Above: Mim Fanning, Paul Bridgeford, Emma Mahlook and Morgan Bridgeford.

On Thursday 11 June, the winners of the inaugural Australian Sub-Zero and Wolf Kitchen Design Competition 2014 were announced in Melbourne to members of the architecture and design community. The location of this special event was the new Sub-Zero and Wolf showroom in Bank Place in the heart of the CBD. This is the first dedicated Sub-Zero and Wolf showroom in Australia and the interior, courtesy of Mim Design, has captured the style of the iconic products to perfection. The area covers 500 square metres and includes a product and kitchen area with displays of more than 50 products available in Australia.

On arrival, guests were offered drinks and nibbles and the opportunity to explore the showroom while enjoying the cool jazz from a live trio of musicians. David Clark was the master of ceremonies for the evening’s presentation and introduced the managing director of Multyflex, Paul Bridgeford, who spoke about the Sub-Zero and Wolf products and his family-owned business, which is the sole distributor of the iconic products throughout Australia.

Then it was to the business of the evening and the announcement of the winners of the Kitchen Design Competition. This is the first time that Australia has been included in a competition that has been on the US event calendar for some 20 years. The awards honour those architects and kitchen designers who create outstanding kitchens with Sub-Zero and Wolf products at the heart of their design. Held every two years, the competition comprises two categories: Best Contemporary Australian Kitchen and Best Traditional Australian Kitchen, with prizes of cash and promotional opportunities. From these two winners, one is chosen to represent Australia at the winners’ summit and gala in the US.

The award for Best Contemporary Australian Kitchen was presented to Virginia Kerridge from Virginia Kerridge Architect in Sydney and the winner of the Best Traditional Australian Kitchen was named as John Horvath from Degabriele Kitchens. Kerridge also received the major accolade as Asia/Pacific Regional Winner and will fly to Arizona later in the year to represent Australia.

She reflected on the awards saying, “It is great to be recognised in kitchen design. I love designing kitchens and I really love the Sub-Zero and Wolf products, as they are the best on the market. It is an honour to be able to incorporate such wonderful products into my design.”

Kerridge also commented on her winning kitchen design, “The Lilyfield project was a long narrow space which was a bonus. There was an eight-metre long bench, which is unusual, and we used recycled iron bark in the multipurpose kitchen that becomes a casual dining area and is used all the time. Sub-Zero and Wolf products were a perfect fit for the space and design.”

For John Horvath, the Best Traditional Australian Kitchen award “meant more than I could have imagined. I have been designing kitchens for 30 years and love what I do. I hand draw all my designs and working with beautiful Sub-Zero and Wolf products makes it easy. The award means more to me than I ever thought it could”.

Horvath elaborated on his winning design saying, “The kitchen is spread out and shows that you can design a kitchen in all spaces. The design is a combination of simplicity, quality joinery and the best products – Sub-Zero and Wolf.”