Judges left to right:
Nico Yainnikkou – Creative Director at Y2DC
Lee Hallman – Head of Candy & Candy Design
Daniel Herriott – Associate & Interior Designer, HOK
Cathy Strongman – Freelance Journalist
Fiona Livingstone, Co-founder Studiofibre
Wayne Hemingway and Sir Terence Conran 

First up was Wells Mackereth’s House, Little Venice, “Love it!” was the unanimous response from the jury. “Be nice if they invited us all for dinner, I’d love to look around”, was Herriott’s response.The jury judged all the entries on a number of factors including originality, innovation, form and special quality, sustainability and context, also how the design addressed the key elements of the client brief.

One Plus Partnership’s YOHO Midtown Residential Clubhouse, Hong Kong, was greatly admired by the entire panel especially Conran: “It captures the luxurious feel of an exclusive club with an interesting use of materials. I have worked on similar projects in Asia and I’m sure it will be a very popular design scheme, particularly the 24-hour lounge and use of timber. I also liked the basketball and table tennis rooms – inspiration for the London Olympics?!”

Hemingway also liked the Kubrick Bookshop: “Nice colour scheme and lighting design, small but perfectly formed.” He also commented on the Hackney Picture House saying it had “great signage and use of colour and material”.

Strongman and Livingston both loved the Laurence Church in Rotterdam, but in the end YOHO just pipped it to the post to win the Culture and Civic category.

Sander Architecten’s Rabobank in Ultrecht won Workspace, the largest category in the Awards. “Excellent use of materials that have been used to make smaller spaces within a large space, nice colour palette too.”

Livingston loved the living wall in the Diesel Headquarters and again commented on good use of materials.

Other projects of particular note were BVN Architecture’s Aecom Brisbane Workplace, “a nice concept bringing the outdoors indoors”, and The Black Box, Neri & Hu’s design and research offices in Shanghai were “crisp and modern, we like the use of brick and exposed concrete, but still probably more an architectural project than interiors submission”.

Stadsmission School in Stockholm won the Education Category for its “good use of space and sustainability with limited resources”. Hemingway thought Savannah College of Art & Design made for “an inspiring learning environment” and that Media Plaza demonstrated a great use of colour.

Everyone was unanimous that BVN’s Robina Hospital should win the Healthcare category. No other entries were shortlisted.

Conran was very keen on Hotel Beaux Arts in Miami by RTKL: “The boutique hotel market is somewhat crowded, so I was surprised how much I was drawn to this project, but it had so much personality and character it just stood out for me.” But in the end only Hotel De La Paix in Luang Prabang was chosen as winner for the Hotel category.

We had a stunning selection of projects for the Residential Category, Conran elaborates: “This was by far the hardest category to pick a winner, I had to think long and hard between my top four choices.”
Conran was effusive: “Little Venice is where I would most like to live myself. It is dramatic yet still feels like a home because it is full of personality with so many interesting features and attention to detail. Excellent use of British craftsmanship too – you see, we are the finest in the world and really can make things! I also like the intelligent use of light; it is flooded with light but also uses mood lighting to great effect. Is it for sale?”

Livingston and Strongman admired One La Salle saying it had a “modest design with a gentle palette.”

Neri & Hu’s The Overlapping Land won favour with Herriott: “I love this, I actually have it on my Facebook page!” Leeman thought it was a very accomplished architecture project, but not necessarily an interiors project. Yainnikkou agreed: “An amazing, fantastic building.”

Hemingway thought Woven Nest demonstrated a great use of small space: “Crisp, clean and modern.”

Livingston liked Vienna Way Residence in California: “I’ve seen it before, but I really like this lovely modernist house, and the landscaping is great.”

Strongman was very keen on Plus Design’s house in Indonesia: “Very House & Gardens, brilliantly executed, the whole house is very cohesive.”

Hallman had to leave the panel while the jury reviewed Candy & Candy’s Mayfair Mews House, Bourdon St. “The detailing is fantastic”, said Strongman, Livingston agreed: “It meets the brief, exactly what you would expect from Candy & Candy, there’s plenty of interior design in the project, while others were more architecturally focused.”

Strongman also felt we should explain the winning project Alemany 5, Girona, by Anna Noguera Arquitecta because it was “not necessary an obvious choice”. Herriott agreed: “It could so easily have been overdone, but they really restrained themselves and the result is beautiful detailing.” Yainnikkou also admired this project saying: “It’s exactly what you would expect an architect to design.”

Unsurprisingly Conran had strong views on the Restaurant & Bar category: ‘I like the Wright Restaurant an awful lot – pardon the pun but it just feels so right for the building – so very Guggenheim. I love the sculptural ceiling, which pays homage to the architecture of the building and the intense flashes of colour from the artwork. It is not easy to combine vibrancy and elegance, but they really have managed this perfectly, whilst selecting perfectly sympathetic furniture.”

Hemingway admired Kubrick Bookshop & Café: “Nice colour scheme, like the lighting design, nice furniture, small but perfectly formed.”

He also thought Neri & Hu’s Pollen Street was a great project: “Makes me want to eat there.”

The entire panel agreed that Outsider Tart had great signage, lovely use of materials and was a “cute little shop”.

However, it was the young designers at HASSELL who won the panel’s vote, for its social aim of engaging people in unused areas around the city fringe using their version of a Japanese food truck. “Top marks for innovation”, remarked Herriott.