The winners of the inaugural Collective Design Awards were announced at a ceremony in central London recently.
A collaborative entry by students of Westminster University swept the board, claiming the prize for both the ‘Student’ category and overall. Third year interior architecture students, Alice Simmons, Emily Coyle and Ada Asllani, wowed judges with their innovative design featuring a clever sliding kitchen.
Founder of online-interiors.com, Mariama Janneh, was awarded the prize for the ‘Recent Graduates’ category. The winners were presented with their awards at a ceremony at The Collective’s Inverness Terrace development in Bayswater, where the full range of shortlisted designs are on display.
Created to showcase young talent in the interior design industry, the awards were launched by The Collective’s Founder and Managing Director, Reza Merchant, to give a head–start to fellow young talent in the design industry. The entrepreneur established the London rental brand when he was just 22, creating his first range of lifestyle-led rental studios in Camden. Since then, he has developed a further three newly converted high spec properties, in Bayswater, Kings Cross and Notting Hill with another development in the pipeline for Willesden Junction.
Reza commented: “We have been very impressed by the high level of entries in our first year of awards, and I am delighted that so many young designers have taken part. We are excited to already be working with various institutions to move forward with creating these awards on a bigger scale next year”.
The competition, assessed entrants on their ability to develop a design that creatively explored the innovative use of space, materials and lighting whilst reflecting the London residential scene of contrasting environments. In the ‘Student’ category, the group from Westminster University took the top spot with their inventive sliding partition design, which acts both as a modern kitchen on one side and a practical office space on the adjacent. Depending on the user requirements, the multi-functional partition can be pulled out from the wall for a large office or tucked away for a sleek and clean finish. The entry impressed the judges to such a degree that they were also named the overall competition winners.
Lee Polisano, Partner at London architectural firm PLP, one of five judges on the panel, commented: “The winning entry demonstrated a truly imaginative approach, with originality and innovation that allows a modular use of living space. The complex design, created from such a simple yet intelligent idea, was presented to a very high standard.”
In the ‘Recent Graduates’ category Mariama Janneh’s winning design combined existing classic architecture and design with modern features and ideas. The plan for a studio apartment featured a glass bathroom in the middle of the mezzanine floor, allowing no interruption to the intricate cornicing of the original room. Judge, Nasser Golzari, Senior Partner at Golzari Architects, Senior Lecturer at the University of Westminster, commented: “The design displayed a sophisticated spatial exploration, combining new and old for an elegant simplicity in a compacted spatial concept.”
Runner ups for the ‘Student’ category also included Georgia Charizani, Flor Barsallo, Blerina Berisha from Westminster University. Whilst, in the ‘Recent Graduates’ category, London based Interior Architect & Designers, Myrtle Tzortzi, and Marjorie Mohler, both celebrated second place.
Judging was conducted by a panel of leading industry experts from The British Academy of Interior Design, Golzari Architects, PLP architects and Savills plc.
The winner and runner up from each category received prize money of £1,000 and £500 respectively, along with individual trophies. Meanwhile, the overall winner took home £2,500.
