Fitting out a restaurant in the US State of New Jersey has won Welshpool business Antry Pty Ltd the Excellence in Engineering & Architectural Design of a Timber Finished Project at this years’ Timber Industry Awards.
Antry fitted out the Ixora restaurant in New Jersey with jarrah and karri.
The restaurant fitout is not the first international job Antry has completed.
It started out fitting a restaurant in Japan in 1996.
That job, like the New Jersey project, involved WA timbers.
Antry managing director Edmund Damouni said the New Jersey job had come through old contacts he had made when living in New York’s Soho district.
He worked there as a master carver and taught at the Parson’s School in Greenwich Village.
Mr Damouni emigrated to Australia in 1992.
The New Jersey restaurant is the third one the company has fitted out.
It also did another US restaurant in Detroit, Michigan, although that fit out involved timbers such as maple and ash.
The company has also fitted out several Australian ambassadors’ residences in locales such as Tokyo, and Pohmpei in Micronesia.
Mr Damouni said the company won its work through exhibiting at various international trade shows.
“That’s how we landed our restaurant fit out in Japan,” he said.
“We put our furniture there and get approaches.”
Mr Damouni said Antry would be the first company to exhibit at a major furniture show to be held in Dubai soon.
He said the company’s work in fitting out buildings around the world had become easier with advances in technology.
The work involves interaction with architects and with tools such as the Internet and email, computer aided design drawings, can be sent around the world easily.
The company designs and creates a broad range of furniture items, specialising in products made from WA’s jarrah and marri.
Besides the timber industry award, Antry has won the 2002 WA Export Award in the marketing and design category and more than 30 furniture awards.
These awards include the 2002 Excellence in Dining Room Furniture and Excellence in Bedroom Furniture at the Australian Furniture of the Year Awards and a slew of Western Australian Furniture Industry of Association of Australia Awards.
Other Timber Industry Awards winners included Bruce Mattinson, Nick Oak, Chuan Ong, James Malone, Appadene Forest Products of Mandurah, Inglewood Products Group, Jamel Industries of Malaga, Michael Thomson Design, Monart Design and Blacket Smith Architects.
Mr Mattinson, who pioneered eucalypt planting in several WA regions, including Albany and Esperance, received the Premier’s Award for his outstanding contribution to the timber industry.