COTY Winners Showcase Contemporary Styling

By Barbara Capella Loehr

DES PLAINES, IL Contemporary styling mixed with a bit of transitional charm marks the 2004 Contractor of the Year (COTY) award-winning remodeling projects.

Designed to honor outstanding remodel projects, the COTY awards sponsored by National Association of the Remodeling Industry (NARI), based here recognize regional, and national contractors in a variety of different categories, including high-end kitchens and baths.

According to NARI, a panel of impartial judges, who are considered experts within the industry and associated fields, select each winner based on a set of criteria that includes problem-solving, functionality, aesthetics, craftsmanship, innovation, degree of difficulty and entry presentation.

This year, a total of 24 award-winning designs met these criteria, demonstrating remodeling excellence and capturing first-place national honors in each of their respective categories. Following is a look at a few of this year's national winners.

METAL & GLASS FUSION
Like the fusion of metal and glass seen in this sleek, contemporary kitchen, this award-winning project fused together the talents of more than 52 separate parties, including the design team, suppliers and subs, according to Matt Podesta of San Francisco, CA-based Podesta Construction Inc. It snagged first-place honors in category four, "Residential Kitchen, More Than $100,000."

"It was very much a collaborative effort," he notes.

Indeed, in the construction firm, he worked with Jerry Podesta on the sales end of the project and Jim Keen, who served as project manager. Outside the firm, Podesta worked with designer MaryLou D'Auray of MaryLou D'Auray Interior Design in Sausalito, CA; lighting designer Susan Fenske with San Francisco, CA-based SF Lighting Design and Consulting, and David Gast, principal of David Gast & Associates Architects in San Francisco, CA, along with project architect Dennis Budd, also with the same firm.

Together, the design team used a variety of custom elements such as a wavy Tsunami glass island countertop set on stainless steel brackets to create the cutting-edge look the client wanted. "The client does a lot of entertaining,
so he wanted to modernize the kitchen and create an open feeling between the kitchen and adjacent dining and family room," explains Matt Podesta.

Other unique elements included a custom-colored glass tile backsplash, Guatemala Green marble perimeter countertops, contemporary, low-voltage pendant lights above the island and flat-panel Anegre wood cabinetry featuring
a high-sheen finish to reflect and mesh with the metal and glass elements in the space. Beech floors in the same color and with the same border pattern tie the kitchen to the dining and family rooms.

In terms of function, Podesta points to the Sub-Zero refrigerator with matching cabinetry panels, Thermador cooktop with a remote ventilator, and the Miele dishwasher and oven as adding convenience.