An Ethical Spark – Fire for Life by Escea Fireplace Company Awarded Gold at NZ Best Design Awards

Dunedin-based Escea Fireplace Company has been awarded gold at the NZ Best Design Awards for their not-for-profit initiative, Fire for Life. The awards, held by the Designers Institute of New Zealand (DINZ), recognised Fire for Life as the winner of three categories, awarding it a Gold and prestigious Purple Award in the Public Good category, and a Gold Award in the Non-Consumer Product category.

Locally owned and operated, Escea is a much-loved brand that produces innovative fireplace solutions in New Zealand and globally. Born from ethical and humanitarian motives, the company’s initiative, Fire for Life, received recognition due to its inspiring, innovative design and mission. Escea Founder Nigel Bamford learnt that smoke inhalation from open-fire cooking in the developing world is unsafe, unhealthy and inefficient, whilst access to fuel is often scarce and expensive. Determined to find a solution, Escea’s designers and engineers created a portable, lightweight stove that uses a spiral air pathway to create a vortex of flame – ensuring efficient, smoke-reduced cooking.

Not just a product, but an initiative that’s making a meaningful impact on the lives of thousands of families in the developing world, Fire for Life reveals Escea’s commitment to global issues.

The resulting products and recent accolades solidify the brand as a pioneering force in the industry. Nigel reflects, “it’s an absolute privilege to be recognised for our efforts in creating positive change. With the skills and technology at our disposal, it just made sense to do something that could have a significant, positive impact and improve the lives of people.”

Not just a product, but an initiative that’s making a meaningful impact on the lives of thousands of families in the developing world, Fire for Life reveals Escea’s commitment to global issues. Through bold and innovative fireplace design and manufacturing, this recognition helps to raise awareness of a timely issue and encourage a positive change. The initiative has also caught the attention of ReliefAid, which joined forces to get the stoves to families in need. The stoves were flat-packed in the Escea factory in Dunedin, shipped to the team at ReliefAid and assembled in Syria. Since 2021, nearly 5,000 displaced families in Syria have been able to cook more efficiently with Fire for Life stoves.

The Judge Convenor of the Public Good category, Stephen McCarthy, says, “what impressed us most about Fire for Life was its practical approach to a real-world problem that Escea solved in the simplest way. And it wasn’t just the design of the stove itself. Every detail of the stove’s design and journey has been thoroughly thought through, from its flat-pack design for transportation, the use of manufacturing in off-peak times, to the assembly of the stoves by locals on the ground.”

Born from ethical and humanitarian motives, the company’s initiative, Fire for Life, received recognition due to its inspiring, innovative design and mission.

Praise for Fire for Life from judges in the Product Design category was aplenty. One judge commented the stoves were a “welcome design, free from trends, styles and popular opinions – just an answer to a global problem with careful thought at every turn.” They continue, “from efficiency in shipping, scale, through to local resources and production, this project shows true meaning to design for public good, with design thought from the south of Aotearoa helping thousands on the other side of the planet.” Another judge concluded it was “an excellent example of applying one’s trade and tools to an unseen and unique problem on the other side of the planet.”

An established leader in fireplace design and manufacturing, Escea communicates its commitment to ethical and humanitarian efforts through its latest initiative, signally a continued journey towards not only providing quality design but inciting positive change.