Amber Tiles, in association with University of Technology (UTS), has announced the winner of its 2017 design award. The Amber UTS Design Award supports creativity and innovation in the design community by acknowledging excellence in UTS design students.

Entrants were required to submit a custom tile design in a bespoke size as well as a fully resolved interior or exterior space featuring their custom tile as hero. Submissions were judged for the quality and development of their ideas and overall concepts, unique aesthetic vision, creativity in the resolution of formal, functional, and technical requirements, practicality and degree of innovation.

John Chua, managing director of Amber Tiles said, “At Amber, we’re excited to be working with one of Australia’s leading universities to give the next generation of designers the opportunity to create their very own tile design while providing them with some insightful industry knowledge and experience.

“This year’s winner is a third year Bachelor of Integrated Product Design student, Alana Birch who created a geometric design which is prevalent in the European market. As part of her prize, Birch will be working with interior stylist Steve Cordony to further refine her design skills. Amber Tiles will also be producing a small quantity of the winning design to create an in-house display for both its head office and UTS Design School.”
Birch received return flights to Italy and attended the Cersaie event, as well as a visit to Amber Tiles’ parent company, the Kim Hin Factory in Malaysia. She also had the opportunity to meet and discuss her designs with Julia Toh, senior designer with Kim Hin Industries, Malaysia’s largest manufacturer of porcelain tiles.