Lowcountry design firms win regional awards

Two Lowcountry firms took home top honors at the annual American Society of Interior Designer awards celebration recently in Wilmington, N.C.

Interior designers across the Carolinas competed for the 2009 Excellence in Design Awards.

The Hilton Head Island-based firm Stasia Berk Interior Design earned a first-place award for a home renovation/addition project in Sea Pines. The six-month project encompassed the renovation of a bathroom and guest bedroom, as well as the addition of a laundry room, a second bathroom, mud room, and a two-car garage. The home was originally built in 1973.

Johnson-Dulaney Builders did the construction work on the project, which embraced principles of universal design to be wheelchair accessible.

J Banks Design Group on Hilton Head received five excellence in design awards at the 2009 ASID of the Carolinas conference for the following:

• Overall best hospitality project: John's Island Beach Club, Vero Beach, Fla. The design team consisted of Joni Vanderslice, Janet Perry and Christina Kilduff.

• Second-place best singular space: The Sienna Room at the offices of J Banks Design on Hilton Head. Joni Vanderslice was the designer.

• First-place best model unit: La Casa at Castello di Casole, Tuscany Italy. Joni Vanderslice and Adrienne Wood were the designers.

• Honorable mention best corporate space more than 7,000 sq ft: J Banks Building on Hilton Head.

• Honorable mention best multiple unit project: Studio Homes of Ellis Square in Savannah. The design team consisted of  Patché Pratt, Deborah Van Plew and Lisa Whitley.

The firm also recently was named the 2009 Southeastern Designer of the Year, a distinction presented by the Atlanta Decorative Arts Center in conjunction with Veranda Magazine.