Metal kava bowl finalist in NZ design awards

A new take on the traditional Kava bowl is a finalist of the 2024 Best Design Awards.

The Kava bowl, dubbed “The G-Bowl”, offers a detachable five-litre hand spun metal bowl resting on a wooden frame.

Brett Band designed the bowl alongside Anau Mesui-Henry and Todd Henry to be sold and used at their store; The Four Shells Kava Lounge.

Henry says the metal kava bowl idea originally came out of necessity to meet council requirements.

“They wanted us to be using some sort of stainless steel, food grade material, or wood that has a food-safe coating over it.

Design sketches of the "G-Bowl". Photo/Supplied

“So we started thinking about what we could do to kind of get around that, like making a kava bowl that pays homage to the traditional design, is clearly made for kava, but is also quite different. It'll tick the boxes of the council regulations.”

The G-Bowl uses food-safe alloys like stainless steel and copper, and Henry said people noticed a different tasting experience.

“Some people were saying that the kava feels like it stays colder, in the metal bowl.

“I used to think that people wouldn't like it cold, but now we get people coming in asking for cold kava. I think our taste buds interpret those bitter notes differently when the kava is cold, you can't taste it as strongly.”

Kava researcher Dr Apo Aporosa said the G-Bowl showed respect for the tradition that Kava holds.

“Four Shells clearly demonstrate an awareness of the potential for cultural appropriation, commitmenting to avoiding such exploitative and disrespectful behaviour.

“In essence, what they have produced is not a traditional kava bowl but rather a purpose-built, culturally respectful receptacle for serving kava to their clients. I believe they should be commended for their cultural consideration.”

Design and development

Research pictures taken on the history of Kava. Photo/Supplied

Band did a deep dive into the history and cultural significance of kava and the kava bowl for two months before coming up with a prototype.

“I looked into any images that I could find from museums that had Kava Bowls from a really long time ago. What I found was really interesting…Some of them were carved out to be shapes of a turtle, other ones had more than 20 legs.

“One aspect that Anau and Todd made really clear was that the detail at the front where the rope connects to is essential. There needs to be a placement at the front which resembles the shape of a triangle and can have a hole to go through.”

Henry wanted to be very clear that the G-bowl isn't made to replace the traditional crafts from the islands, but to be used as a showpiece alternative.

“It meets the need for a new, contemporary context of Kava drinking, but still upholds the essence of why we drink kava, and people will still come together around these bowls.”

Band used his experience developing bespoke watches at his company Paceracer to help with the design.

“The same process that I go through with personally designing watches…where you research something and you study the materials, you study the environment and you try and work out a responsible way for designing something so that resembles what the customer needs and what the stakeholder needs.”

Both stainless steel and copper versions of the "G-Bowl". Photo/Supplied

The G-Bowl took over six months to go from conceptual design into a physical product.

Starting the project in February, Band had to rush the production of the bowl with all their suppliers to make it in time for the Best Design Awards.

“To make this product in time for the award entries was really hard to do.

“They only had a week and a half, it was really hard because they'd never done it.”

After the time crunch and hard work, Band is happy he gets to share this achievement with Anau and Todd.

“Sure, it's taken a lot of work for me to do, but it's their baby. It was really exciting to share that with them. I was really stoked for myself because it's always nice to see that.

“It was awesome to say, ‘Hey look, you guys have invested in designing this new product, and it's actually getting noticed.’ So it was really special that I could see a lot of excitement from them, I'm really stoked and they were too.”

Band and nine other designers are in the Designed Objects category as finalists for the Best Design Awards, the winner will be announced on 11 October 2024.