Every year in August, the Kitchen & Bathroom Designers Institute rewards design and construction excellence across Australia. Due to lockdowns, this year’s national award ceremony was slightly different with an online virtual gala party on Friday 20 August. The results, however, were all too familiar for South Australia, with Nathan Wundersitz of SpaceCraft Joinery once again named as SA Kitchen Designer of the Year for an unparalleled third year running and the fourth time in the last five years.

But it almost wasn’t so. Because Nathan has a serious rival and he only has himself to blame. The SA title was a shoot-out between Nathan and his protégée, SpaceCraft’s hot new designer, Bre Parkes. Between them, the pair dominated the state’s selections in this year’s awards with all six designs entered across every kitchen size category becoming finalists: five to Nathan and one to his rising star, Bre, in only her first year as a fully fledged kitchen designer. Perhaps not surprisingly, SpaceCraft then went on to win all the kitchen categories for South Australia.

The excitement began a week before the virtual gala with the announcement of the six finalists on the previous Friday night, the 13th, which was only bad luck if you didn’t work for SpaceCraft Joinery. As a sign of the times, Nathan and his wife/partner, Ellen, watched the announcement on their mobile phones whilst dining with mates at Crafers Pizza Bar. For the unsuspecting Bre Parkes, the news might have come at the worst time (in the middle of a house move) but right at the most convenient moment as she was just parking at Dan Murphys to buy a celebratory house-warming bottle.

Small Kitchens finalists and winner.

Nathan’s entry for Christine & Keith took on Bre’s for Jennifer & Peter in the Small Kitchen category for SA and Bre won with what was – remarkably – her very first entry.

Large Kitchens and Kitchen Plus finalists and winner.

Nathan’s three entries for Ben & Megan, Josie & Tony and Louise & Stephen were all finalists in the Large Kitchen category for SA, and Nathan’s entry for Megan & Lionel was a finalist for the Kitchen Plus category for SA. The judges, however, decided to merge the Large Kitchens and Kitchen Plus categories and named Nathan the winner for Josie & Tony’s design.

SA Kitchen Designer of the Year.

Having cleaned up the categories, this brought Nathan and Bre up against each other for the title of SA Kitchen Designer of the Year. Nathan once again took out the prize with Josie & Tony’s kitchen, but, apparently, it was a near thing. And with some really fabulous design projects already lined up, who’s to say Bre won’t steal the mantle from her mentor in 2022?

With a recent move to stunning new premises just down the road in Strathalbyn, a fresh shelf of awards and the added spark of healthy competition between these two talented designers, kitchen renovators could make no better choice than to see SpaceCraft Joinery. The only problem is: which of the two award-winning designers would you choose?