Celebrating local design and joiners

The Nelson Pine Industries Joinery and Design Awards (JADA) were held at the Granary at Founders Park on March 22. The region has many highly talented and skilled joiners and the annual event is an important opportunity to celebrate some of their finest work.

Words: Adrienne Matthews

First held in 2015, JADA was the brainchild of the secretary at the time, Philip Thompson. “There were awards for architecture and building but no real acknowledgment of joinery, which is such a vital part of construction projects,” says Philip. “I gathered a group of enthusiastic people together and we worked to establish what has become an annual celebration of the incredible work produced in this region.”

Any designer, joiner or joinery business is able to enter, and this year there were 186 entries representing 54 individual joinery projects, a far cry from the 14 entries the award’s first year attracted.

There are 16 categories and the five judges from the architectural and interior design worlds have the substantial task of choosing the winners in each. The level of workmanship, use of materials, complexity of the project and visual appeal are all taken into consideration for each entry, a challenging task when there is such a high level of excellence being produced.

“This year’s entries indicated that many projects demonstrated a frugal outlook to design with optimisation made of the materials used, innovative use of locally supplied materials and a clever local manufacture,” says Philip. “The finished projects were such a high standard they could sit comfortably in homes anywhere in New Zealand. There was careful consideration of cost implications in the core design process and it was exciting to see new talent clearly on show in the Best Apprentice and Best Emerging Designer categories.”

The Best Apprentice was Ricky Fry of Bays Joinery. “Ricky came to us as a mature person and has been with us for three years,” says owner George Molnar. “He’s doing a fantastic job and we were thrilled at his success. Training apprentices is an important part of our industry to ensure there will be skilled craftspeople in the future.”

Amongst their five awards, Bays Joinery also scooped the Myles Sellers Supreme Award, named after the late Myles Sellers of The Seller’s Room. “This was the second time we have won the Supreme Award, and it is a special one for me personally,” says George. “Myles and I were fierce competitors for over 20 years, but we were also friends.”

Cooper Webley received four awards. “The JADA Awards are very important to us,” says certified kitchen designer Craig Hooper. “They reaffirm to us what we try to deliver to our clients and although we’ve been successful over many years, it is good to have the quality of our work recognised by our peers.”

Owners of The Custom Space, Meg and Jack Wells, were delighted with their Manufacturer’s Craftsmanship Award for a detailed staircase with hidden drawers. “All of our 22 team members worked on the project at varying stages of the design and install,” says Meg. Courtney Bailey’s talent with a diverse range of kitchen designs also gifted the company the Emerging Designer Award.

“It takes great skill and thought to make a design stand out while keeping to a tight budget,” says ITM Joinery Manager Paul Rusbatch.” Having recognition of a well-designed kitchen for well under 30k is a fantastic effort by our design team and shows that you don’t need a second mortgage to have an award-winning design. Our award for sustainability reminds us how important it is becoming to build in sustainable ways and it recognises a joinery team who can still ‘craft joinery’ from solid timber.”

“Our win for the Best Commercial Fitout for Advanced Dental is a celebration of the co-operative way we work with local design professionals in our commercial and residential joinery projects,” says Margarette Sellers from The Seller’s Room. “I am so proud of the consistently high standard our team achieves.”

MAKE Furniture’s Libby and Will Slack won the Creative Small Spaces Award for their joinery work on a tiny home. “Receiving the Best Small Space Award is a testament to our innovative design and efficient use of space, showcasing our dedication to creativity and functionality,” says Libby. “This recognition validates our commitment to crafting environments that excel in both form and function, maximising the living space and how you use it.”

This year’s JADA Award's were certainly a success. “It is very clear that the region remains at the top of its game in the joinery and design sector, producing high quality design and workmanship that could compete with the best anywhere,” says Philip.

2024 Joinery and Design Award winners

Best Visual Impact Ward/Best Colour
Winner: Cooper Webley

Best Use of Lighting
Winner: Cooper Webley

Best Creative Small Space project
Winner: MAKE Furniture

Best Door or Window
Winner: Orange Joinery

Best Benchtop award
Winner: Granite Design Works

Customer Journey Award
Winner: Cooper Webley

Sustainability Award
Winner: ITM Joinery

Best Kitchen Design
Winner: Bays Joinery

Best Kitchen
Winner: Bays Joinery

Best Kitchen – under 30K
Winner: ITM Joinery

The Centre for fine Woodworking award -
Best Apprentice
Winner: Ricky Fry, Bays Joinery

Manufacturer’s Craftmanship award
Winner: The Custom Space

Best Kitchen – under 30K
Winner: ITM Joinery

Best Kitchen 30-70K
Winner: Cooper Webley

Best Commercial project
Winner: The Seller’s Room

Emerging Designer
Winner: Courtney Bailey, The Custom Space

Designer of year
Winner: George Molnar, Bays Joinery

Myles Sellers Supreme Award
Winner: Bays Joinery