Our Co-CEO Steve Bradley and Head of Procurement Shashank Shekhar Kaushik visited a community centre run by the Asha Community Health and Development Society in Delhi’s Zakhira slum. Asha is a non-for-profit organization that operates in 91 slums across New Delhi and has been creating change in India’s most disadvantaged communities for more than 30 years. Steve and Shashank felt it was truly a humbling experience to meet and hear the stories of survival and determination from the people in the community. Southern Design Group are proud to provide ongoing support to this amazing charity that is facilitating generational change and a sense of community and hope in a place where it may not have existed before.

In previous years, Southern Design Group’s 2020 donation to Asha has helped support their program at the Zakhira Slum in West Delhi, a community of over 10,000 people. The program aims to improve the basic health of children aged 0-5. These children are some of the slums most vulnerable and at-risk, with poor nutrition a leading factor. In this effort we are also supporting Asha in combating malnutrition by providing food, vitamins and desperately needed immunizations.

In 2020-21, Southern Design Group’s donations to Asha were crucial in supporting those living in the slums of Delhi. Our contributions have supported pre- and post-natal care as well as infant and child immunisations, nutrition, health care and health monitoring. They were also used to provide food parcels and supplements to those struggling to access and afford food as well as build IT centres which have allowed students attending school and university to continue their studies remotely. Instead of using mobile phones with poor internet connection, they can now use the IT centres to attend their courses online.

In late October we hosted a launch event to showcase and celebrate our latest architectural hardware collaboration, Casts. The Collection is an artful collaboration with award-winning Melbourne architecture practice Edition Office. The event was held at Neon Parc in Melbourne and was attended by some of Australia’s most forward-thinking architecture and design studios. Guests were treated to a delicious culinary experience with bites by Mabu Mabu, while enjoying world music by DJ Sarita. The Casts Collection was showcased, along with imagery depicting the creation of the collection, each piece hand-crafted using a venerated artisanal sandcasting process. The individual pieces, with unique surface textures were able to be picked up and held by our guests, in an intimate and hands-on approach. Photography: Marcel Aucar

Bankston recently hosted an intimate garden party at Civilian founders Nicko Elliott and Ksenia Kagner’s Brooklyn townhouse, which celebrated Bankston’s current award-winning collections and offered a preview of upcoming collaborations. With plans to launch in the US in 2024, the event was a great opportunity for the Bankston team to introduce the brand to selected New York based designers and studios, and showcase the innovative designs in the range. Guests were treated to a culinary experience by LEV, a curated selection of South Australian wines, with gifting generously supplied by Civilian Objects. Bankston are partnering with some of the most renowned names in design across Australia and beyond, stay tuned for more exciting Bankston collaborations.

Southern Design Group has achieved strong growth over the past 10 years with a shift to focus on improving its product and brand experience, as well as an expanding distributor network. From its original single-story shop frontage, Southern Design Group now operates across three main sites that include our head office, warehousing, meeting spaces, in-house CNC facilities, product development and assembly areas, and much more. With a retail partner network of over 450 and 77 staff throughout Australia and across New Zealand, Southern Design Group has a sustained vision for our future and continued growth. Photography: James Hartley