Nat Cheshire talks about the design of the beautiful 'Parison' pendant

We've just made this short web film featuring Nat Cheshire and Emily Priest of Cheshire Architects talking about the design of the gorgeous 'Parison' pendant for Resident, the winner of our furniture and lighting Design Awards 2014. In it, they talk about the design process, the joys of being a designer in New Zealand, and Cheshire Architects' ambitions to "redesign entire cities" and "build whole worlds".  

A big thank you to our Design Awards sponsors, Fisher & Paykel, for their support of great New Zealand design. And congratulations again to Nat and the Cheshire Architects team!

Presenting NZ's best new furniture in our annual Design Awards (with our new partners Fisher & Paykel).

Every year we're delighted to showcase New Zealand's best new furniture and lighting in our annual Design Awards - and this year, we're delighted to present the finalists and winner to you in conjunction with our new Design Awards partners, Fisher & Paykel. 

First, meet the designers in our competition (who you can also see in this issue of the magazine). They are (from left) Nat Cheshire of Cheshire Architects; Nathan Goldsworthy of Goldsworthy; Tim Webber of Tim Webber Design; Simon James of Resident; Nigel Groom and Emma Fox-Derwin of Well-Groomed Fox; and Timothy John of Timothy John Design. They were photographed by Toaki Okano at Auckland's White Studios on May 7.

And now to the objects in our competition. The winner of the 2014 Design Awards is Cheshire Architects for the 'Parison' pendant for Resident (below), an elegant mix of the hand-made and the digital (it's made when a bubble of layered molten glass is mouth-blown into a computer-cut mould of water-soaked cherrywood). The pendant has already debuted at the Milan furniture fair as part of the Resident collection, and we're delighted to feature it here. 

And here are our other finalists, in no particular order: first, the 'Pi' table (below) by Paris-based designer Roderick Fry, an ingeniously simple trestle leg system that flat-packs for shipping but holds a range of table tops with perfect stability. 

Nathan Goldsworthy's beautiful 'Ballet' chairs and 'Ballerina' tables (below) were produced as part of a collaboration with Backhouse Interiors and Designworks. The chairs and table are crafted from laminated ash, and the chairs are upholstered in wool. 

Emma Fox-Derwin and Nigel Groom of Wellington's Well-Groomed Fox created the handsome 'Notch' pendant lights (below), which have a raw, matte depth thanks to their colour being part of the ceramic rather than a glaze applied later.

Designer Timothy John created the 'Handmade' range (below) - which includes the 'Bowler' light, 'Splay' table and 'Nordic' chair - for Paper Plane, the design store he co-owns in Mount Maunganui. All the designs are hand-crafted by Nigel Cotterill. The chair and light are made from solid American ash, and the table is available in ash or laminate versions.

Auckland-based Tim Webber created the 'Duffle' ottoman, a sturdy piece of furniture that references the classic bag. It's upholstered in wool with a simple rope drawstring. 

Last but certainly not least is Simon James' 'Pick Up Sticks' chair for Resident, with a solid oak frame and detachable, wool-upholstered component, allowing retailers to stock the frames and the wool seats to be made to order. 

A huge thank you from us to all the designers who entered, and congratulations to the team at Cheshire Architects and the other finalists. We're also delighted at the support Fisher & Paykel are giving to New Zealand design by supporting our awards programme. 

Our shoot was photographed by Toaki Okano, and styled by Kendyl Middelbeek and Samantha Totty. You can read more details about the entrants in our special winter issue of the magazine.
 

Our new issue has winter goodness aplenty

Our winter issue is on newsstands RIGHT NOW and we're quite excited about all that it contains. First, here's the cover: a photograph by Simon Devitt of an amazing small home by Pattersons on the northern end of Banks Peninsula. Beautiful!

Here's a photograph by Simon Devitt of the home itself (below) in its spectacular setting:

Also in this issue, we visit a couple of remarkable New Zealand expats. Music manager Debbi Gibbs lives in Manhattan, but spends weekends on the New Jersey lakeside in this prefabricated home by Resolution: 4 Architecture (the home was mostly built in a factory and trucked to the site in four pieces). The photograph below, featuring Debbi and her son Blake, is by Emily Andrews.

Emily Andrews also visited London for this issue, where she photographed the flat of Christchurch-born interior designer Christopher Hall (below) who divides his time between the English capital and his homes in Istanbul (where he also designs furniture, including all the pieces in this photo) and Riyadh, where has has some major interior design commissions under way. He's a fascinating and very successful designer, and we're delighted to feature him in this issue.

Also in this issue! A delightful home (below) by Michael O'Sullivan (who also designed our 2011 Home of the Year on Kare Kare Beach) on Waiheke Island - it's warm, woody and economical, and well worth a closer look. The photo is by Simon Devitt.

And in Christchurch, we visit a vintage delight, a wonderful 1968 home (below) by Warren & Mahoney that is now owned (and adored) by Matthew Arnold of the design firm Sons & Co and his wife Kate. It was photographed by Samuel Hartnett. 

And let's not forget that this is our annual Design Awards issue, featuring the work of New Zealand's best furniture designers (brought to you this year by our new awards partner, Fisher & Paykel). Here's a group shot of them by Toaki Okano (below), and you can check out their fantastic work in the mag.

Our Design Awards finalists are (from left): Nat Cheshire of Cheshire Architects, Nathan Goldsworthy, Tim Webber, Simon James, Nigel Groom and Emma Fox-Derwin of Wellington's Well-Groomed Fox, and Timothy John. Look out for more of their designs in the magazine and in a subsequent post. In the meantime, enjoy our new issue!