Caesarstone Unveils South Africa’s Kitchen of the Year

After a 10-week series on The Home Channel, Caesarstone has announced the winner of the Caesarstone Kitchen of the Year competition.

The beautiful Tokara Wine Estate in Stellenbosch was the backdrop for an exciting awards ceremony where the top 3 finalists and the winner of the Caesarstone Kitchen of the Year title was announced. The exclusive guest list included members of the media, as well as top kitchen design representatives.

His first time entering the competition, Adolf Conradie of Optima Kitchens in Johannesburg made history by being the first designer to have 2 of his kitchens amongst the top 3 finalists, giving him a 66% chance of taking the title before the awards ceremony even began. But it was the Caesarstone Pure White kitchen Adolf designed for the Creamer family of Steyn City that got him top billing in the competition.

“I thoroughly enjoyed every second that went into designing this kitchen and receiving this recognition from Caesarstone for something that I loved doing, is a wonderful feeling,” says Adolf. “This was one of my favourite kitchens to design. We were lucky to have support from a great team at Optima Kitchens and the homeowners who share our passion for good kitchens."

The Creamers enjoy their kitchen because of its unique functionality and how through its design, it brings family and friends together for special moments. Kyle Creamer accepted the award on behalf of his father, Tom Creamer, who comments, “First and foremost we recognize Adolf Conradie and his outstanding achievement that is our beautiful kitchen. He helped bring to life what we as a family had envisaged for this space, and so much more, and now we get to enjoy the reward every single day.”

Bielle Bellingham, editor of Elle Decoration; celebrity chef, Reuben Riffel; creative director of the Expresso Morning Show, Bradley van den Berg; Mor Krisher, head of product design for Caesarstone International; and former Caesarstone Kitchen of the Year winner, Beth Haynes were the judges behind the selection of the top eight finalists, as well as the final top 3.

“This year we identified the top 3 designs from amongst the original 8 finalists. They were confident, sexy and as the judges we found them very exciting to explore as examples of top kitchen design in South Africa,” says Bielle Bellingham.

The runner up was Adolf Conradie’s kitchen for Christo and Irene de Wet, also hailing from Steyn City. Christo was thrilled to take second place,“Thank you to Caesarstone for this delightful opportunity to show off our kitchen. It's an honour to be nominated as top 3 in the country. Even though my kitchen didn’t win first prize this day will remain a cherished memory – thank you!”

Mariaan van Zyl and Andrea Neer of Espresso Design were the design team who took third place in the competition. Mariaan comments, “It’s a great honour to be part of the final round of this competition. I have so much fun doing what I do, but being a finalist is a great reward for the many hours spend with clients and on site.”

Andrea adds, “It’s been a great experience! This opportunity has already given me exposure in the design industry and I’ve enjoyed seeing what my fellow designers are doing. Congratulations to the winner!”

Each of the top 3 finalists won a hamper from KitchenAid, while the winning kitchen designer and homeowner won R50,000 cash each, as well as media exposure. “Caesarstone loves to be involved with great design – it’s the language that we speak – and to be involved with this competition is a great pleasure for us,” says Caesarstone South Africa’s marketing director, Trevor King.

At the awards ceremony Adolf Conradie had a lot of support from his design team,“Myself and the team at Optima Kitchens were honoured to get to the finals and to have 2 designs in the top 3. Designers pour so much passion and creativity into their work and instead of letting it go unnoticed Caesarstone gives us a platform from which to showcase it. I hope this will show homeowners how much potential there is in design."

Look out for the next Caesarstone Kitchen of the Year competition, opening early 2016, and catch up on the television coverage on the Caesarstone South Africa YouTube channel​.