New competition - win £1000!

The National Design Academy and Staffordshire University are delighted to launch a student competition for International Decorative Surfaces (IDS) to put forward interior and exterior design ideas for a new Head Office for IDS in a prominent location in Stoke on Trent.

The competition is aimed at undergraduates with a view to kick-starting their design career. The winner will not only receive £1000 but will also be invited to join IDS at 100% Design and meet and be mentored by some of the UK’s leading composite material manufacturers.

IDS are the UK’s largest distributor of decorative surfaces and, as a forward thinking business, want to increase links with education in this important area of the UK construction market. An exhibition area within the reception of the building will be utilised to showcase students’ work.

To enter, please see our dedicated website page, which includes the required online registration form (this should be filled in prior to submitting your designs) at http://www.nda.ac.uk/competitions/?id=129

The Brief

Client Profile

International Decorative Surfaces (IDS) have acquired a new building which will house their Head Office, along with a showroom and distribution centre. By their own admission, IDS are one of Stoke’s ‘best kept secrets’ despite being market leaders in their field and huge employers for the local area and nationally. 

This new building is in a prominent, highly visible location and provides the opportunity to really establish their brand in the local area and become a focal point. IDS contacted Staffordshire University as they wish to improve links with education and felt that, by opening their doors to students, they would also gain some fantastic ideas for the interior and exterior of this building.  There is scope within this head office building to allow schools, colleges and universities to utilise an exhibition area as an ongoing concern.

Staffordshire University run interior design degrees through their distance learning partner the National Design Academy, who are launching and overseeing this competition.

Students should consider the product base available to IDS, as the Head Office should showcase their innovative, sustainable and flexible products.  The building exterior is a good opportunity to raise Brand Awareness in the area. New technology, furniture and lighting etc are very welcome and a full colour pallet can be utilised in all areas. Budget does not need to be considered.

You may enter one or more of the following categories

The Space

• Building Exterior: An exciting opportunity to raise the profile of the brand in this prominent location, whilst possibly introducing product ranges. Lighting should be considered.

• Interior Work Areas 

• Interior Rest Areas

• Interior Kitchen Areas

• Interior Reception Area: There will be a glass staircase in situ.

General

• A full colour pallet may be utilised, it is not necessary to remain within the corporate colours

• Sustainability is at the heart of this business and their products, so designs and selected products chosen should reflect this

•  No structural alterations are required

Design Submission

Applicants will be required to submit the following;

·       Presentation boards for one or more of the following areas (according to how many categories you wish to enter)

1.       Building Exterior

2.       Interior Work Areas

3.       Interior Rest Areas

4.       Interior Kitchen Areas

5.       Interior Reception Area

·        Printed email confirmation of entry to include entrant contact details

What should the presentation boards contain?

• Content and layout of boards are at the designer’s discretion.

• Your boards may include: Rendered perspective visuals of the spaces which may either be produced in CAD or hand drawn, images of selected furniture, lighting, window treatments, samples of floor and wall coverings and suggested artwork and accessories.

• Boards should not be larger than A3.

• Each board must contain your name and email address.

·       Design submissions must be sent by Royal Mail Recorded Delivery or Courier Service before the deadline to:

IDS Competition

National Design Academy

Rufford Hall

Waterside Way

Nottingham

NG2 4DP

·         The deadline for receipt of submissions is midnight of 31^st August 2012.

Judges will be looking for:

• Creativity and Innovation

• Suitability of product selection

• Sustainability

• Presentation Skills

The Prize

The winning designer will receive;

• £1000 cash

• Extensive publicity and media coverage

• An invitation to join IDS at the 2012 100% Design show

• The opportunity to meet and be mentored by some of the UK’s leading decorative producers

• An invitation to the awards ceremony, hosted at the Potters Club, Stoke on Trent with a prominent designer/entrepreneur in attendance

• Exhibition of their submitted designs within the new head office building

2 Shortlisted designers will receive;

• £500 cash

• An invitation to the awards ceremony, hosted at the Potters Club Stoke on Trent with a prominent designer/entrepreneur in attendance

• The opportunity to meet and be mentored by some of the UK’s leading decorative producers

• Exhibition of their submitted designs within the new head office building

Judging Process

• The competition opens on 14th May 2012.

• All submissions must be received by post by midnight of 31^st August 2012.

• IDS will then shortlist 3 designers

• The guest judging panel will then select and announce the winner at the Awards Ceremony during October 2012.

The winner will be decided by a panel of judges consisting of;

John Bagshaw  - Managing Director of both International Decorative Surfaces and Ideal bathrooms both of which are companies in the Saint-Gobain building distribution group. John joined International Timber as a trainee in 1977 and rose through the ranks to become Managing Director in 1994.He was appointed Managing Director of International Decorative Surfaces (IDS) in 1999, which was created following the merger of Meyer Laminates and L Bloom Panel Products, and grew the business from £35 million p.a. to £106 million p.a. in 2011.  During this time, for a short period, he returned to International Timber and was also appointed Head of Tiles Group in July 2002 which incorporated World’s End Tiles, United Ceramic Tiles and Ceramic Tile Distributors.  In 2003 John was the first within the industry to set up strong business links with China and in 2010 repeated this in India   In 2009 John Bagshaw was instrumental in setting up Webstore, an online service allowing existing customers the flexibility and convenience of shopping with IDS 24/, another first for the industry. In 2009 he was appointed Managing Director of Ideal Bathrooms.

Anthony Rayworth – NDA Director of Studies. Anthony has 25 years experience in design and decorative arts management. He holds a Master of Design Degree from the Royal College of Art, London, is a Freeman of the Worshipful Company of Furniture Makers, an Affiliate Member of the British Institute of Interior Design, a Member of the European Academy of Design and an Approved Lecturer for the National Association of Decorative and Fine Arts Societies.

Terms and Conditions

Terms and Conditions

1. Who can enter?

• All students currently undertaking any interior design course or related course at any level.

2. Who may not enter?

• Interior designers with more than one year’s professional experience are not eligible.

• Employees of the National Design Academy, Staffordshire University, International Decorative Surfaces or anyone connected with this competition, including any third party promotional partners (or members of their immediate families) are not eligible.

• Residents of countries outside of the UK.

3. Personal Information

Personal data may be used by IDS, the National Design Academy and Staffordshire University and associated companies for promotion and publicity purposes. This data will not be shared with third parties. By entering this competition, applicants are granting their consent.

4. Originality

All entries submitted to this competition must be the original creation of the applicant.

5. Final Decision

The judge’s decision will be final and non-negotiable. We regret that formal individual feedback will not be provided to entrants; however, the NDA will confirm safe receipt of all entries. All hard copies of work cannot be returned; therefore we recommend that you take copies of your work before submission.

6. Intellectual Property

All entries will become the Intellectual Property of International Decorative Surfaces.

7. Other

• The IDS, the National Design Academy and Staffordshire University reserve the right to contact participants of the competition.

• Prizes may not be substituted or exchanged by the winner. IDS reserves the right to substitute a prize of equal or greater value if a featured prize is unavailable.

Grand Designs Live 2012

Out of all the shows I’ve visited recently, Grand Designs Live stands out as one of the best. Unlike other trade shows that focus on one area of the industry, Grand Designs pulls all of them together in one place. Aside from the trade stands, large areas where also dedicated sharing information and helping people to tackle their Grand Design dreams.

The strongest theme running throughout the show and reflected in many of the trade products was sustainability and it was refreshing to see that the show organisers were being sincere about its importance.  Whole areas were dedicated to sustainable materials, with experts on hand to discuss them and give talks on their practical applications.  Another large area was dedicated to up and coming innovative products that use recycled materials and have little or no impact on the environment. On top of all this, most vendors were proudly demonstrating the ‘Eco’ properties of their products and services. I found it to be an interesting place to be where I could learn anything about sustainable buildings, materials and practices.

Room in a room

If you have a large garden and already have your house how you like it then the next stage it seems is to put a pod in your yard that can be used as a second living room, guest house, office, play den or gym.

They generally come in two types: Pre-fab pod or larger more bespoke lodge. Here are some that stood out.

Starting at the luxurious end we have the i-hut, which isn’t much to look at from the outside, but once inside its pitch as an orginal and creative answer to second home ownership becomes clear. Think of it as a modern home in the shape of a caravan but made of wood. Because it is caravan sized it can be located on land that has planning permission for one, so your  site options are massive.





The other luxury shed I came across was the ecoPerch by Blue Forest who specialise in building grandiose bespoke tree houses and eco lodges. The ecoPerch is their attempt to create a pre-fab lodge that can be installed in five days, and again is suitable for caravan sites. It has a more aesthetically pleasing external look than the i-hut, but it dosen’t make as much economical use of the internal space.





If something a little smaller and less home like is what you seek, then the Armadilla may be more suitable, certainly if you plan to create a useful extra space in your garden.





For something all together a little more odd looking, the more eccentric of you might get more pleasure from the Let’s Live Our Lives (LOL) Pod. It looks like a toadstool.




Another interestingly shaped garden pod is the more honestly named Tetra Shed. Whilst on its own it resembles a bizarre geometric shape, inside it is designed to be the perfect outdoor office. It’s modular too, so you can link up to five of them together if you need more space.




For a regular shaped, well insulated and bespoke garden office or lodge I found Vividgreen were the people to talk to.




Outdoor living

This years Grand Designs Live put a lot of emphasis on garden design. Not only was the garden section huge, but it also offered free expert advice about any garden design ideas or projects you might have floating around your head. Below are some of the inspiring new products that could help transform any outdoor space.

If you are interested in learning about garden design as a career yourself or as an extra string to your interior design bow, then check out NDA's new Diploma in Professional Garden Design. NDA also run a BA (Hons) degree course on Design for Outdoor Living.

Garden Haven Lounger – mygind design

Scandinavian design company mygind design have pulled out all the stops to bring this luxury lounger to life. Made from solid mahogany wood, hand woven in all-weather resin wicker and custom upholstered with plush cushions and pillows, these wouldn’t look out of place in a heritage setting. The lounger also folds up and becomes completely weather proof. Available as a single, double or triple seat model.




The Cole Henley Table Barbecue

This outdoor dining table and barbecue combination lets everyone cook their food how they like it, whilst all sitting together. Its well designed and insulated so only the grill gets hot. Hand built in the UK, it is available as a four, six or eight seater.





Rustic Designs Limited

It does exactly what it says on the tin, if indeed you could buy bespoke rustic garden furniture in tins.






Kingsley Smythe

Specialists in luxury teak furniture, their new chunky log table and chair set caught my eye.





Jusi Colour

Voted as one of the “Must have products” in the Grand Design Magazine, and if you are looking to add some bright LED colour (at night at least) into a garden design, then these products are the best around at the moment. They make a full range of items, including arm chairs, planters, wine coolers and cubes.






Qui est Paul?

For plasticated garden furniture that has a certain “ju ne se pai?” look no further than Que est Paul? They do a large range of extremely well designed garden furniture and accessories that will add panache to any outdoor living set up.





Personalised benches – Cut by Fire

Greetings cards are so passé, be cool and say it with a bench instead.





Designs for life

Walking down Designer Alley led me to an abundance of superbly designed furniture and homewares, more so than I’d come across at any other show.



Retrodelic Designs

As they put it themselves: “Contemporary furniture with a retro twist”, and what a twist is is!





H & B

Fresh out of university, these two spritely furniture designers have already been making some waves with their designs. The funky looking Butterfly chair (pictured) has been commissioned and will soon be available; watch this space for details!

The pair also specialise in using boiled leather to create furniture pieces, check out the chest of drawers and stool.







Invisible city design studio – Incunabular collection

Based on the dimensions and ratios used for the international paper standard; think A3, A4, A5,  the new incunabular collection offers something a bit different. The pleasing geometrics are enhanced with delicate tones of colour and also offer very practical storage. I love the side table with it’s off centre legs.






Dare Studio

Some other off centre legs that caught my attention were on the Katakana Writing Desk by Dare Studio. Mmm sleek modernist  lines.

Sticks and Stone – Unique solid wood and stone wine racks, tables and benches

If you or your clients enjoy wine, then having a beautiful place to store and display your collection, no matter how large or small, is a very important consideration. Sticks and Stone turn reclaimed pieces of wood and stone into gorgeous shoe piece items that do more than just store wine.





Shane Holland Design Workshops

Shane Holland Design Workshops make all sorts of items out of metal, wood and other bits and bobs, including commercial and home furniture, stairs, sculptures and lights. But it was their lights that drew me to their stand.







Nic Parnell

Reclaimed materials furniture designer Nic Parnell mas been making these fantastic lamps for a while now on an a small adhoc basis, but they have now gone commercial so you can start specifying them for your clients, which is great news.

Nic also makes and reconditions other pieces of furniture, so if you are looking for something very unique, colourful and reused check out what else he has to offer. Nic’s got lots of new ideas in the pipeline so stay tuned for more news on his stuff as it happens.

NDA student Sacha Petrie who designed a Dulux room set for Grand Designs live used one of Nic's lamps in her design, watch the interview here!




So there you have it, Grand Designs Live is the show to go to if you are looking for some creatively led inspiration. There really is something for everyone and lots of it. I only really scratched the surface with this report, there were whole areas I didn’t have time to explore, I could happily spent another day or two.

Grand Designs Live: Interview with Sacha Petrie

Interior Designer and National Design Academy student, Sachá Petrie, was chosen to create one of the Dulux room sets at this year's Grand Designs Live.  Showcasing four key trends for 2012, each room set has its own brief and designer.

Living Scrapbook is the title of Sachá's brief and the idea was to recreate the way we use social media such as Facebook, Myspace, Pintrest and Flickr into the physical world and into a personal space that allows people to showcase 'who I am' and 'what I'm doing'.

In this video Sachá talks about the elements of her room set and how her path to become a professional Interior Designer unfolded.