Showcasing the best of South African architecture and interior design, from corporate and office interiors to retail interiors and showrooms, restaurants and food outlets, hospitality venues, entertainment venues, domestic interiors and public spaces, shopping malls and convention centres, the awards honour students and new designers, as well as veteran designers. This year’s Lifetime Achievement Award, awarded to a designer who has made a significant difference to the industry and maintained a high standard of work throughout his or her career, went to veteran architect Lionel Levin, who has worked on many of South Africa’s iconic buildings.
Johannesburg firm INK, owned by George Boorsma and Lisebo Mokhesi, scooped three awards, including top honours in the Overall Award for Design Excellence for their concrete house, entered into the Domestic Interiors category. They also won in the Domestic Category and the Corporate Interiors under R5m, with VP Enterprises.
Said Qb Awards founder Rebecca Staniforth: “This evening is all about celebrating the thriving and innovative South African design industry, which has, in the last decade blossomed into an internationally competitive force.”
Held in alliance with Decorex Jhb, SA’s premier décor and design exhibition, the Qbs attracted a record 200 entries this year. Said Decorex SA Director Melanie Robinson, “Decorex SA is delighted to host the third edition of the prestigious Qb Awards alongside our Johannesburg exhition. The Qb Awards and all that they stand for, fit perfectly into the mix of where we are striving to take this exhibition.”
The panel of high-profile industry judges was convened by Prof Des Laubscher of the Greenside Design Center, who commented on the overall standard of the entries: “It is the third Qb Awards that I have been involved with and the quality across the board has definitely improved – there were also a lot more entries this year than in previous years. The awards have given us a better holistic view of what’s happening in the industry.
“Winners of a Qb Award will have a market edge as they have won against their peers. The industry will know that their work is of the highest caliber,” opined Laubscher.
As with all high profile awards, the regulations of the competition were key to its success. The judging process was stringent and was based on criteria that emphasised the suitability of the design outcome with the design brief, functional aspects such as space planning and use of materials, distinctiveness and innovation as well as design compatibility with workmanship.
Said Laubscher: “I have judged awards internationally and by those standards I think the awards were incredibly well organised in that there was no chance that one judge would influence the choices of another judge. The judging was overseen by an auditor and it was all done electronically – a first for this country.”
To ensure total impartiality, the awards were subjected to scrutiny by the International Federation of Interior Architects/Interior Designers (IFI).
IFI President, Madeline Lester, had this to say about the awards: “In viewing some of the entries in this year’s Qb Awards, one cannot help comment on the diversity of the entries, from the many available categories of design. Awards programmes such as the Qb’s are one of the most significant ways of recognizing and rewarding excellence in design and innovation. The Qb entries help to benchmark and promote the benefits and value of professional design as well as raise the awareness and profile within industry and to the general public.
“The awards also display a strong culture and tradition of Africa, as seen in the Pezula Resort Hotel entry. This project is very sophisticated in its design and execution, displaying sensitivity to the cultural history, in a very contemporary context.
“In the residential category, the ‘Rothman House’ is a wonderful example of the new minimal approach to contemporary living in an urban environment. This entry is executed with a strong design rationale, which is driven by context as stated by the designers who wrote that they “adopted a very rational approach for the building: the interior takes its cue from the rational approach of the architecture. Soft, natural colours were used to complement and enhance the architecture - the interior had to remain true to the expression of the building.” A strong concept and ultimately an appropriate solution.
“In the retail category, the Cutting Edge is an excellent example in branding and retailing. The project is innovative, and the final design solution is congruent with the name of the Salon.
She concluded: “The Qb Awards, are truly international, I congratulate the finalists and winners on their submissions in raising the bar by setting new benchmarks in interior design in South Africa today.”
And the winners are:
Design Excellence
Company: INK. Project: Concrete House, Melville
0ffice Interiors over 5 Million
Companny: dsgn. Project: Discovery, 16 Fredman Drive
Office interiors under 5 Million Rand
Companies: INK and VP Enterprises. Project: Automobile Association
Hospitality: Boutique Hotels, Lodges and Spas
Company: Sarah Stevens Design and Beth Murray. Project: Le Franschhoek Hotel
Hospitality: Hotels and Resorts
Company: Keith Architects + Designers. Project: Pezula Resort Hotel
Restaurants Individual Identity
Company: Anton de Kock Architects and Meyer + Vorster Architects. Project: Orient Restaurant, Melrose Arch
Restaurants extension of Branding and Food Outlets
Company: Switch Interior Design and Architecture. Project: Juicy Lucy
Domestic Interiors
Company: INK. Project: Concrete House
Entertainment Venues and Public Spaces
Company: dsgn. Project: Ekurhuleni Council Chamber
Shopping Malls, Retail & Lifestyle Centers
Companies: Boogertman+Partners and R&L Architects. Project: Mountain Mill Shopping Centre
Retail outlets and showrooms: Individual Identity
Company: The Design Partnership. Project: Cutting Edge Hair Salon
Retail outlets extensions as of branding
Company: Switch Interior Design and Architecture. Project: Plascon Store, The Design Quarter
Lighting
Company: dsgn and Paul Pamboukian and Associates. Project: Lekgotla, the dining room, Nelson Mandela Square
Student Award
Institution: University of Pretoria Department of Architecture. Project: Li Edelkoort Office, Park Centre, Parkhurst
Full list of categories and sponsors
Corporate Interiors – over R5 million: CN Business Furniture
Office Interiors – under R5 million: Plascon
Retail Outlets – as Extensions of Branding: Woolworths
Retail Outlets – Individual Identity: Plexiglass
Hospitality – Hotels and Resorts: Saflok
Hospitality – Boutique Hotels, Lodges and Spas: Legacy Furniture
Domestic Interiors: BPB Gypsum
Restaurant and Food Outlets: Nexus
Public Spaces and Entertainment Venues: Ferreiras
Student Category: Aluglass
Lighting: Creative Lighting Design for Interior and Exterior Architecture: Philips
