Spring 2021 Compusoft Design Competition

For the Spring 2021 quarterly Compusoft design competition, in partnership with kbbreview and KBB Magazine, entrants were tasked with creating a design either for a professional-inspired kitchen for keen cooks or for a bathroom space in which to relax and unwind from the stresses of the day.

The judging panel included kbbreview managing editor, Andrew Davies, kbbreview editor, Rebecca Nottingham, KBB editor, Lindsay Blair, and Compusoft managing director, Alex Ainge.

The competition brief for Winner Design entries called for smart, stylish aesthetics and practicality. “We want any keen home cook to walk into that kitchen and have everything they need exactly where it needs to be. This is a kitchen for those clients who love to chop, mix, bake and baste and they need a design built around them.”

For Innoplus entries, the judges were looking for bathrooms that would always function as a sanctuary, with a great layout and choice of products. “But above all, we’re looking for how the whole space comes together to create an atmosphere of calmness and serenity.”

Entries closed on Friday 26th March 2021, and like the first competition, we received beautifully designed and thoughtful entries. Our panel settled on a kitchen design from Anna Ozga at Prestons Kitchens in Leeds, and a bathroom design by Danny Rozema at Middelkoop Culemborg in Holland. Here, we catch up with the winners.

Kitchen Design Winner – Anna Ozga, Prestons Kitchens, UK

“Featuring every element that a budding Masterchef needs,” according to the judging panel, this design was chosen for its thoughtful layout and its attention to detail. “It was a design that really captures the essence of the brief.”

Anna Ozga explains: “The kitchen I designed was to be a combination of cooking, dining and living zones all in one open-plan space. It is going to be the heart of the house. A place where people gather and spend most of their time; somewhere they not only cook and eat but also work, watch TV, read the newspaper, help kids with their homework, hang out with friends and sip a glass of wine after a long day.”

When it comes to her design process, Ozga says the most important thing is to get to know the client well and ask them the right questions. “You should ask deeper questions that get to the root of why they are renovating. These make all the difference,” she explains. “These might be: “If money were no object, what would your new kitchen include?” “Besides cooking, what other daily activities do you like to do in the kitchen?” “Do you like to entertain?” “What does the rest of your home look like?” Every customer is different, everyone expects something different. Each client must be approached individually. It was a pleasure for me to design such a fantastically large space, as it had so much scope for being multi-functional.”

Offering some tips on how designers might create the perfect kitchen for keen cooks, Ozga goes on. “Step one should always be to understand how the kitchen is going to be used. This is a basic approach that any designer must take. A kitchen can’t be just a leftover space, or a space to be defined at the end of a project. Designers must understand that a kitchen has various flows and different work areas that need to be integrated throughout the entire project. Beyond the style or design requested by the client, it’s essential to be aware of the budget. I would never start a kitchen design without knowing what the client wants to spend. With so many options available today it would be tricky to design a project and hope that it miraculously meets the figure the client has in mind. I know that money is always a difficult thing to discuss with prospects or clients, but it is important to consider finances at the beginning to ensure that you provide the best possible solutions.”

Bathroom Design Winner – Danny Rozema, Middelcoop Culemborg, Netherlands

Our judging panel felt that this design really stood out as a space perfect for a spot of relaxation. “Not only does the colour palette create a tranquil calm space,” kbbreview editor Rebecca Nottingham said, “but the layout and choice of products really come together to create the atmosphere of calmness and serenity we were looking for in this category.”

The bathroom features basins and a bath by Villeroy & Boch, custom-built furniture by a Dutch brand, tiles by Pete Bone tiles and taps and controls by Hansgrohe.

Danny Rozema explained a bit more about the winning brief. “We have lots of inspiration here in the showroom, with about 45 complete bathroom displays. However, this customer was a little different in that he had very specific ideas about what he wanted. He gave us lots of detail about his property and presented us with a sketch showing what he wanted.

“This customer liked the Corten or Industrial style with exposed pipework, metallic finishes. He liked that coppery colour and we had tiles in that colour in the showroom but the combination with the green and teal blue was a bit different. He also wanted specific light switches, and it was his idea to add the small detail of the LED strip between the bath and shower.

“The original bathroom space was a metre and a half smaller than it is now, but the client specified that he wanted both a bath and a shower and told us we could build out into the bedroom and take some of the closet space there to make the bathroom bigger.”

Elaborating on his design process, Rozema added: “We took a lot of time getting this initial design right and the planning so that we could incorporate everything without eating into too much additional square footage.

“We usually have a rough plan with all the technical and structural elements in place. We will then go into the showroom to find the products that will flesh out the design in Innoplus. We will go through all this with the customer. In this case, because the client had some ideas, we worked with him and came up with the colour combination, which took about 15 minutes. We also tried to match elements the customer had specified with other bathroom elements – so, for example, we matched the glass light switches he had chosen with complementary controls from Hansgrohe for the shower.”

Finally, offering some tips and advice for designers looking to create a sumptuous bathroom for relaxing, Rozema believes the key is in the preparation.

He comments: “For customers who want something very specific, you have to make sure you come up with something and impress them in a very short time. This customer was a great example of someone who wanted something but didn’t want to wait around for ages for a drawing. So, be prepared. Make sure you have the design completed, or somewhere near completed, or with elements you can simply drag and drop in to bring the design together quickly for the customer. If you’re prepared in this way you can then focus on the small details that perfect and finish the room.”

Compusoft managing director Alex Ainge commented: “Once again, the standard of entries for our design competition were great, but the two winning entries really stood out for their attention to detail, and they each more than fit the brief.”