Top NZ kitchen and bathroom design winner

November 9, 2005

Top NZ kitchen and bathroom design winner off to international awards in the UK

New Zealand’s No.1 kitchen and bathroom designer Morgan Cronin of Auckland is off to the UK in January to compete in the international awards in Birmingham.

Cronin qualified after being winning the top kitchen design award and the top bathroom design award at the National Kitchen and Bathroom Association’s annual awards.

Cronin, who set up his own design company in 1989, is lining up alongside the best designers in the world entered in the international kitchen and bathroom awards to be announced on January 23.

``I am just rapt at winning the National Kitchen and Bathroom Association awards so getting a trip to London and competing against the best from around the globe will be awesome.

``This will give my clients more confidence in my abilities and ideas. This is good for profile but we’ll see what happens on January 23,’’ Cronin said today.

His achievements at the New Zealand NKBA awards were not his first taste of success.

He won the Home Ideas regional award for the best new kitchen in 2001 in his first ever competition entry.

Two years ago he won the Home Ideas’ best new kitchen, and was runner up in the best kitchen in a renovated home and he also won the national supreme award.

This year the judges said his Coromandel kitchen was the best in New Zealand because it was complex in its function yet simple in its aesthetics. ``The discreet placement of appliances worked very well and the lighting accented were a strong feature,’’ they said. Cronin also won the bathroom design of the year. Either award was enough to earn him a free trip to Birmingham. Cronin said he has a passion for design. His kitchens range from $25,000 to $65,000 plus appliances.

``Ever job is a challenge and it’s great to see a client’s excitement when it all comes together.

``The kitchen and bathroom industry is huge in New Zealand. It is getting more difficult to get quality trades people and with more sophisticated new machinery, more companies are getting into mass production.

``This is bringing the cost of the basic kitchen down but the costs of one-off individual kitchens is increasing, creating a bigger division in the market.’’

More than 28,000 trade professionals are expected to visit the international expo and awards in Birmingham in January.

The event attracts independent retailers, multiple groups, department stores, builders merchants, contractors and developers, wholesalers and distributors, builders, interior designers, interior decorators and other buyers of bathrooms, kitchens and appliances.

ENDS

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