The Qb Awards for South African Interior Design showcase the very best of South African design in all its varied facets, from corporate and office interiors to retail interiors and showrooms, restaurants and food outlets, hospitality venues, entertainment venues, domestic interiors and public spaces like airport lounges, shopping malls and convention centres.

Designers in these sectors are invited to send in their entries for the 2006 Qbs (or “Cubes” as they are affectionately known). Entrants for the Qbs will be in good company as past winners include Antoni Associates, Boogertman and Partners, The Design Partnership, One Point Zero, DSGN, OMM Design and Roger Martin Architects and Interior Design.

Launched in 2003, these prestigious awards are gearing up for their third year. “Our aim is to celebrate the talent and diversity within our industry,” says awards founder Rebecca Staniforth. “The awards are the only ones of their kind in South Africa, and we want to ensure that innovation, quality and overall design excellence is recognized.”

This year several new and exciting categories have been added to the list. These include Lighting: Creative Lighting Design for Interior and Exterior Architecture and a student category.

The Qbs afford interior designers and architects from all over South Africa the opportunity to enter their best designs of the previous 18 months. Judged by an independent panel of industry experts and overseen by an independent auditor to ensure impartiality, the Qbs have piqued the interest of South Africa’s top designers. The judging process will be overseen by Professor Des Laubscher of the Greenside Design Center.

“This year we are being even stricter with the judging in order to ensure the impartiality of the process. Works presented for evaluation are judged without the jurors knowing the identity of the authors. The difference this year is that the voting will be done electronically. No judge who may have had a vested interest in any work presented for evaluation for the award is allowed to influence decisions of the panel of judges,” says Staniforth.

Designers are invited to enter the various categories for which individual accolades will be awarded. All the designs entered become eligible for the most coveted of the awards, the Overall Award for Design Excellence. In 2004 this was awarded to The Design Partnership.

The awards attract a host of industry sponsors, including Plascon, CN Business Furniture, Woolworths, Plexiglass, Saflok SA, Legacy Furniture, Ferreiras Décor World, Nexus, Philips, Aluglass and BPB Gypsum. The high profile of the Qbs gives them an excellent branding opportunity. A Lifetime Achievement Award, sponsored by Franke Kitchen Systems, will be presented to a designer who has made a significant difference to the industry and maintained a high standard of work throughout their career. This year the awards will be followed by a glittering function, themed The Ice Palace Winter Ball. Well-known South African personality Barry Ronge is the host for the evening.

The Call to Entry, as well as ticket sales, are now open for this year’s event which will be held on 10 August 2006 in alliance with Decorex Jhb at Gallagher Estate, Midrand. The entries close strictly at 12 noon on 30 June 2006.

Continues Staniforth: “We continue to be committed to raising the profile of the Qb Awards brand, and in so doing, the status of South African design. It is our mission to demonstrate that while South African design is unique to our country, it also ranks with the best in the world.”

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