London Designer Judges New Zealand Talent

Media Release: Friday 3 April, 2009

London Designer Judges New Zealand Talent

New Zealand’s best furniture and objects for the home are showcased in HOME New Zealand’s Design Awards 2009, in the magazine’s April/May issue (on sale Monday 6 April, 2009).

Judged by visiting designer Edward Barber of London’s BarberOsgerby, the winner of the Design Awards 2009 is Auckland-based designer Jamie McLellan for his wooden ‘Twig’ coat stand for Fletcher Systems.

“The ‘Twig’ coat stand is a beautiful combination of form and function,” says HOME New Zealand editor Jeremy Hansen. “It’s elegant and simple and, just as importantly, works really well”.

Design Awards judge Edward Barber said that it was important for a coat stand to look beautiful, as it was likely to be uncovered for six months of the year. “The ‘Twig’ coat stand sits well both as a piece of sculpture and a functional object,” Barber says.

The seven finalists in the awards hail from Auckland, Hawkes Bay and Wellington, and show the great depth of talent in the New Zealand furniture and object design industries.

“I think the selection of furniture and objects in the Design Awards 2009 shows that New Zealand designers are easily able to foot it on the world stage,” says HOME New Zealand editor Jeremy Hansen.

In fact, many of the designers already have international connections. Auckland-based Jamie McLellan worked in London for renowned designer Tom Dixon and now designs for Hong Kong-based windsurfing equipment firm Neil Pryde. Fabric designer Ngahuia Damerell is now based in Sydney, working in the design team at New Zealand-owned fabric company Mokum. David Trubridge’s ‘Spiral Islands’ light, a finalist in this year’s Design Awards, made its debut at the Milan Furniture Fair last year. And designer Nathan Goldsworthy is taking his steel tables to Milan this month.

The finalists in the Design Awards 2009 are:
• Wellington’s Nathan Goldsworthy for his steel tables
• Auckland’s David Moreland for his ‘Knight’ light
• Hawkes Bay’s David Trubridge for his ‘Spiral Islands’ light
• Hawkes Bay’s Sandi Reefman, Martin Poppelwell and Ben Pearce for the ‘Grid’ lamp for Esther Diamond
• Sydney-based Ngahuia Damerell for her ‘Triangles’ textile design
• Auckland’s Simon James for his ‘Hawk’ chair

The HOME New Zealand Design Awards 2009 were sponsored by Staple Furniture + Design.

The works from the Design Awards will be displayed at Wellington’s Staple Furniture + Design from April 2-9, then at Auckland’s Te Tuhi Centre for the Arts from April 17-May 3, then at Staple Furniture + Design’s Gisborne showroom from mid-May.

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