Member Article

Restaurant creator wins top industry accolade

The creative force behind one of the region’s newest culinary hotspots has landed one of the most prestigious awards in the interior design industry.

Collective Design director Simon Mcilwraith has been crowned the Interior Designer of the Year at the 10th annual Northern Design Awards in Manchester.

mong Mcilwraith’s recent work is the design of the Lotus Lounge restaurant – which opened in Yarm earlier this year and has been lauded for its unique take on pan-Asian cuisine.

He opened Collective Design in 2009 and has since enjoyed massive success in the world of interiors after featuring in the Andrew Martins review of the world’s greatest interior designers in 2011 and again this year in 2012.

The review is regarded as “The Oscars for the Interior design world” by The Sunday Times and features almost one hundred interior designers from every corner of the globe. To top this Simon Mcilwraith is now the winner of the 2012 Northern Interior Designer of the Year Award.

He said: “It is amazing to win such a fantastic award and one I am very proud of. I have always promoted design in the North and to now win Northern Interior Design of the Year is a real honour.”

Howard Eggleston, co-founder of Lotus Lounge, can certainly vouch for the designer’s creative prowess, given the popularity and feedback he has received since his venue opened its doors.

He said: “I was delighted with the work Simon did for us and now I’m just as pleased that he’s won this deserved accolade. We asked him to supply us with something that stood apart from other restaurants in the region and he certainly delivered.”

For more information on Lotus Lounge, please visit: www.lotus-lounge.co.uk.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Harvey and Hugo .