an
ICFF Editors Award
New
Places, the collaboration between e15, Dornbracht
and Alape, received the much sought-after 2005 ICFF Editors
Award in New York for outstanding bathroom design. At the ICFF, the
annual international trade fair for interior design, New Places, the
new architecture for the bathroom and the living space was presented
to the American public for the first time. The collection was received
very positively and the jury honoured it accordingly with the highly
acclaimed 2005 ICFF Editors Award for the 'Kitchen and Bath' category.
The award is bestowed annually at the ICFF by the editors of such famous
magazines as Abitare, Interni, Intramuros, Metropolis and Wallpaper*
and is one of the industry’s highest accolades for the designers
and manufacturers of contemporary furnishings and fittings.
In
the New Places joint project, e15, Dornbracht and Alape dissolve old
boundaries and bring the bathroom and the living space together. The
collaboration was presented for the first time at Designers' Saturday
in Langenthal / Switzerland in November 2004.
New Places consists of various modules, which are based on the most
diverse ritual themes. The configuration of these modules follows interior
and exterior trends in society and in people themselves. Three themes
are currently defined, with several modules available for each. The
'welcome' module series, for example, embodies the entrance ritual.
As soon as we enter the apartment, the interplay of wash basin, fitting
and wardrobe allows us to shed the everyday and leave it behind. 'unity'
embodies togetherness. 'unity' modules become places of communication,
interaction and community and bring the bathroom to life, not just architectonically,
but also intellectually and naturally. The 'base' module series, on
the other hand, picks out the central themes of grounding and concentration
as a personal experience of retreat. At its heart is the contemplation
of original and sincere experiences.
The inspiration for New Places was the examination of cleansing and
relaxation rituals. The thought, 'What value, what context do things
need in an age when perfect form is taken for granted? What idea should
these objects take with them?' As well as the purely outward appearance,
it is nowadays the inner value of our world that is again more important.
Total awareness of actions at an ideal level increases the value of
the material and the commonplace suddenly has significance.
By taking up the idea of ritual, the three companies involved in this
project are opening up the way to a new awareness and by so doing are
attending to the yearning for peace and relaxation in an ever more frantic
everyday life. The individual moves on from being a 'bathroom user'
to a 'bathroom inhabitant'. A claim that simultaneously opens up the
boundaries between the living and bathing areas and re-defines the function
of the bathroom as a living area consciously experienced as such. With
qualities that go far beyond simply satisfying the purely physical need
of washing. In return, the value of the living area is enhanced by the
gentle and stylish integration of rituals of wellbeing and recuperation.
Requirements that are also reflected in the architecture and the design,
as well as in the dimensions and the materials.
In the New Places joint project, each of the three companies focuses
on its core competency:
e15, known for its clear, instantly recognisable formal expression and
its re-definition of the material oak, is responsible for conceptual
planning and designs and makes the furniture.
http://www.e15.com
Dornbracht, the internationally active manufacturer of high-quality
design fittings, accessories and interiors, adds the fittings.
http://www.dornbracht.com
Alape, the facilitator of personalised bathroom architecture, completes
the project with fitted and stand-on basins, as well as washstands in
glazed steel.
http://www.alape.com
Web: http://www.new-places.com
CKBER
Foundation Announces 2005 Cornerstone Awards at K/BIS
The
Centre for Kitchen & Bath Education and
Research (CKBER) honoured two companies by awarding them
with the first Cornerstone Awards on Sunday, May 8th at the Wynn Las
Vegas.
The
Cornerstone Award recognises companies whose generosity has paved the
way toward building the professionalism of the kitchen and bath industry
for the future.
Kasmar Publications, publisher of Designer Kitchens & Baths, Designer
Baths, The Kitchen Collection, and Kitchens magazines, was the first
donor to support CKBER. Kasmar donated kitchen and bath CDs to over
40 NKBA Endorsed Programmes student labs. They also contributed
$40,000 to be used for scholarships, leadership conference, student
web event, and seminars for students pursuing careers in the kitchen
and bath industry.
Planit Design, a division of Planit Solutions, Inc. pledged over $4
million in high tech computer software, equipment, technicians, and
training to the NKBA Endorsed Programmes for students and instructors
to utilise in the labs. Planit also donated $12,000 towards a leadership
conference.
'We congratulate Kasmar Publications and Planit for their support in
the recruitment, promotion and development of qualified professionals
as well as their dedication to funding the growth and vitality of the
kitchen and bath industry through education. Understanding the importance
of a path to the future, Kasmar Publications and Planit complements
fully the mission set forth by CKBER' Steven Kleber, CKBER President
said.
Web: http://www.ckber.org
One
Month Until Awards Entry Deadline
Retailers
and designers have less than one month to submit entries for the 2006
Bathrooms And Kitchens Industry Awards. The deadline for
completed entries is 23rd September 2005.
Every year, the Industry Awards recognise the talent and business acumen
of designers and retailers working in the bathroom and kitchen industry.
Judging criteria for all the categories is in the entry forms available
to download from www.bathroomskitchens.co.uk/awards
New to this year are the designer awards for accessible bathrooms and
kitchens recognising those designers for showing their skills and experience
in overcoming barriers to independence. It will take into account the
client's disability and how the designer has used the products available
to them.
The full list of categories this year is:
* Master Retailer Award for Kitchens
* Master Retailer Award for Bathrooms
* Showroom Award for Kitchens
* Showroom Award for Bathrooms
* Marketing Award for Kitchens
* Marketing Award for Bathrooms
* Designer Award for Kitchens
* Designer Award for Bathrooms
* Young Designer Award for Kitchens
* Young Designer Award for Bathrooms
* Designer Award for Accessible Kitchens
* Designer Award for Accessible Bathrooms
The winners of the two Designer Awards will represent the UK and compete
against the winners of design competitions in Australia, New Zealand,
USA and Canada to battle for the title of International Designer of
the Year.
The 2006 Awards Ceremony takes place at the Hilton Birmingham Metropole
on 23rd January 2006 coinciding with the KBB exhibition at the NEC.
Tables are popular at this event and the 2004 Awards was a complete
sell out so book your places today to avoid disappointment.
Please telephone Clare Coe on 020 8515 6898 or email mailto:clarecoe@uk.dmgworldmedia.com
to request entry forms or book tables.
PAB
Wins Local Recognition as Start-Up Business of the Year
Premium
Appliance Brands Limited,
(PAB) has fended off competition from ten finalists from a range of
industries, to be awarded the coveted prize of Start-Up Business of
the Year in the Warrington Business Awards, which took place recently.
Established in 2003, PAB has developed a number of new white goods brands
and designs and continues to source unique product ranges from Europe
and the Far East to sell to major distributors and retailers in the
UK and Ireland.
Guy Weaver, Managing Director of Premium Appliance Brands Limited, comments,
'We have had a highly successful two and a half years and we are thrilled
to gain recognition as a company that has a reputation for high quality,
innovation and added value in terms of our products, marketing and after
sales service.
'We offer a rapidly expanding product portfolio including Cuisina, Eurolec,
Essentials, White Westinghouse, Homark and Cookers and we look forward
to further success in the coming year.
PAB is looking to increase both its company size and product portfolio
over the next year and aims to establish itself as one of the UK's leading
appliance suppliers in terms of quality and value for money.