Designer Kevin's concrete success is now set in stone

BY EMMA CONNOLLY 

A WEST Cork-based designer has been honoured for his contemporary concrete table ware which can be seen in restaurants throughout the country. 

Kevin Corcoran of Concrete Forest won the Emerging Design Talent in the recent Image Interiors and Living magazine awards.

Born in Denmark, Kevin lives outside Skibbereen with his illustrator wife Lily and daughter Emilia, and is a former graphic designer with The Southern Star. Kevin explained how, as his mother is an artist, he was always exposed to a creative background and that the business originally started in 2016 as a hobby. 

Working full-time as a graphic designer he devotes his weekends and spare time to his creations which include sugar bowls, candle holders, vases and other homeware pieces.  

Kalbo’s café in Skibbereen uses Kevin’s sugar bowls while Sage in Midleton use his tea light holders. A Galway restaurant is another client while the British Library in London and the Glucksman Library at UCC also stock his pieces, along with several of the country’s craft shops. 

A recent project saw Kevin collaborate with a furniture designer to create concrete tabletops for the award-winning Café Paradiso in Cork. ‘The plan is to expand the range slowly but surely and hopefully collaborate with other designers. My focus is on quality though and balancing my work with family life,’ said Kevin.