Held alongside the World Architecture Festival, the INSIDE World Festival of Interiors today announced the best interior designs of 2017 across the categories of Bars & Restaurants, Civic, Culture & Transport, Creative Re-use Display, Hotels and Residential. The annual awards, which started yesterday at Arena Berlin, encompass the best interior designs from the past 12 months from around the globe. This year’s winners include a stripped back, industrial Hotel in Bangkok, a former missile manufacturing factory in Beijing, and a Museum housing a 16th Century Tudor warship in Portsmouth.
Neri&Hu Design and Research Office won the Creative Re-use Category for their architectural renovation and interior design of an Automobile Service Center in Beijing – The Garage. The former missile-manufacturing factory is conceived as a workshop space with cafes and offices to energise the space. The use of the concrete and steel material palette are directly influenced by the buildings industrial heritage, whilst an additional layer of luxuriously textured materials provide a sense of welcoming hospitality. The judges stated that the project “creates a benchmark for what is possible for the future of Beijing’s industrial neighbourhoods.” Highly commended went to Mason Bros. Interior by Warren and Mahoney Architects.
The Civic, Culture & Transport Category was claimed by Perkins+Will for their Mary Rose Museum, which houses the sixteenth century Tudor warship the Mary Rose in Portsmouth, UK. Perkins+Will have created a context gallery to highlight the precious contents of the ship and designed interiors to recreate the dark and claustrophobic atmosphere found below a ship’s deck. The praised the design for its “clear statement – not to compete, but to support and strengthen the exhibited project.”
The Display Category was won by Fabricwood – an installation created by Produce. Workshop and displayed at The Herman Miller shop in Singapore. A 20m long 7m wide sail made of plywood, the symmetrical structure takes on the proportions of the iconic curves of the Herman Miller logo. ”This was a clever innovative installation with resonance well beyond the brief and specific location of the project” – the judges commented. Highly commended went to Loco Local for Hermes by AK+.
The Bars and Restaurants Category went to Big Small Coffee and Guestroom in China. Project architects Office AIO were able to create what the judges called “a very poetic sense of space.” The project consists of two parts: a coffee bar (19 sqm) and a guest room (15 sqm) linked by a courtyard. The intention was to bring serious artisan coffee to their customers in a small space. The judges praised the clear and sensible treatment of location, materials and smart architectural details.
The Ir-On Hotel in Bangkok, Thailand by Hypothesis has won the Hotel Category at INSIDE World Festival of Interiors 2017. The designers stripped back the 8-storey building to reveal only beams and pillars to create a raw industrial aesthetic. All guest rooms are decorated in a monochrome colour scheme enhanced by steel structures at various angles. The judges heralded this project for its expressive relationship with its cultural context as well as its inventive re-use of materials.
The Residential Category was claimed by SJB for their Cleveland Rooftop in Sydney Australia. This apartment is a new structure spanning between two original rooftop elements. Internally the apartment is organized around connections to the sky; a number of skylights punctuate the plan, delivering light to the entry lobby, bathrooms and internalised corridor. The private garden is predominantly native, creating an oasis for indigenous birds and insects of the city. The judges commented that this project “finely balances the public and private realm and does so with a high degree of design rigour.”
Photo credit: Residential
The nine successful category winners will now go head-to-head on the final day of the event tomorrow to be named World Interior of the Year 2017.
As well as the INSIDE World Festival Awards programme, visitors to the festival were able to experience an in-depth talks programme which explored this year’s theme of ‘Performance’, and how the individual relates to interior space and how material, colour, light and sound contribute to creating high performing interiors. Today’s events included discussions between Jaime Oliver, Director of OHLAB/Oliver Hernaiz Architecture Lab and Rossana Hu, Co Founder, Neri & Hu on the topic of designing for collective experience in Religion, Theatre and Civic facilities. Eisuke Tachikawa, Director, Nosigner presented his ideas on seeing interiors through a lens and the world of set design for film. Italian Interior Desiger Fabio Novembre closed the INSIDE World Festival Stage with a discussion on design as spectacle and the fluid worlds of art, architecture, design and fashion.