CHICAGO – A recent lay-off and the welfare of a wife and nine-month-old twins can drive a person to do great things. As recruiters often tell job seekers, “Do something that will make you stand out from the rest.” Brian Griffith of Columbus, Ohio, did just that by creating the Prima Vista Entertainment Garden to win the third annual Oasis Award for Outdoor Kitchen Design.
Griffith has been in the industry for more than six years and is a member of the American Society of Landscape Architects. He is a graduate of The Ohio State University with a master’s degree in Landscape Architecture. His winning design took a small, empty space that connected a house and a garage and transformed it into an outdoor living space that features the cooking grill as the centerpiece of the design, making the host/cook always accessible to the guests; extends the interior feel of the main residence to the outside space and uses terracing to create cooking, conversation, and serving areas.
As the only nationwide contest that recognizes excellence and innovation in the increasingly sophisticated design of outdoor kitchens, the Oasis Award for Outdoor Kitchen Design is open to all design professionals, including architects, landscape architects, interior designers and certified kitchen designers and featured entries from the nation, and Poland (Warsaw).
The Oasis Award is jointly presented by Kalamazoo Outdoor Gourmet and Garden Design magazine, and the panel of judges included editors of the magazine and authors and designers in the landscape and kitchen industry.
Griffth’s outdoor kitchen concept will be featured in the November/December issue of Garden Design magazine in Kalamazoo Outdoor Gourmet’s Hot off the Grill! and Outdoor Kitchen Profits by Design e-newsletters as well as the Web sites of the Oasis Award, www.oasisaward.com; Kalamazoo Outdoor Gourmet, www.kalamazoogourmet.com; and Garden Design magazine, www.gardendesign.com.
Entry acceptance for the Fourth Annual Oasis Award for Outdoor Kitchen Design contest begins January 1, 2010, information can be found at www.OasisAward.com.