Alexander Rose announced at SOLEX today that they are to continue with their Outdoor Furniture Student Design Competition following the outstanding success of this year’s contest.

The number of entries this year trebled – from 17 after the 2014 launch to 56 – and the company believe it will grow year on year.

The company’s marketing consultant Giuseppe D’ana, announcing the 2015 winners, said the outstanding quality of the entries had given the judges a difficult job but was encouraging for the future of the industry, which is worth around £960 million.

The winners were:

Gold: Peter Geissler (De Montfort University)

Silver: Kacper Benicewicz (UCA Rochester)

Bronze: Joshua Younger (UCA Farnham)

Kacper Benicewicz’s design – a garden bench – has gone into immediate production in the Alexander Rose range as the Augusta bench, made in Vietnam from cornis, an affordable hardwood.

Above: Kacper Benicewicz (left) and Joshua Younger (right) with their winner’s certificates. Peter Geissler’s Gold award was accepted by his university tutor, Nicki Theokritoff (centre).