The Design Solution Awards of last edition consisted of eight categories and the OVAM Ecodesign PRO, shortly explained below:

• Better Health: a prize for design solutions which aid general wellbeing or a healthy body and healthy mind for all.
• Collective: a prize for design solutions which contribute to the collaborative economy and aid a better deployment of knowledge and resources (cooperation, sharing, hire, etc.).
• Communication: a prize for design solutions which improve or increase the legibility and/or comprehensibility of a product, concept, service or project.
• Design Research: a design prize for results resting on good (conceptual, material and technical) research and experimentation.
• Efficiency: a prize for design solutions which reduce the cost of a product or service without reducing its quality.
• Feel Good: a prize for design solutions which affect or stimulate people’s emotions in a surprising way.
• Life Quality: a prize for design solutions in private or public spaces which lead to new and better living, learning, working or recreational environments and improve the quality of life.
• Public: this award is not given by the jury, but by the public at large. The 25 nominations were presented online: all people interested could vote and more than 7.250 people did. 
• OVAM Ecodesign PRO: a prize for designs or services which are created in accordance with the principles of eco design or have a positive effect on the environment.

Inga Wellbeing is a collection of practical, comfortable yet stylish and attractive clothing for hospital patients. The collection includes smocks, pullovers, dresses, trousers and pyjamas all featuring discreet openings for drains or panels which can be removed easily for routine medical examinations to be performed or to administer treatment. The clothing enables patients to maintain complete dignity.

Design Fiona Mc Greal, Client INGA Wellbeing together with Gysemans Clothing Industry, Innovatie Centrum, Alsico NV, Philippe Buck, Solvay, Jacques Peeters, Jules Bordet Institute.

Local Antwerp market with direct link between producer and consumer. Inspired by the American farmers’ market model and the Spanish mercado, and with a solid belief in forging cooperation and a passion for investigating pertinent issues, ONDERGROND vzw is seeking out the new opportunities the city has to offer. Those behind the MARTA initiative want to raise awareness and inform people by fostering participation and cooperation between vendors and chefs to create new products and dishes, and by inspiring the public. In this way, MARTA wants not only to secure fair prices for farmers and makers by supporting a short supply chain, but also to focus on closing circles by adopting a ‘waste not, want not’ approach. 

Design ONDERGROND vzw (Ellen Pil, Sophie van Haasen, Caroline Huyghe, Daphne Pascual) with the support of Provincie Antwerpen, Stadslab 2050 and Born in Antwerp.

Inclusive design label with useful contemporary products from Palestine. Disarming Design from Palestine (DDfP) wants to spread alternative narratives about contemporary Palestine and reflect upon the function of creative practices in situations of conflict.DDfP develops, presents and sells useful contemporary design pieces from Palestine, designed by contemporary designers, artists and students in collaboration with local producers and artisans.

Design Annelys de Vet, together with Mohammad Saleh, Sami Khaldi, Ghadeer Dajani, Wisam Hourani and May Marei, Client Disarming Design from Palestine.

The project was borne out of the desire by the town of Aalst to enable senior citizens to continue living in a home environment with which they are familiar. The central challenge was both to research the ideal location for a residential care home and to promote Aalst as a town which provides the very best care resources. To achieve this, two co-creation projects were launched based on a service-design approach. Some inspiring visions were expressed and the co-creation approach gave carers and other businesses in Aalst the opportunity to forge new partnerships and develop initiatives.

Design Studio Dott (Suzan Bijloo, Lisa Apers, Tine Peeters) together with AIPA & Pantopicon, Client Stad Aalst.

Brazier for fruit plantations. To raise the temperature on fruit plantations during the winter, tins of burning paraffin are used to prevent buds on fruit trees from freezing. Once the paraffin has burned out, the empty tins need to be collected. Bart Dooms from Haspenwood asked Frédéric Boonen to design a brazier that would combust completely but that was also efficient. Frédéric came up with the idea of the Haspencube using the raw material apple wood which is abundantly available in the region.

Design Boonen Design Studio (Frédéric Boonen), Client Haspenwood.

Concrete urns and gravestones. “I do not know whether designing a headstone is enjoyable for a designer, but it is certainly fascinating, and when it leads to a rational solution, it is all the better,” Axel Enthoven says. “If you design in such a way that the final design turns out to be self-cleaning and maintenance friendly, if it is simple and easy to place, if it is solid and stable, if it looks simple and natural, and if it fits in all environments while still being timeless, then you have made a major step forward. From the emotional side, it must be a nod to those you have to leave behind. Simple and pure in form as a symbol of deserved rest: modest but present, iconic without conceit, inspired by nature and designed with respect.”

Design Axel Enthoven (Yellow Window), Client Memory Stone (Serax).

Sustainable shelter. The Maggie Shelter is a temporary, fast-to-erect structure but one which offered all the benefits of a permanent building (robust, safe, insulated, sustainable, long lifespan, etc.). The structure has a double wall comprising aluminium and tarpaulin which can be filled in completely with whatever material is available locally, such as sand and insulation.

Design DMOA architecten bvba (Benjamin Denef, Matthias Mattelaer, Bart Peeters, Kjell Keymolen, Inge Stuyckens), Client Maggie together with KULeuven, Centexbel, Vermako, Vervaeke, Fedasil, Agentschap Innoveren & Ondernemen en Flanders Investment & Trade.

The Stand Up Nomad is a height-adjustable standing table which can be adjusted manually to ensure that every user is able to stand and work at it in the most ergonomic way, without having to bend over (i.e. with the table top at elbow height).

Design Henri Verheughe & Mathias Ellegiers, Client Jaswig bvba.

Dismantling the interior of the former headquarters of Generale Bank, now BNP Paribas Fortis, and reusing some of the fittings in new projects has been one of the biggest tasks Rotor Deconstruction, a spin-off of Rotor, has ever undertaken. In contrast to recycling, reusing items/materials means retaining as much of their practical and cultural value as possible. Rotor Deconstruction embodies a sustainable economic model which allows other players to get involved and which can also create jobs.

Design Rotor (Maarten Gielen, Tristan Boniver, Lionel Devlieger, Michaël Ghyoot, Benjamin Lasserre, Melanie Tamm, Renaud Haerlingen, Lionel Billiet and Sophie Seys), Client Rotor Deconstruction.