DESIGNER DEBRA PARKINGTON IS BRINGING A COOL NEW BEAT TO HIP DURBAN INTERIORS, WITH STYLISH SHOPS, RESTAURANTS AND LOUNGE BARS ALREADY UNDER HER FASHIONABLE BELT

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a different drum

Text and production Glynis Horning Photographs Sally Chance

UP CLOSE

ABOVE Upbeat in the living room – the bedstead-cum-chaise is covered in a ’70s spread and the painting is by friend Edward Berridge, designer of GEHB handbags. BELOW In the rest of the room, retro rules in fabric from the Waste Centre 031-312-6223, a handed-down ’70s spin tub chair, and lampshades by fashion designers Laurie and Gary Holmes, 082-455-2182. OPPOSITE The ultra-cool booths and tub lights Debra designed for The Reform Club 031-303-1802.

Somehow it comes as no surprise to discover that Debra

Parkington is a drummer. This precociously talented young Durban-

based interior and environmental designer is clearly not one to march

to anyone else’s beat. The environments she has shaped at venues

like Home on Windermere Road and The Reform Club on Florida

Road are as fresh as they are bold, as whimsical and witty as they are

well-informed. Much like Debra herself.

The daughter of hoteliers, Debra grew up in other people’s spaces,

and soon became intrigued about how these operated. Inspired by a

‘highly creative’ grandmother, now 90 – ‘she dressed her bridesmaids

in sari fabric more than half a century ago!’ – Debra was soon making

her own clothes and regularly rearranging the family furniture.

At 13 she began drumming, going on to play with Interitmo Drummers

and recording a CD in 1998: ‘I was brought up with a love of jazz and

rock ’n roll, so playing drums was a good way to express myself,’

she shrugs. When Interitmo played at a Durban Designer Collection

event, Debra was inspired, and in 1999 she collaborated with fashion

designer Geraldine de Beer and jewellery designer Phillippa Green on a

clothing collection made from furnishing and upholstery fabrics, shown

against matching screens. Collaborations have since become Debra’s

trademark. ‘I’m energised by other people’s passion,’ she says.

Focussing on interior design at the Durban Institute of Technology,

Debra won most of the major student awards, and began her career

with adventurous interior designer Grant Webster. ‘He was great! I

was just 23, but from the start he handed me full projects. I handled

everything for clients from full retail design to graphic identity, signage,

packaging design and in-store merchandising.’

She completed two shops and a restaurant in just nine months

and was on holiday in Dubai, already ‘ripe for change,’ when Durban

architect and furniture designer Richard Stretton approached her to

form an architectural and interior design consultancy, Urban System

Effectives (USE), to be based at Koop, Richard’s restored home

turned offi ce and shop in Glenwood.

It’s with USE that Debra has been laying down a new beat for off-duty

Durban. Working with award-winning graphic design siblings Susie and

Richard Hart of Disturbance Design, she gave their 2-D designs a 3-D

spin for Home, a wickedly appealing lounge club cum gallery and shop,

as celebrated for its sophisticated graffi ti as its comfort food.

The Reform Club followed, where Debra fashioned a contemporary

‘gentleman’s club for both sexes’ by collaborating with copy writer

Paul Zeidler of International Trend Information on the name, graphic

designer Lisa van Rensburg on the graphic identity, artist Sue Smith,

who carried the club’s angel logo through to even the toilet walls, and

jewellery designer Monica Nel of Pure, who made extraordinary seat

backs (from the belts in sash windows!) for the balcony.

This is where the city’s movers chill. And it’s where you’d fi nd Debra

most nights, if it weren’t for the even more compelling pull of the

lower-Morningside home of her boyfriend, a medical doctor and fellow

outdoor adventure addict. ‘I’m guess I’m just a sucker for a really

deep verandah space with a sea view,’ she sighs contentedly.

USE 031-201-1541

GREAT STYLE IS… ‘A gift, so share it.’

H O M E A two-storey Morningside

townhouse in the grounds of a listed

home, Woodley Lodge, which she shares

with a friend: ‘very Will and Grace!’ Her

style is ‘budget eclectic – just stuff that

makes me smile. I thought I had minimalist

tendencies, but I’ve discovered a love for

colour, pattern, print and happy clutter.’

S T U D I O Vibey blend of story-boards,

swatches, Elvis dolls and hula-hoop

mobiles behind Koop, the renovated

Bulwer Road home that doubles as USE

offi ces and interiors shop.

I N T E R I O R D E S I G N S T Y L E ‘High-

concept spaces that are comfortable as

well as entertaining.’

L I F E I N S A ‘Great for work and play,

ripe with opportunity. Durban rocks!’

T H E F U T U R E ‘Lots more design, and

travel. A silver jewellery course in Mexico,

walking in South America, surfi ng in

Indonesia for the season.’

I N F L U E N C E S ‘There are many brilliant

designers who inspire me, but it all comes

down to human nature – the best design is

shaped by people’s needs and behaviour.’

W H AT W O U L D Y O U S AV E I N A

F I R E ? ‘Thomas and Tessa, my Belgian

and German shepherd dogs, Tuesday my

cat, then probably my photo albums.’

D I S L I K E S ‘Glass bricks, ceiling lights,

and treadplate used internally. It should

stay on external staircases!’

C A N ’ T L I V E W I T H O U T ‘Love.’

B E S T A D V I C E ? ‘From my gran: Don’t

react, respond. (Stop, think, formulate.)’

T O P D E C O R T I P ‘Don’t take yourself

too seriously.’

FAV O U R I T E C O L O U R ? ‘Powder

blue.’

C O O L C L O T H E S ‘Amanda Laird

Cherry and Colleen Eitzen by day, and party

dresses with loads of bling-bling for night.’

FAV O U R I T E H A N G - O U T ‘My

boyfriend’s verandah overlooking the

beach at sunrise, Trans-Africa Express

for sundowners over the harbour, and the

deck at Home to play.’

S H O P S O F C H O I C E ‘Eclectic, Re-

Store, Space, DDE.’

W H E R E D O Y O U E AT ? ‘Bean Bag

Bohemia, Cafe 1999, Kara Nichha’s in

Prince Alfred Street, and the coffee shop

at New Pier for brekkie after a surf.’

FAV O U R I T E D R I N K ? ‘Champagne.’

W H AT M A K E S Y O U T I C K ?

‘Laugher and people with passion.’

W H AT D O Y O U D O T O R E L A X ?

‘Head off for beach, berg or bush

weekends, or just sleep.’

HOME TRUTHS

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UP CLOSE

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ABOVE LEFT Hanging loose in Debra’s office, with a mobile made for a paediatric ward. RIGHT In her bedroom, an upholstered screen Debra made for the Durban Designer Collection holds a kimono her mother brought her from Japan, and favourite accessories. OPPOSITE, LEFT The translucent marble bar Debra designed for The Reform Club. CENTRE Party shoes! RIGHT A hand-woven coir cushion from the BAT Shop 031-332-9951 and fake fur from the Waste Centre make a garden shrine.

Who is she? 25-year-old Durban Institute of Technology interior design graduate with

a degree in design technology and post-graduate studies in web design, multimedia

and internet publishing; environmental and interior designer and lecturer; drummer,

diver, surfer, hiker, recent skateboarder, inveterate shopper; award-winner; innovator.

Why we’re watching her? With homes, stylish shops (Vernon White Jewellers, Ios and

Very Berry), a resort (Makakatana Bay Lodge near Hluhluwe) and some of Durban’s

coolest clubs already under her belt, she’s one of the city’s busiest young interior

designers. She’s also a catalyst for creative action, collaborating with young talent in

other fi elds. And she’s involved in community and charity projects, sourcing sponsors

and decorating the children’s paediatric and orthopaedic wards at RK Khan hospital

last Christmas. Her next project? A six-bedroom boutique hotel at Sheffi eld Beach

on the North Coast. Why you’ll like her? She’s infectiously energetic, passionate but

unfl appable, confi dent without being pushy, and articulate with a wry sense of humour.

She’s also generous with her time and her appreciation of others in related fi elds.

DEBRA PARKINGTON: THE LOWDOWN