COBRA AN
PRODUCT DESIGN COM
Student designer Marcha Naudé and professional designer Dumisani
Tshabalala are the winners of the 2016 Cobra Product Design
Competition (PDC). Their creative public restroom designs win them a
trip to the Salone Milano Trade Fair, in Italy, valued at R50 000.
G
eorge Gibbens was the runner-up in the student category and the
work 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 PDC that public
restrooms took centre stage. The entrants had to incorporate aspects
like energy and water saving, hygiene, vandalism, product integration
and ease of installation into their designs.
The judges were Murray Sharp (Product Designer at Barrows Design and
Manufacturing), Greg Scott (Director, Greg Wright Architects and Site Interior Design),
Ronelle Badenhorst (Category Director, Grohe Dawn Watertech), Marcia Margolius
(Editor, SA Décor & Design) and Megan Hesse (Co-owner, Anatomy Design).
Badenhorst said the judges commended all the entrants for the great innovation they
showed in designing within minimal space and for the brilliant mix of materials and
finishes used. “It was incredible to see the consideration which went into rethinking the
functionality and use of a public restroom. The designs were all of a very high standard.”
Sharp said Naudé presented the judges with a beautiful, timeless and simple copper
shower design while Tshabalala’s urinal design, which required a lot of research, was
very well executed and presented. “The runner-up designs were also very impressive.
Gibbens designed a hands-free tap with a smart mirror which we thought perfectly
summed up what a public restroom experience should be – easy, quick and hands-free.
The grey water system designed by Roxanne Ilbury and Ingrid Jones impressed us with
its beautiful minimal yet trendy design.”
The Salone Milano Trade Fair is one of the world’s best design trade fairs. “There will
be great networking opportunities for our winners and, of course, they’re going to see,
first-hand, the standard of work being produced on the international stage,” Badenhorst
concludes. The runners-up and the University of Johannesburg each won R10 000.
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