The New Design Britain Award goes to...
Date Published: 26/1/2012
NDA's Director of Studies, Anthony Rayworth, was recently on the judging panel for The New Design Britain Awards held at Interiors UK 2012 in Birmingham NEC.
Considered one of the most important competitions in the UK for discovering young design talent, the award has four categories: Fabric, Furnishing Accessories, Surface Coverings and Furniture.
Anthony was on the panel for the Furniture section whose shortlisted entrants were Greg Parsell, James Uren, Liam Treanor and Lucy Alice Porter. The nominated entries were judged on the following criteria:
- Domestic / contract furniture with a practical design
The winner from each category gets a design placement with a well known commercial company.
Speaking about this years entries, Anthony said: "Its good to see such interesting and creative ideas being realised in such great quality and finish. The future of domestic product and furniture design seems safe in the hands of our bright, enthusiastic graduates."
The awards presentation was given by Hugh Garford-Bles who is the Master of the Worshipful Company of Furniture makers, a guild dedicated to preserving high quality furniture making skills, and Dids Macdonald who is Chief Executive of Anti Copying In Design (ACID), an organisation who's aim is to raise awareness, encourage respect for and protect intellectual property.
Two awards for each section were given, one for Highly Commended and one for the Winner.
Lucy Alice Porter won the Highly Commended prize for her Multifunctional furniture full of colour, shape and texture. All of the pattern is hand embroidered stitch.
And the winner is...
James Uren for his original, elegant and flexible Chaise Longue design called the Luso Lounger. James explains how he came up with his design: "It evolved from looking at redundant furniture, and re-inventing it to suit the way in which we live today. The addition of a footstool means that there are a number of different ways in which it can be used; a day bed, lounger, chair, footstool."
James also won the People Choice Award earning him another trophy, and the knowledge that his design really did turn peoples heads.
