Cots Rock

Wellington design company, Kraka Design Ltd, are the first company in the history of the Designers’ Institute of New Zealand’s BeST Awards, to get a highly commended award for a child’s cot/bed in the prestigious furniture section.

Kraka Design director, Catherine Beard, says the award comes at a time when Kraka Design is launching its designer cot and children’s furniture range in the UK at the Baby and Child International Fair in London.

“The Kiwaka One cot is unique in the world for its contemporary designer looks, its mesh sides that can be raised and lowered, and the fact it can be transformed into a toddlers bed and then a full size single bed.”

Catherine Beard says the interest from London, the USA and Europe for the Kiwaka One has been very strong, and the company will be selling into all those markets in the next five years.

Kraka Design’s head designer, director and architect, Jenny Weenink, says the Highly Commended Award at the BeST Awards is a tribute to the fact that good design does not need to be limited to products designed for adults.

“We are pleased we focussed on designing a cot that was special, because cots are have not changed significantly over the decades. We were determined to design a cot with mesh sides for the safety and security that would give to both parents and babies. The idea of not having babies behind bars had great appeal.”

“The design challenge was then how to devise a mechanism that allowed the mesh sides to be raised and lowered, as they are with traditional cots. Doing something so different presented some technical challenges, along with meeting stringent safety standards for multiple international markets.”

Jenny Weenink says an international patent application is in place to protect the concept of the mesh being raised and lowered.

Catherine Beard and Jenny Weenink say Wellington is a great place to have a design business, as the city has plenty of creative talent to bounce ideas off and a creative buzz that is quite unique. See www.bestawards.co.nz

ENDS

For further information, please contact: Catherine Beard, Director, Kraka Design Ltd, Tel (04) 389 0544

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