NEWS | Round-up
VIEWPOINT
Multigenerational living: I’m struggling
with this concept… TKC CEO Roy Saunders acknowledges that the UK has an ageing population but says he doesn’t know anyone who’s actually living in a 4G home
Industry welcomes Wigmore Kitchen Design Festival
My gut feeling is that the number of people building a
multigenerational home is very low
DESPITE MY advancing years and what my children might think, I’m always interested in trends and what’s topical. I’m a ‘boomer’ – that 55 to 75-year- old category of the population that apparently is to blame for our climate woes. But I do care about the environment and also what we can all do personally to make a difference, such as being drastic with plastic, recycling and consuming more responsibly. Something else that’s topical is ‘multigenerational living’, but I’m struggling with this concept, to be honest. In the Saunders household, it’s us and the kids. I’ve read blogs, newspaper articles and a surprising statistic from Barclays that more than five million households are now multigenerational. I was shocked, because I don’t know anyone who lives like this. What I have seen, though, is what I am going to call ‘flexi-living’, with parents extending houses for the practicality of grandchildren visits, more holidays spent together as complete families and grandparents visiting for long spells to assist with school holiday childcare. My gut feeling is that the number of people actually building a multigenerational home is very low, whereas there are probably thou- sands of people adapting their existing home to flex
round their changing family circumstances, such as ‘boomerang kids’ living in, while they save up some cash, or grandparents moving in while they cope with ageing years, illness or infirmity. None of these are likely to be permanent, but they offer the kitchen and bathroom industry a lot of opportunities. Does this change in lifestyles have any bearing on the kitchens being designed in the UK? Yes, it does. Pull-out larders and drawers offer better ergonomics and ease of use for young to old. Appliances are being housed in larder or mid-height units in preference to built-under, because they offer easier access and are kinder to the knees and back. We are definitely seeing a blurring of design lines as the ‘classic contemporary’ kitchen becomes more popular. We’ve recently launched a narrow frame shaker and I love it, but so did my teenage son when I showed him.
Smart appliances continue in their development to bring lifestyle-enhancing benefits. But I fear that in a multigenerational home, it would only be the youngsters who’d understand how it works, leaving oldies longing for light switches and knobs. My father at 101 and mother at 94 still cook their Sunday roast without an app in sight and wouldn’t thank me for trying to change their routine, nor would I be brave enough to try!
6
WIGMORE KITCHEN Design Festival, the new central London event focused on premium kitchen buyers and specifiers, made
a
strong impression on the industry at kbb Birmingham last month.
The festival, organised by kbbreview publisher Taylist Media, was universally welcomed by suppliers with premium brands, eager to take the opportunity to influence homeowners, developers, interior designers and architects. Tom Howley has joined the impressive list of brands already committed to taking part, including Boffi, Gaggenau, Halcyon Interiors, KitchenAid,
Miele, Design said: Nicholas “We Anthony,
Poggenpohl, Poliform and Roundhouse Design. Andy Mather, director of Wigmore Kitchen Festival,
have
overwhelmed with the positive response we had at the NEC – so many fantastic brands
been
want to be part of the Wigmore Kitchen Design Festival, we are now anticipating a truly spec- tacular event.
“The great success of the kbbreview Retail
&
Design Awards evening showed what can be
achieved when the industry really gets behind a well-organised event with a strong identity and great media support. Taylist Media is uniquely positioned in this regard and will deliver the buyers to an annual showcase that the industry can take real pride in.”
Mather continued: “Given the period of unprecedented uncertainty that we all currently find ourselves in, our aim is to give the kitchen design business a great and doubtless needed boost in June 2021.” • To find out more about Taylist Media’s Wigmore Kitchen Design Festival, call Andy Mather on 07875 417201 or e-mail him on
andymather@taylistmedia.com
kbbreview Retail & Design Awards shortlisted for best awards event in UK
THE KBBREVIEW Retail & Design Awards 2019, which was held in Manchester, has been shortlisted in three categories at the UK’s most prestigious event for awards organisers.
The winners of the Awards
Awards 2020 will be announced at a ceremony at the Tower of London on July 3. Ironically, the event was due to be held in May but has been postponed.
The 2019 kbbreview awards has been nominated in three categories: • Best Awards Event by a Publisher • Best Development of an Existing Awards • Best Experience on the Night Last year marked the 25th anniversary of the kbbreview Retail & Design Awards event, and it was also the first time it had been held outside London or Birmingham.
“I’d be delighted by this at the best of times,” said kbbreview managing editor Andrew
Davies. “But given everything that’s happening right now this is an amazing piece of good news that has given us all here a shot in arm. “When we decided to go to Manchester and
try and do something different with the awards, it was a real gamble but it paid off so well. For everyone who was there, all the winners and finalists and especially our sponsors, thank you so much.”
· April 2020
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