Ben Lewis a Finalist in Prestigious UK Interior Design Awards

Ben Lewis, of family-owned furniture and design company Trenzseater (pictured right with father, Mark), was a finalist in the prestigious London-based Andrew Martin Interior Designer of the Year Award.

Previous winners include British designer Kelly Hoppen and master of wabi-sabi style Axel Vervoordt. In 2009, Hoppen was awarded an MBE for her services to interior design while Belgian-born Vervoordt worked with household names such as Robert De Niro and Bill Gates.

Trenzseater, which Lewis founded in Christchurch in 2004, is now a local agent for Dutch firm Eichholz. Its opulent accessories and objects – a collection of clocks, chandeliers, vases and cinematic prints, which sell in stores such as Harrods of London – have good scale and proportion, Lewis says.

Lewis is known in the industry for his love of stripes but, pushed to label his interiors’ style, he comes up with “modern sophistication”.

“While we work with the latest high-end products, good design is timeless. We tend to avoid those parts of a collection that will soon become dated.”

And though Lewis was not named number one at the awards, his work will be showcased in what he calls the world’s interior design “bible”, the Andrew Martin Design Review, a publication that has been released every year for 15 years, which features portfolios from all 50 of the finalists.

Original article by Claire McCall, The New Zealand Herald, July 29, 2014.

Photo by Guy Frederick.