Over 650 interior design and construction industry professionals gathered at this year’s Association of Registered Interior Designers of Ontario (ARIDO) Awards Gala which took place on October 5, 2023, at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel in Toronto.
This year marked the 40th anniversary of the gala, which returned to its in-person format for the first time since 2019 to recognize a total of 14 interior design projects.
The awards program this year put a spotlight on completed interior design projects in the awards categories CARE (healthcare and wellness spaces), EAT + STAY (restaurants, bars, hotels, nightclubs), LEARN (education spaces including postsecondary facilities), and WORK (commercial offices spaces from 0 to 50,000 square feet), DISTINCT, and CRAFT.
In addition to the 40th anniversary milestone, this year’s gala also marked the return of the Gary Hewson Scholarship, named after a former ARIDO President (2005-6), Gary Hewson, who was a pillar of the ARIDO community.
The scholarship invites one student from each ARIDO recognized post-secondary interior design program to attend the event. Recipients of this year’s scholarship include Brooke Hebner (Georgian College), Dhvani Savaliya (Yorkville University), Feiga Werner (Toronto Metropolitan University), Jenny Bae Huggon (Sheridan College), Kirpa Channa (OCAD University), Madalynne Bouwmeester, (Conestoga College), Mélissa Marchand (Algonquin College), Rozlyn Mead (Humber College), and Victoria Newman ) Fanshawe College).
