Introducing the Henley from Atelier Purcell: A Sleek and Nautically Inspired Collection

Alexander Purcell, a notable British architectural designer, is pleased to introduce the Henley Collection—a sleek and nautically informed array of furniture. Inspired by the racing boats that enable one to enjoy the river, sea, or lake, the Henley Collection is perfect for contemporary homes looking for a sophisticated yet welcoming aesthetic. With its aquatically inspired designs and luxurious materials, the Henley is ideal for any modern home looking to add some flair.

The Henley collection debuted in London with the opening of the new Pavoni flagship showroom at Design Centre Chelsea Harbour on September 5. The showroom carries the entire collection, with all of the upholstered pieces customized with Pavoni’s fine Italian vegetable tanned luxury leathers.

The inspiration for the Henley is both quite personal as well as a result of Purcell’s fascination with classic boat design. In fact, the seed for the collection goes way back: In 1998 he and his teammates entered the famous Henley Regatta. His college having not won since 1962, this year proved to be different. Established in 1839, the world-renowned rowing event is held annually on the River Thames in the town of Henley-on-Thames and attracts participants from all over the world. Purcell and his eight ended up winning the extremely competitive Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup. Celebrating that feat a few years ago as the team marked the 20th anniversary of their win, Purcell was driven to bring the aqua-dynamic forms and language of racing boats into his furniture collection and so was born the Henley.

The iconic Riva yacht also makes its mark on the collection. Purcell has always loved the luxury wooden runabout built by Italian yacht builder Riva. The shape, speed, beauty, and craftsmanship of their namesake boat, produced from 1962-1996, earned it praise as the Ferrari of the boat world. The vintage yachts are now coveted by boat lovers worldwide.

With the new Henley collection, the formal nods toward the shape of oars and rowing boat hulls, as well as the elegant silhouettes of the Riva boat are obvious. It all started with the chair arm and its upholstery detail—the rest of the array was built off that one detail with the goal of creating pieces that can be enjoyed both functionally and visually. The collection launches with four designs:

• The Henley Dining Chair - the jumping off point for the whole collection, the chair features a gently rounded back composed of an upholstered upper half and cut-out lower half, all framed in walnut or oak, that wraps around the sides to meet the upholstered arm front. Particular attention has been paid to the back of these dining chairs as ultimately that the direction in which you actually view them when around a table. Tapered wooden legs and elegant chamfer details add to the stylish look and help create a dashing silhouette when viewed from any angle. The dining chair has a sleek appearance and is a unique piece that will add personality to any space.
• The Henley Dining Table - the exquisitely crafted warm walnut top gently tapers at the edge, a slope modelled on boat hulls, particularly that of the wooden back of a Riva yacht. The dramatically bisected base utilizes its negative space to create the dynamic illusion that the table is gliding through the water. The two feet are made of an aluminium which can be lacquered or brushed. The table is available in a round or rectangular shape and an array of Atelier Purcell oak and walnut finishes.
• The Henley Lounge Chair - an elegant chair that would be equally at home welcoming guests in a living room or sitting fireside in a den or bedroom. Informed by the nautical detailing of the Henley dining chair but with a lower profile and featuring a roomier seat with a gently sloped back that wraps the sitter in a graceful embrace. A back pillow is included and an ottoman will be added to the collection soon.
• Henley Bar & Counter Stools - slender armless stools with the same maritime inspirations as the Henley dining and lounge chairs. These stylish and effortlessly modern stools are available in bar height (36 inches) or counter height (40 inches) and are made from 100% solid hardwood. This contemporary stool is perfect for any setting: at home, in your office, bars or restaurant.

The Henley Collection is available now at fine to-the-trade showrooms in the U.S. including B. Peterson in Palm Beach, De Sousa Hughes in San Francisco, Dennis Miller in New York, MOD in Denver, Thomas Lavin in Los Angeles and Laguna, and Paul+ in Atlanta. For more information on the Henley and Alexander Purcell, please visit atelierpurcell.com

Cover image: Henley Dining Chairs & Henley Rectangular Dining Table

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Continuing to expand on its contemporary design offering, sofa.com is delighted to introduce its AW22 collection to a trade audience.

Comprising of four new designs across upholstered seating catering for a range of design specifications across commercial and residential projects. The collection includes the new hero range, Tiffany, a vintage-inspired armchair, Shelby, and two new stylish dining chairs, Lola and Piper all available in 75+ fabric options as well as COM to create bespoke options to allow designers breadth of choice.

Inspired by modern renaissance design - a trend which integrates contemporary shapes with classic detailing to bring together refreshing pieces with a sense of refinement, glamour and a touch of charm from the Art Deco era - each piece incorporates an element of pleated stitching which unites the new look across the collection.

Also including expansions upon two of sofa.com’s bestselling designs, the Larsen armchair and Teddy chaise join AW22. All-time favourites in the sofa range, these pieces offer a more traditional aesthetic to cater for a variety of residential projects.

The new colour palette for the season includes velvets in warming autumnal tones – vibrant oranges, forest greens and salmon pinks - alongside a range of weaves in pared-back neutrals and subtle blues and greens. These palettes will help create differing interior styles from modern luxe to a more organic, minimalist aesthetic.

Speaking on the collection, trade development manager Laura Tarratt comments:

“Seating is at the core of this collection and we wanted to ensure each sofa, dining seat or armchair would stand alone as a beautiful, functional residential piece but also work to create a statement within restaurants, bars, office meeting room or set the scene in a hotel lobby. The continued expansion of our dining collection has proven popular with sales increasing season upon season. We also wanted to ensure we weren’t compromising on comfort or style, and have focussed on ensuring optimal dimensions and fillings to create the ultimate design combination of ergonomically sound and elegant. Boasting over 75 fabrics and the option to upholster all pieces in COM, our in-house team can fulfil any project brief becoming a one-stop shop for our growing interior designer clientele base.”

Handmade-to-order in just 4-6 weeks – now available online and in store.

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This week’s instalment of the Project of the Week series features an immersive and experiential retail design by 2022 SBID Awards Finalist, II BY IV DESIGN.

In today's contemporary culture, the retail experience has migrated from visual to experiential. Successful products are presented in immersive environments with new possibilities. Following this method, for the Central Park development in Toronto, a Presentation Pavilion was constructed on the site. It is designed as a time capsule—a striking triangular-shaped building that transports the prospective residents to their forthcoming life. Through a curated journey, the prospective residents get to imagine how their experience would be in this nature-inspired, wellness-focused development.

Set to turn into a vibrant cultural hub for the community, this pavilion's permanency confirms the development’s environmentally-conscious vision: refining the contemporary lifestyle. Inside, outfitted in natural materials and cutting-edge green prototypes, an orchestrated retail journey weaves thoughtful moments of theatre, interactive installations, and a series of vignettes. The visitors are invited to touch, play, feel, and visualize their promising life in the anticipated complex. They learn the significance of connecting with nature, find unit layouts, see the amenities, get excited about the perks, and customize their dream home. This cohesive design strategy visually soothes the senses, offering a pleasant experience and representing the ethos of the development.

What was the client's brief? 

Central Park development in Toronto—its first 31-storey residential tower—offers a nature-inspired lifestyle. It is highly sustainable, wellness-focused, and connected to the urban bustle yet nestled in the ravine system. As the interior designers of this soon-to-be-constructed high-rise, we were tasked with designing the interiors of the development’s sales center, which had to stand for the ethos of its future-forward vision. We wanted it to be suggestive of the lifestyle at Central Park—connected to nature, environmentally conscious, timelessly elegant, and outfitted in natural materials. We also aimed to design an unparalleled experience with interactive installations and to-scale vignettes for an immersive retail journey.

What inspired the design of the project?

The main inspiration for the development, and the pavilion, in particular, is our connection to nature and how this connection would affect our wellness in life. Through the design strategy, we intended to create more than just a sales canter, delivering a joyful, immersive atmosphere that the patrons would want to spend time in, stay for a while, and engage with its various features. The permanency of the pavilion also excited our team, designing a place that won’t get demolished but instead become a cultural destination for the Toronto community.

What was the toughest hurdle your team overcame during the project?

Despite the pandemic, due to the team's high levels of planning and coordination, we didn't run into any hurdles throughout the process. The project was delivered on time/budget, with 85% of the suites sold within the first ten days of the opening of the pavilion.

What was your team’s highlight of the project?

Our team set out to design a new type of sales center for the Central Park development. We conducted extensive research about the new methods of immersive retail design. For all of us, at II BY IV DESIGN, witnessing the execution of the project during the Covid-19 Pandemic was a highlight. And, it is always gratifying to see the influence of our work as most of the residential suites were sold in such a short time.

Why did you enter this project into the SBID Awards?

SBID Awards bring together the design community every year, showcasing design excellence across various interior sectors. SBID promotes best practices for the interior design profession while setting the tone for the industry through its award program annually. At our studio, we look forward to learning about other projects worldwide, reading their story, seeing the curated visuals, and voting on those that respond with creativity and technical execution. It's a celebration of design—the kind of design that is shaping the future. We are thrilled and honoured to have four of our projects amongst the finalists. It's a great company of peers to be in every year.

Questions answered by Dan Menchions, Partner, II BY IV DESIGN.

With the much-anticipated AW22 living and dining collection from Sofa.com that has launched on the 5^th September, we have taken this opportunity to look back and share insight from the last 12 months. As we seek to identify trends spotted by our trade team, we can unveil the design and fabric preferences from their elite group of interior designer clientele.

Bestselling Fabrics:

The ever-popular collection of cotton matt and smart velvets has now been overtaken in sales volume by the brushed linen cottons - a collection made from 63% cotton and 37% linen offering a stylish and durable upholstery solution. The collection contains a mixture of neutrals and greys, blue and green fabrics with Taupe, Alabaster and Charcoal proving to be most popular.

Other recent launches have also captured the imagination with the Brushstroke fabric collection, already registering as our 8th bestselling line as the tactile nature of the fabric seems to be a requirement that many designers look for.

Bestselling Colours:

Our overall top sellers reflect a return to a pared back palette of neutrals. Overtaking the jewel toned velvets popular for the past few seasons are Pumice, Clay, Taupe, Alabaster and Armour.

Interestingly, the summer months have encouraged designers to opt for custom coverings with an increase in COM orders.

Upcoming fabric launches for AW22 include the Heathland Weaves collection as well as range extensions for Smart Velvets, Boucle, Vermeer Linen and Silky Jacquard Weaves. Available in a selection of neutrals, Heathland Weaves cater for a growing desire amongst designers to utilise greys and pared-back autumnal tones and fabric compositions that are as hard-w earing as they are stylish.

Bestselling shapes:

Delving deeper into the data the trade team have been able to identify the most popular pieces across the board. The modular Cohen has led the way for 2022, its contemporary styling and generous proportions proving popular across an array of design projects. Bluebell remains the perennial favourite, its timeless, classic design offers versatility for traditional and modern schemes.

Bestsellers in each category include the Izzy modular sofa, Alderney armchair, Thea bed, Arabella dining chairs, and Kingsley table.

Ever adapting to the needs of our designer clientele base, the sofa.com team are proud to be at the forefront of delivering the highest quality furniture, fulfilling each order to exacting specifications.

The trade team at sofa.com is on-hand to assist with any queries – please visit www.sofa.com/trade for more information.

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What are the origins of your brand?

Prodema was founded in San Sebastián in 1903, as an industrial carpentry shop under the name of Echevarria y Eléicegui, SRC. Specialized in the manufacture of wood and hardware, it experienced a progressive expansion that led it over the years to diversify its activity and move its facilities to Legorreta. More than 50 years after his birth, he changed his name to Prodema.

At the end of the 1980s, the first facades covered by Prodema were built, which caused a very good impression and made various architects begin to be interested in the product. Expo’92 marked a before and after for the brand, to the point of turning around the company’s business by concentrating exclusively on the world of architecture.

For its part, Vera de Bidasoa was the birthplace of Maderas Gurea S.A, founded in 1966, which became Composites Gurea S.A. in 1985. At that time, high-density phenolic stratified wood products were manufactured, aimed at the Spanish iron and steel and electromechanical industries. In 1992, the company began working on the application of wood for construction, thus creating the Parklex brand.

In 2004, the first step in the integration of the brands was executed. The MADME holding company was created, owner of both the Parklex and Prodema brands. In this first phase, all areas of the company were integrated, except for the commercial area, where the two brands competed in different markets. In 2018, the first step was taken in the integration of the commercial networks, unifying the management of the two brands, but without changes regarding the market, for which two different brands continued to follow.

2022 is the year of change, renewal, collaboration and growth. It is the year of the merger of the Parklex and Prodema brands at all levels, becoming a single brand both inside and outside.

The union between the two will mark our new future, because we believe that the union is, today - in this new international context -, the best formula to continue growing and innovating.

From now on, PARKLEX PRODEMA becomes a much stronger and more consistent project.

How do you work with interior designers?

We work with interior designers from the design phase of the project. We help them to know the wood from the hand of an expert, we help them in the search for personalized solutions and we offer technical support for the specification.

Once the project is designed, we enter in the development phase with them. We offer a shop drawings service, we help with the optimization of the material and we look for tailor-made technical solutions for their specific project.

And, if the designer or the company that is going to carry out the work needs us, we can enter in the execution phase of the project. We have logistical flexibility so that the reception of the materials is the most comfortable and appropriate to their needs, as well as being able to customize each delivery. We offer an on-site start-up service and we can provide training on the installation of all our products.

In addition to the support we offer in each of the phases of a project, we have a worldwide commercial network, which allows us to provide an international service. Our sales representatives or technicians can carry out personalized visits, resolve any doubts that may arise, show reference projects... In addition to the fact that we have digital support materials available on our website, and physical samples to see and touch each one of our products and finishes.

We adapt to the individual needs of each designer.

What value does your sector add to the interior design industry?

Thanks to our own technology, we have developed a range of interior and exterior products with natural wood that has a unique strength and durability. We give them the possibility of applying the beauty and warmth of wood in different applications, such as walls, floors, ceilings, acoustics, furniture, facades... In all those areas where they thought they would not be able to place wood, we give them that option.

How do your services/offering enhance an interior designer’s projects?

In addition to everything already mentioned, we are offering a unique product with an international and personalized service. We give the possibility of using wood, with its aesthetic benefits, where it is not usually an option.

We offer a combined solution. Personalized, with international service and with a unique delivery, of a product with unique benefits for wood.

In addition to being able to use our products in high-traffic areas, such as museums, restaurants, retail, hotels, offices... their features make them suitable for hospitals, swimming pools, spas, gyms, bathrooms and kitchens...

Questions answered by Reyes Gutiérrez, Export Area Manager, Parklex Prodema.

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This week’s instalment of the Project of the Week series features an expansive seven bedroom villa design by 2022 SBID Awards Finalist, LW Design.

What was the client's brief? 

LW Design was tasked to redesign an expansive seven-bedroomed villa in an exclusive neighbourhood of Dubai. The owners wanted the designers to create an extraordinary space for their family and create a seamless flow from each room onto the large terraces and gardens beyond. The space was to be soft, feminine and understated so that the family felt at ease and comfortable at home.

What inspired the design of the project?

LW Design was tasked to create a soft, light and inviting scheme with neutral colours, warm timbers, and soft grey marble mixed with subtle accent colours to create the ultimate retreat. The spaces were designed to link and connect to the vast landscape. In particular, the majlis and formal dining feel like contemporary garden rooms as you are surrounded by full-height glazing with immaculate landscaping beyond. This connection to the outdoors also continues throughout the inside, with large plants placed in the corners of the rooms and some ground floor areas open onto the terrace giving an indoor-outdoor experience.

What was the toughest hurdle your team overcame during the project?

The main challenge was the sheer scale of the property, not just the number of rooms but also the various ceiling heights ranging from 4 metres to 9 metres in some key areas. The main goal was to ensure that all rooms felt comfortable and warm, each having their own identity but ensuring the design flowed from space to space. With the space being so vast, LW hand-selected and carefully placed unique pieces of furniture that filled the space rather than selecting additional furniture and accessories that would have caused over cluttering. The design team had to coordinate with multiple furniture suppliers who delivered their own finishings and fabrics to ensure they were all coordinated and aligned to maintain the eclectic and considered feel. With a property of this size, it was essential to identify the character of each room and ensure nothing too themed or obvious.

What was your team’s highlight of the project?

The general ceiling height around the villa is 4 metres while the entrance ceiling height is an impressive 9 metres. The sheer height creates a grand first impression when walking into the villa. The hallway leads into the living spaces that consist of a soft colour palette that creates a serene and bright feel throughout the villa and seamlessly connects the rooms to the surrounding landscape, adding life and depth to the space.

The his and hers master bedroom has oversized artwork shaped like a screen which acts as a headboard and provides a focus to the room. The master bathroom has wall-to-wall soft grey marble complemented by bronze metal screens and a feature freestanding bath. Intimate seating areas, a workspace, and a TV zone help fill the room with beautifully crafted pieces.

Why did you enter this project into the SBID Awards?

To showcase the project on an international platform and get the recognition this project deserves.

Questions answered by Rachel Kidd, Partner & Design Director, LW Design.

In the 30 years since it was founded, TSAR Carpets create holistic compositions that empower its wide range of clientele — from commercial, hospitality, and residential customers — to achieve a cohesive architectural expression from the ground up. Born from a passion for textiles and enchanted by the hand-tufted technique, TSAR Carpets is continuously inspired by the German concept of the “gesamtkunstwerk,” meaning “a total work of art” — with TSAR Carpets founder David Sharpley describing the handtufting process as “painting with fibres.”

Known for their design work in both the public and private sector, the award-winning Melbourne-based architecture firm Lyons enlisted TSAR Carpets to install approximately 104.34 m2 of its signature freeform hand-tufted carpet in its office space, providing a colour-forward palette full of flair and panache.

Firm founder Carey Lyon chose to work with TSAR again to outfit the office after his immense satisfaction with the custom hand-tufted carpet he sourced for his private residence, proving that TSAR Carpets’ unparalleled flooring proficiency can be applied to a variety of applications, functions and environments.

Private residence design

The home of Carey Lyon required exceptional hand-tufted flooring for four various spaces in his home, including a hallway, sitting area, lounge and study. Carey turned to the TSAR Carpets team for its expertise and honest advice. As a brand that is not afraid to take risks, TSAR’s company-owned value chain allows the team to continually experiment and perfect a multitude of construction techniques.

Working closely with TSAR’s team, Carey designed the carpet’s pattern, which is based on standard cartographic symbols for a swamp. (Used on maps, cartographic symbols are coloured lines that serve as legends to denote areas of vegetation, water, and contours, etc.) The aim of the design was to summon the history of the old wetland landscapes of the Yaluk-ut Weelam people of Port Phillip Bay who were lost under the ‘reclaimed’ swamplands of Elwood. To bring the swamp landscape to life, colour was another thoughtful consideration and Carey and the team reviewed several different custom poms before settling on brown and blue shades that best matched the carpet’s marshy theme.

The challenge of flooring the irregular shape of each of the four unique areas within Carey’s home presented the team with an opportunity to achieve custom solutions — the exact placement of each blue swamp-like “pond” was a highly meticulous and diligent feat, which the team was able to execute in a timely and thorough manner.

“Optimal performance and product longevity is the impetus for all of our designs and projects. We understand the custom process thoroughly and treat every project with care,” says Sharpley.

Office design

With the office, Carey and the Lyons team returned to TSAR as they were seeking a flooring partner who could provide a cohesive, durable and innovative design for its highly-trafficked lobby, library and four meeting rooms. Like Carey’s home, the team gravitated towards a hand-tufted solution due to its high-quality utility and material ability to produce stunning patterns.

“TSAR Carpets treats every custom project with care and detail. We were excited to once again partner with the team thanks to the company's incredible technical proficiency and emphasis on performance,” says Carey Lyon.

Originally the design brief called for a continuous rainbow appearance featuring more than 58 colours, but due to budget constraints TSAR and Lyons teams joined forces to find a happy solution that balanced aesthetics, budget and performance, ensuring Lyons received the most desirable product. In the end, the client was overjoyed with the final result: An original selection of energetic and colorful flooring compositions featuring a one-of-a-kind point of view.

“Comfort and connection don’t just belong in the home. I was thrilled to incorporate TSAR’s exquisite flooring into our office environment to provide our employees and visitors with a sense of optimism and day-to-day joy,” says Carey Lyon.

“Clients continue to work with us because we value performance and value, just as much as we appreciate the incorporation of bold colors, patterns, and forms,” says Sharpley.

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There is a saying in China - ‘Children’s money is money earned most easily’. This is an interesting expression that has held true even through the recent upheaval of Covid, where we see that in many up-and-coming consumer territories, for example, in Asia, spending on children’s lifestyle and luxury products has gone through the roof.

As one of the worlds’ premier manufacturers of children’s furniture, with a presence in 77 countries, Dragons of Walton Street serves as a barometer for international trends in children’s luxury. We believe that for today’s savvy interior designer, there is a unique opportunity act in partnership with HNW parents to create elevated spaces for their children. Here are the key trends which are motivating parents to invest in interior design for their children.

Metamorphosis and Long Life

The practice of creating hardwearing furniture for children and furniture which has a dual-use is well-established. Amazing carpentry feats of the Georgians and Victorians in this vein included cots that convert to sofas and tables and chairs that become highchairs. These pieces were so well made that years after their creation, exhibited pieces still look sturdy enough to go nine rounds with a bowl of Cheerios. These days, the demands placed on children’s design pieces to ensure they have longevity built into their DNA is usually as much down to space-saving needs as it is to ensure that the planet is used as gently as possible.

Dragons of Walton Street has been at the forefront of the long-life children’s furniture movement long before it was on trend and in fact one of Dragons’ most popular key furniture pieces is the Dragons’ Cot Bed. Its major USP is that it is built with such an attention to detail that it will last through a cycle of at least 5 babies. Right on the metamorphosis trend, the Dragons Cot Bed transforms into a toddler bed, which will serve children up to four and a half years.

The idea is that generations of children would benefit from the bed, which appeals event to a HNW clientele as they wish to ensure that furniture pieces may be passed down to others, rather than ending their lives in a landfill.

Re-imagine and Re-use

Companies which truly care about the environment now take ownership for the life cycle of their products well past the point of sale. This has re-invented the luxury game – for example, brands like Mulberry are vanguards of this ethos with their strategy of offering lifetime repairs for over 10,000 bags a year and maintenance of a materials and hardware archive which goes back 35 years. Similarly, Dragons of Walton Street recently launched its ‘Earth Matters’ campaign. This service guarantees that Dragons will repaint and resell any children’s furniture pieces bought from Dragons. This service has been particularly well received by interior designers, as families with young children have been particularly receptive to any inventive initiatives around sustainability and their children’s furniture choices.

Murals – The Ideal Non-Polluting Wall Treatment

Wallpaper is wonderful. However, in many cases they are not the most sustainable – or healthy – choice for childrens’ rooms. Children can spend endless hours in rooms with wallpapers, which designer may utilise for an opportunity to add drama one simply cannot achieve with paint alone. It is worth noting, though, that not all wallpapers are created equal and that a child’s skin is constantly absorbing various substances from the air into their respiratory system and skin, including from decorative finishes. In some cases, if the chemicals being given off from these finishes are nauseous allergies may develop as well as skin irritations, nausea, headaches and asthma attacks.

Dragons’ world-famous mural service offers clients an opportunity to create spectacular wall effects for children with non-toxic paint. Also, only limit to what may be painted is the imaginations of designer and parent. From Monaco to Marrakesh, there is barely a major city where a Dragons’ mural has not been used to add serious wow factor.

Furniture as Art

As interior designers working with clients with high expectations, you’ll be aware that ‘uniqueness’ is a value which is often strived for amongst your clientele. This value also extends to children’s bedrooms and indeed accounts for why Dragons’ out of this world themed beds are a big hit with the parent and child who has everything.

Two other extremely popular solutions for those seeking something extra special is bespoke hand painted furniture with one-of-a-kind motifs and having self-sourced furniture pieces painted by Dragons.

Want to source a playset which would be at home in the Amazon? In this below example an interior designer briefed Dragons to take a fresh jungle approach, using a large-scale motif which makes a bold and dramatic impression. One of Dragon’s interior designers ran with the idea and undertook a collaborative process with Dragons’ in-house artists, who created detailed sketches before a delighted client signed off.

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The SBID International Design Awards finalists for 2022 have been revealed, boasting an impressive shortlist of award-worthy entries across Interior Design, Product Design and Fit-Out. From the design scheme, materials used and products specified through to the final fit-out installation, the SBID Awards champion design standards across the supply chain in the design, procurement and execution of outstanding interiors!

To complete the third and final stage of judging, the online Public Vote is now open! Worth an influential 30% of the final scores, it's your chance to sway the results and decide which finalists you think deserve to take home a prestigious SBID Award! You can only vote once per category, so choose wisely and vote for your favourite designs!

Voting closes at 5pm (BST) on 24 August

Voting closes at 5pm (BST) on 24 August.

Visit www.sbidawards.com to find out more!

This week’s instalment of the Project of the Week series features a spacious feng shui-inspired house design by 2021 SBID Awards Finalist, 7K Design.

What was the client's brief? 

The client wanted to change the lifestyle of their home because it had not been changed in over 20 years. Their home was not built with the intention of maximizing space functionality and flow. The client desired a change and wanted to revitalize their spaces not just to make them more practical and flow better, but also to ensure that each space was created with feng shui in mind to bring the family good fortune.

What inspired the design of the project?

As the circle was an important cultural symbol, feng shui was an important component that we wanted to incorporate into the design. It represents yin and yang harmony, as well as the balance of nature.

What was the toughest hurdle your team overcame during the project?

There are precise feng shui principles for each house, and we must incorporate those criteria into our design while still maximizing space, flow, and staying within budget.

Feng shui goes beyond comfort and aesthetic. We had to have a very good understanding of what elements to bring into the space without causing the project's integrity to be disrupted.

What was your team’s highlight of the project?

The team’s highlight of the project is designing the custom spiral stair bookcase. The bookcase incorporates important elements of feng shui: the garden that signifies the growth of life, and the book case signifying growth through knowledge.

Why did you enter this project into the SBID Awards?

We are hoping that SBID will aid in raising awareness of the importance of incorporating cultural identity into designs.

Questions answered by Fianne Zi-Yan Yu, Principal Designer & PM, 7k Design.