What makes Good Design?

It’s all too easy to forget that design as a discipline encompasses more than architecture and furniture. A quick look at the complete list of Best in Class winners from the 60th Annual Good Design Awards can attest to that.

But as architecture, interior design and furniture speaks to our core, we wanted to shine some light on all the other winners of these categories from the 2018 Good Design Awards.

The path to receiving a Good Design tick is no easy feat. Each category has a dedicated jury, for furniture that included Indesign’s publisher Raj Nandan, along with Terri Winter of Top 3 Design and Cathy Veninga of The Design Institute of New Zealand.

When commenting on the judging process, Raj says, “the calibre of products continues to impress and this year we saw plenty of innovation.

“Commercial furniture was a particular stand out, from Ross Gardam’s Adapt range for Stylecraft, and Navi by Steelcase, to the stunning SIA Chair by Tom Fereday for Cult’s brand NAU and the Cabin Lounges by DesignByThem. There is a new age of versatility in office furniture coming through.”

See the designs that collectively create a picture of what makes good design below:

Furniture & Lighting

The Cabin Lounges, designed by GibsonKarlo for DesignByThem

The collection of armchairs, lounges, ottomans and booths utilises upholstered ‘logs’ to create playful and personable pieces for the home or office.

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The Cloudie Table, designed by Norvanivel and Avron Levin

The Cloudie Table is the result of extensive school classroom observations and design work.

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Adapt Collection, designed by Ross Gardam

Flexible, inviting and productive, the Adapt Collection is designed to evolve with the dynamic needs of today’s workspace.

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FAB 25 Table Lamp by ISM Objects

Fab 25 Table Lamp is a totally re-imagined version of the company’s very first light ‘Fab Lamp’ that was developed and released in 1991.

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Navi TeamIsland Tables and Series 1 Chair by Steelcase

Having not one but two products awarded, the TeamIsland is a modular desking system with a more compact footprint, while the Series 1 Chair is a high-quality, performance chair.

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ThinkingWorks by ThinkingQuietly

ThinkingQuietly’s range of acoustic furniture offers a peaceful respite from today’s growing office noise. Available through Stylecraft.

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Zaza sofa, designed by Charles Wilson for King Living

Zaza’s design features adjustable arms and backs that allow you to personalise your comfort.

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Gallery Chair, designed by Chris Connell for Schiavello

The NGV gallery chair was designed as a high performance and lightweight conference chair that embodies the design elements of the Great Hall in the NGV.

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Sia Chair, designed by Tom Fereday for NAU Design

The SIA chair is a slender and unique dining chair developed with an articulating backrest, which was inspired by traditional bearings.

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Botanical Planter, designed by Helen Kontouris for LEN

The Botanical Planter Screen is a response to the human need to connect with nature. Intertwined with active climbing plants, these double-sided, self-watering mobile planter screens can be used indoors and out.

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Mito Sospeso, designed by Axel Meise for Occhio

The Mito Sospeso seeks to advance the capabilities of LED lighting in both commercial and residential settings, utilising state-of-the-art technology.

 

Architecture & Interiors

Russell McVeagh offices, designed by Warren & Mahoney

The Russell McVeagh office is an agile workspace, and of a discerning design quality intent on attracting and retaining the brightest legal minds in New Zealand.

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Woods Bagot Perth studio, designed by Woods Bagot

The new studio provides freedom of movement and choice with an eclectic mix of hip hop aesthetics in a nod to its original function.

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The Globe, designed by m3architecture in collaboration with Brian Hooper Architect

The Barcaldine Tourism Precinct master plan includes the renewal of the historically and politically significant Tree of Knowledge, and renovation of the Globe Hotel into a tourist information centre.

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Nightingale 1, designed by Breathe Architecture

Homes built for people, not profit. Nightingale 1 is the inaugural project of the Nightingale Model – a replicable, triple bottom line housing model with an overarching priority towards social, economic and environmental sustainability.

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Campbell Street, designed by DKO Architecture + SLAB

Campbell Street is a study in pushing multi residential architecture and vertical living to the limits. Two dwellings side by side, identical in dimension but not layout.

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Living Screen House, designed by CplusC Architecture

A single-family residence on a narrow site, Living Screen House is a stunning home built for entertaining, featuring a unique lap-pool.

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PwC Sydney by Futurespace

We live in a fast moving, high-tech, uncertain, disrupted world – this ‘boardroom of the future’ helps businesses navigate the ‘new normal’.

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The Cutting Edge Pharmacy, designed by Tetsuya Matsumoto, Matsuya Art Works and KTX archiLAB

This new building was designed to promote a high-tech image in accordance with advanced medical technology.

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Reflection Memorial Martin Place, designed by JPW Architect, Cube Industrial Design and Jess Dare Artist

The memorial concept creates a subtly reflective and symbolic memory of the floral tribute following the 2014 Martin Place siege.

Read all the stories in the archive for the 2018 Good Design Awards.

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