A LOCAL company has won Best Residential Interior Design Practice at the recent Northern Design Awards.

This is the second accolade won by Esholt based Design Emporium this quarter after winning best Residential Swimming Pool at The International Design & Architecture Awards.

The winners of the 2021 Northern Design Awards were chosen by a group of leading industry professionals, including Linda Barker, George Bond, Susie Rumbold and Wayne Hemmingway.

To be considered the Best Residential Practice in the North by such an elite group of designers demonstrates the level of achievement.

Headed by Rik Smith, the practice has become one of the pre-eminent design studios in the area undertaking a wide variety of architectural and interior design projects locally and throughout the UK. The evolution and growth of Design Emporium is the culmination of 16 years of work. In recent years Rik has been accepted as a member of The British Institute of Interior Design

(BIID) - the UK’s only Professional Institute for Interior Designers - and the company has also become a Chartered Architectural Practice with the RIBA.

Rik’s vision has been to apply a cohesive design process to all its projects. Architects, Interior Architects, and Interior Designers work alongside each other to create a single, unique vision for each of their projects.

Rik said: "This collaborative approach ensures a seamless interaction between building and interior, producing schemes that sit comfortably within their context. The style, locality and immediate vistas are the key starting points to all of Design Emporium’ schemes, balancing the requirements of the building with that of the client. Creating a connection with the wider landscape and carefully orientating/altering the internal spaces to maximise each view is an important principle applied to each project.

"Clearly, this ethos that has underpinned Design Emporium’s work for over 16 years is now being recognised across the UK and internationally."

Hundreds of designers attended the Northern Design Awards at the Concorde Exhibition & Conference Centre at Manchester Airport on November 26 for an evening dedicated to celebrating northern design talent.

The awards, which were launched with a small event in 2003, have gone on to attract the attention of a host of well-known designers.

Director of Events, Shelley Mears said: “It was marvellous to see people gathering and introducing themselves to new contacts - it's what the awards are all about. Many will go on to work together and that's just fantastic.”