A few to watch from Idswest

A bathtub fit for Fifty Shades of Grey

The 10th annual Interior Design Show West (IDSwest), held over four days at the Vancouver Convention Centre last weekend, signalled the end of Vancouver Design Week: a two-week festival celebrating all things design from fashion to architecture to food at a series of citywide events. The 250 meticulously designed booths at this year’s IDSwest showcased established local and international designers alongside emerging design talent. Here are some of the ones to watch.

Rebecca Keillor, special to The Sun

UMBRA SHIFT

A collective design consciousness was alive and well at this year’s IDSwest in the form of the Umbra Shift collection: an offshoot of Toronto-based design leader Umbra designs, the 30-year-old company that sells in over 120 countries. Umbra Shift is the company’s attempt to reinvent everyday household items in ways that are “functional, familiar and forward thinking.” To do this they employed the talents of emerging and established designers to produce items like MOMA featured designer Harry Allen’s coiled stool and local designer Lukas Peet’s asymmetrical candle holders. Peet won the first RBC Emerging Designer competition earlier this year.

JUNIPER DESIGN

A collection of four cutting-edge design companies from the hot design district of Brooklyn, N.Y., was displayed front and centre at IDSwest as the Brooklyn Exchange in a booth designed by Railtown’s Port + Quarter Interiors. The THIN lamp and M lamp by Juniper Design, one of the Brooklyn-based companies that made up this crew, drew a lot of attention. Made with sustainability in mind, being LED lights, the company’s owner Shant Madjairan says they have not sacrificed on style to achieve this. “We wanted to bring this old world warmth to the products and a lot of these LED lights were aluminum and felt a little bit like they represented the technology more than they did the origins of the design,” says Madjairan, whose family has been in the lighting business for over 30 years. The THIN lamp, designed by Seattle designer Peter Bristol, is meticulously made with a half-inch tube of LED light, short articulated points and a classic ball joint at the base. The M lamp, designed by U.K.-based designer David Irwin, is modelled off an original miner’s lamp, so is battery powered and portable. “Today we’re very mobile,” says Madjairan. “We’re dining outside, taking the dog for a walk or trick or treating. Cordless and mobile is very much a part of what we are.”

DAHLHAUS

Bringing things down to earth, literally, Scandinavianinspired studio Dahlhaus showcased ceramics that draw on mid-century modern and farmhouse modern design to inject colour into the local landscape. Much like Northern Europeans, says company owner Heather Braun-Dahl, Canadians seem to be drawn to clean shapes infused with colour because they bring warmth to a cool environment. Handmade in Vancouver, Dahlhaus ceramics have sold internationally through Anthropologie (Urban Outfitter’s Inc.’s even hipper chain) and west elm. Locally they sell through Poppytalk (Broadway and Main), as well as a long list of galleries across B.C. and Canada.

BLU BATHWORKS

There is something almost fantastical about the idea of sinking into a perfectly sculpted lime bathtub, which is why it seems the right choice for the soon-tobe-released film adaptation of E.L. James’ bestselling novel Fifty Shades of Grey. “They saw it online and in a few showrooms and loved it so much they’ve kept the tub for future movies,” says Laura Fraser, who handles sales and marketing for Vancouver’s Blu Bathworks, the company that produces the locally designed and Italian made Lime Halo tub (made of quartzite and resin). Last year the company grew from 20 to over 90 showrooms across North America and their client list boasts hotels in Florida, large condominium developments in Calgary, and a long list of residential projects.

WATERMARK

Adding to the decadent bathroom scene at IDSwest was the Elan Vital faucet by Brooklyn-based Watermark Designs that people couldn’t keep their hands off. A mix of industrial design and modern luxury, the faucet comes in finished and unfinished brass and is set to grace the penthouse suites of local hotel and condominium projects, along with a list of high-end residential homes. “It’s been a hot item,” says Sandee Mann, of Vancouver’s Cantu Bathrooms & Hardware, who stock the Elan Vital collection.

REVOLUTION DESIGN HOUSE

Portland, being another recognized American design centre, was represented at IDSwest by Revolution Design House. Their BoxcarOne succulent planter design has become a favourite in the corporate gift market and their latest design, the Madison candle (white from tip to toe like a chess piece), burns to exactly an inch above its base. Like fellow Portland designer Ryan Grepper, who raised over $13 million on crowdfunding site Kickstarter to develop his Coolest Cooler, Revolution Design House is using Kickstarter to raise funds for the manufacturing of the Madison.

MATTHEW MCCORMICK DESIGN INC.

Local lighting design talent Matthew McCormick is definitely one to watch and was unmissable at this year’s show, where his limited edition Spheres collection — made of bronze and pewter — was displayed as part of a collaboration with sculptor Marie Khouri.