Kitchen designer presented Walpole British Luxury Award
The career of the late Mark Wilkinson OBE, founder of Mark Wilkinson Furniture and co-founder of Smallbone by Devizes, was celebrated at the Walpole British Luxury Awards.
He was presented the Walpole Honour Award, during a ceremony at The Dorchester Hotel in London, hosted by Catherine Zeta Jones.His wife Cynthia Wilkinson received the honour on behalf of the family.
CEO of Walpole Helen Brocklebank said: “Mark’s work completely redefined what we understand by a beautifully designed kitchen. Described by one critic as the ‘Mozart of kitchen cabinet makers’, he, more than anyone was responsible for switching the focus away from the kitchen as a utilitarian workplace and into the centre of elegant entertaining. He made the kitchen the heart of the thome.”
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The designer, who passed away in July 2017, was a skilled craftsman and furniture maker. Among his many accolades, he was a Fellow of the Chartered Society of Designers, a Fellow of the City and Guilds Institute, a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Furniture Makers for the City of London and a member of Mensa. In 2010, he was awarded an OBE for services to the Furniture Industry and Charity.