News Article
22nd June 2011
Grand Designs 2011 - A grand success
The 'grandest' event on the home design, décor, garden and building scene, Grand Designs Live Home & Garden Show brought to you by DSTV took place at the Coca Cola Dome this past weekend, 20th - 22nd May 2011 and delivered a unique home show packed with plenty of amazing ideas to turn your dream home into a reality.
Firm favorites included The Design Arcade in association with Elle Decoration – an area within Grand Designs Live, which focused on featuring new up and coming products, companies and designers.
The Grand Theatre in association with BBC Lifestyle offered visitors an interactive ‘how to” experience where celebrities and experts offered tips, advice, ideas and inspiration to the visitors to Grand Designs Live. Guest speakers included Trevyn McGowan from Design Consultancy, Source, who talked about South African design as well as experts such as Collin O’Mara from St Leger & Viney on fabric trends. 702’s techno-fundi Aki Anastasiou took part on the Grand Theatre and talked about the latest gadgetry and what households of the future have in store from a technology standpoint! Foodie television and literary personality Justin Bonello was a huge draw card and gave interesting and informative insights into what you are actually eating! And the Green Expert Panel gave invaluable advice on sustainability and how to be environmentally friendly.
Situated within the dedicated Grand Kitchens & Bathrooms area, the Micah Kitchen Chef’s Theatre in association with the Food Network, tantalized taste buds with top chefs sharing their best-kept culinary secrets. The chefs included Reuben Riffel of the famous Reuben’s Restaurant in Franschhoek, Chef Neill Anthony, who has been referred to as “The God of Food” and is regarded as Cape Town’s most exclusive private chef. Andrew Robertson, Executive Chef for the Sun International imparts wisdom on tasty healthy eating options, while his colleague Kami Chen gave lessons on the art of sushi-making.
The Grand Gourmet area, which this year was known as The Market on Main and the Maboneng Precinct brought the most delicious deli to Grand Designs Live where cheese, olive oils, chilli-chocolate, pomegranate dressing and jams were all on offer.
When walking into the Grand Build section of the show, visitors found the new Saint-Gobain Expert Advice Centre, in association with Tuis and Home Magazine a brand new feature at Grand Designs Live which encouraged visitors to get one-on-one advice from top class experts in various fields. Experts were on hand to assist visitors in everything from interior design, architecture and landscaping to understanding home automation and going green.
Our firm favourite feature of the show, the IID House sponsored by Freeworld Coatings included an amazing 7-roomed house. One established designer and one celebrity worked together to decorate their individual room, with visitors to the show voting for their favourite. Designer Phil Darby was handed the award last night for decorating Tamara Dey's bathroom.
Radio personality Pabi Maloi and Mark Rielly worked on the Lounge & Dining room. Celebrity chef Justin Bonello and Liezel Malan whipped up the kitchen.
Fashion Designer David Tlale and designer Aidan Bennets designed the study and a second bedroom and radio personality Sureshnie Rider took on the main bedroom with Tracy Lynch as the interior designer.
The Interiors Theatre in association with Elle Decoration provided a platform for visitors to hear about the inspiration behind each design as well as to listen to expert talks on a variety of topics such as how to Maximilian space for a contemporary look, by Victor dos Santos of Santos and the art of paint effects by Charlie Vittori.
In the Grand Garden section at Grand Designs Live, sponsored by PPC Cement, visitors learned how to turn their ordinary garden into an extraordinary space with dynamic speakers on the Garden Theatre. Picnic Hill in association with Servest Office Plants, Landscaping & Turf was also a huge drawcard and included lush grass, picnic benches, gorgeous trees and plants and certainly rejuvenated your energy after taking some time out on the hill.
Featuring products recently released to the market and in some instances about to come to market, the House of the Future, in association with Popular Mechanics, Crestron and PG Bison the feature within the Technology area showcased the latest and impending technology, design, innovation and eco/sustainable products for your home.
With 27 500 visitors to the show this year – Grand Designs Live was an incredible success and we look forward to an even grander event in 2012.
