Plumbing Africa November 2016 | Page 11

EVENTS AND EXHIBITIONS 9 Cobra Design Awards: ideas for amazing public spaces The hip and happening Tin Factory was the location of this year’s Cobra product design competition awards, and provided the setting for interior designers and members of the plumbing industry to rub shoulders. Plumbing Africa was there. 2 All photographs by Shawn Driman 1 Student designer Marcha Naudé and professional designer Dumisani Tshabalala were announced the winners of the 2016 Cobra Product Design Competition. Their creative public bathroom designs won them a trip to the Salone del Mobile Milano Trade Fair in Italy, valued at R50 000. George Gibbens was the runner-up in the student category, while the design of Roxanne Ilbury and Ingrid Jones was placed second in the professional category. The University of Johannesburg was judged ‘Most promising institute’. It was the first time in the four-year history of the competition that public restrooms took centre stage. The entrants had to incorporate aspects like energy and water savings, hygiene, anti-vandalism, product integration, and ease of installation into their designs. The judges comprised the product designer at Barrows Design and Manufacturing, Murray Sharp; the director at Greg Wright Architects and site interior design, Greg Scott; the category director at Grohe Dawn Watertech, Ronelle Badenhorst; the editor of SA Décor & Design, Marcia Margolius; and the co-owner of Anatomy Design, Megan Hesse. www.plumbingafrica.co.za 1. 2. Marcha Naudé’s design won the category Cobra PDC student winner. The Cobra PDC professional winners are, from left: Ronelle Badenhorst (category director at Grohe Dawn Watertech), Dumisani Tshabalala (winner in the professional category), Megan Hesse (co-owner of Anatomy Design), Murray Sharp (product designer at Barrows Design and Manufacturing), and Brett Solomon (products and services executive director at Grohe Dawn Watertech). The entrants had to incorporate aspects like energy and water savings, hygiene, anti-vandalism, product integration, and ease of installation into their designs. Continued on page 10>> November 2016 Volume 22 I Number 9