Sponsors of the SBID International Design Awards for the Residential House Under £1M category, Kassavello supply curated and bespoke luxury furnishing solutions for interior designers. The Director and founder, Ana Azevedo shares insight into how they work directly with designers to help them source the right furnishings for their projects.
What are the origins of your brand? Launched in 2015, myself and Renata Teixeira spotted the opportunity to bring high quality, handcrafted yet fairly-priced Portuguese furniture to the UK market. Kassavello has since become a luxury furniture design atelier dually based in both England and Portugal. Our roots are firmly entwined with Portuguese craftsmanship and artisanal design and, over time, the business has organically grown to encompass two complementary areas of expertise: Curated products from elite brands and Bespoke furniture production.
How do you work with interior designers? We offer a high-end, bespoke furniture design service for interior designers and architects that includes complex finishes and detailing. Our extensive portfolio of manufacturers have been carefully selected for their quality, reliability and craftsmanship and we frequently use different artisans to deliver individual elements of one piece to guarantee the highest possible standards of workmanship.
We also have an extensive portfolio of curated products from elite brands and often work closely with our clients to select items for their projects. Our services range from producing all technical drawings for bespoke projects, to personally organising and supervising shipping and installation.
What value does your sector add to the interior design industry?
We supply high-end furniture for both residential and commercial projects, offering a very personal and tailored service to help designers source the right furnishings for their projects. We believe that beautiful handcrafted furniture and design should be accessible to all. From covetable sofas to striking mirrors, our expert team have hand-picked the brands that we partner with and the curated pieces that we sell.
How does your offering enhance an interior designer’s projects?
With a strong focus on customer service, Kassavello offers a premium and tailored service. Working closely with discerning clientele and leading interior designers, we have developed a reputation for delivering products and designs of the highest calibre to residences across the world. We have a team of experts available to advise on every step of the process and we work collaboratively with our clients from specification phase to the installation of a project; ensuring a full level of support throughout the project development.
What are the latest trends you’ve noticed in your client’s requests?
More recently, we are noticing that organic shapes and textured materials are increasing in popularity among our clients. Also, the desire to use natural materials like cane, stone and brass is growing significantly.
Why did you want to become a sponsor for the SBID Awards?
We wanted to sponsor the SBID Awards because it’s a very prestigious event that celebrates design and serves as a fantastic opportunity to network within our target market.
Sponsorship for the SBID International Design Awards 2020 is now open.
To find out more about becoming an SBID Awards sponsor next year click here or email [email protected]
This week's instalment of the #SBIDinspire interior design series features the SBID Award winning project for Residential Apartment Under £1M. Located in the centre of Kiev in a property whose architectural heritage dates from the 19th century, the apartment boasts high ceilings, a clear rhythm of windows and good proportions in every room. The project is created in the American classic style with an Art Déco theme, balanced with a welcoming and comfortable aesthetic; there isn’t any overblown show of luxury to distract the eye.
SBID Awards: Residential Apartment Under £1M winner sponsored by Lalique
Company: Kolomoiets-Project
Project: Apartment with History
Location: Kiev, Ukraine
What was the client's brief?
The customer has expressed a wish to completely re-plan the apartment, considering the habitation of a couple. In terms of the interior design, he has suggested finding a balance of historic style, respectability, sophistication and functionality.
What inspired the interior design of the project?
In one of the Kyiv salons, we acquired a chair in the style of Louis XV; classic in shape, modern in decoration with ebony and wool upholstery of a local fuchsia colour. Later, it took the place of the dominant subject in the living room. The balance of classic architectural forms and aesthetics using colour and materials of the 21st century became our main idea and motto. The fact that the apartment is located in a late 19th century building with a rich facade in the historic city centre inspired some of the design decisions and solutions throughout.
What was the toughest hurdle your team overcame during the project?
While reconstructing the old wooden floor, the floor level has rose by 250mm. This led to the arrangement of two steps in front of the front door. The home office also inherited a passage to the laundry room, namely a disproportionately low opening in the load-bearing wall. We made the decision to decorate this passage with a double-leafed, stained glass door which became a particular highlight in this room.
What was your team’s highlight of the project?
We achieved a good design solution in the living room area by using a boiserie of old Venetian mirrors. They extended the space somewhat and enhanced the decorative effect of the room.
Why did you enter the SBID Awards?
Design is a creative method, process and result. No less important for the development of creativity is the professionals’ evaluation, especially on a global scale - and that is why it was so important for us to participate in the SBID Awards!
Questions answered by Alla Kolomoiets of Kolomoiets-Project
If you missed last week's Project of the Week featuring the SBID Award winners for Development Sales Centre which combine traditional culture with modernity and contemporary spaces, click here to see more.
We hope you feel inspired by this week's Residential design! Let us know what inspired you #SBIDinspire
SBID Awards 2019 | Residential Apartment Under £1M Winner sponsored by Lalique
Matt Robb, Digital Media Executive at Stone Federation shares how 100 years of experience in the natural stone industry help them guide, support and inform design professionals when specifying stone for their projects. Keep scrolling to find out more about the SBID International Design Awards sponsor for the Healthcare & Wellness Design category.
What are the origins of your brand?
Stone Federation has existed in various guises for over a century. We have over 100 years’ experience in the natural stone industry with the longstanding goal of connecting specifiers with the very best materials and companies. There has always been a need for an independent body to champion natural stone and to promote best practice within the industry and in this way, the activity and aims of the Federation have stayed the same while the methods and markets have developed.
How do you work with interior designers?
Our work with interior designers is primarily focused around connecting them the best materials and companies for their project. We have a wealth of free design and technical resources to help design professionals take full advantage of the potential that natural stone provides. We also connect interior designers with the member companies who are best placed to service their specific requirements.
Natural stone has a rich history of providing interior designers with a wealth of options in both texture and colour. The natural stone sector has a high value for best practice and education and works hard to ensure that we provide specifiers with the right information for the materials they use.
As the independent natural stone source point, we connect interior designers with a wealth of technical resources, stone sourcing guidance and opportunities to connect with suppliers.
We’ve seen an encouraging increase in the number of specifiers placing a higher value on materials that deliver not only the required aesthetic but also the ethical and sustainable assurances that more and more clients are looking for.
SBID and Stone Federation have a strong working relationship built upon a mutual desire to promote best practice and education within the design and architectural sectors. There is a natural synergy between interior designers and the vast design potential that natural stone provides.
This week's instalment of the #SBIDinspire interior design series features the SBID Award winning project for Development Sales Centres. For this project, Matrix Design was able to combine traditional elements to imbue the contemporary space with historical elegance. With neat sequences of stone wall stitching, splicing and carefully planned lighting, the space evokes a strong sense of luxury. Applying geometric vision to the use of shapes, site lines and the square caisson ceiling feature elevates the environment with powerful perspectives, while decorations like the floating book pages makes it feel like the visitor is entering a new dimension; like the pathway of a time traveller, entering into a timeless space.
SBID Awards: Development Sales Centre winner sponsored by Vessel Gallery
Company: Matrix Design
Project: Gemdale Fenghua International Sales Center Nanjing
Location: Jiangsu, China
Fenghua series is one of the three high-end product lines of Gemdale Group. This project is located in Jiangbei New District, Nanjing, China. The design concept of the client was to build an art museum with a modern, Oriental aesthetic to experience international fashion, which is differentiated and artistic on the basis of traditional Chinese design and style.
In the whole project design, light is the main source of inspiration. As a poetic architectural language, it also becomes a kind of virtual material of space composition. The designers want to make the space full of personality and fully mobilise the emotion of customers through the ingenious construction. The Pantheon cast light from the hollow of the dome, creating a mysterious atmosphere. This classic work makes people feel the real existence of space. Based on this effect, we presented a scene of light shooting into the interior above the sand table area at the centre of the project.
The difficulty of the design in this case was the choice of style. In order to achieve this style, the design team needed to find ways to relieve the 'cold' feeling of the interior which is due to the white/neutral colour scheme, vastness of spaces and modern architectural language, whilst staying true to the original design brief; to add cultural character.
Elements of traditional culture can be found incorporated into the design which endows the modern space with historic elegance. Achieving this brief was certainly a highlight, however key features in the design also stood out to me. The geometry and grandness of the square caisson ceiling is powerful and energetic with a complex layered structure extending up into the dome. Also, the installation of floating book pages cascading down the staircase as it creates the feeling that you are time-travelling into a new, timeless space.
We entered through the recommendation of our culture agency DESIGNKEEPER who informed us of the SBID Awards and the prestige associated with this accolade. In view of the confidence and satisfaction of this project, and the hope to know our own level and shortcomings through a fair competition with excellent design teams from all over the world, we participated in this competition.
Questions answered by Liu Jianhui, Wang Guan and Wang Zhaobao of Matrix Design
If you missed last week's Project of the Week featuring SBID Award winners for Restaurant Design with the playful charm and intoxicating narrative of famous Italian chef, Massimo Bottura, click here to see more.
We hope you feel inspired by this week's Development design! Let us know what inspired you #SBIDinspire
SBID Awards 2019 | Development Sales Centre Winner sponsored by Vessel Gallery
Sponsors of the SBID International Design Awards for the Office Design category reveals how they help to create happy, healthy, high performing working and learning environments with their range of smart, contract furniture solutions for office, workplace and healthcare spaces. Jonathan Hindle, Group Managing Director E.M.E.A of KI tells us more...
KI (Krueger International, Inc.) is headquartered in Wisconsin, USA; was founded in 1941, and has been a contract furniture manufacturer ever since. Fully employee-owned, KI has grown to become one of the world's largest, most respected furniture manufacturing groups. KI’s EMEA headquarters and showroom in Central London is supported by an established network of manufacturing facilities and distribution partners across the UK, Europe and the Middle East committed to providing customers with smart solutions for Workplace, Education and Healthcare Sectors.
KI engages with interior designers and specifiers both directly and through a global network of showrooms and resellers. It has offered a unique Market of One manufacturing philosophy for many years and supports specifiers with the opportunity to design and build the furniture the want quickly and cost effectively through its Infinity programme. There are many online tools to assist designers such as See it Spec It, CAD and Revit Symbols, Image Libraries and Finishes options libraries to assist with Specification and Planning.
We provide a valuable furniture engineering design and manufacturing resource for workplace, education and healthcare interiors. KI’s furniture helps the world’s leading organisations create happy, healthy, high performing working and learning environments. We strive to improves productivity through the design and manufacture of furniture solutions which both optimise floor plans and stimulate users. We also know how diverse furniture requirements can be, so by working to understand what our client's need, we can deliver the ideal solution.
As above. Not only do our products represent cutting edge solutions to furniture requirements in workplace, education and healthcare environments, KI brings together good design, advanced engineering and sustainable resources to produce products that are durable, flexible and offer excellent value.
KI products can help designers meet client needs by improving productivity of the end-user through the design and manufacture of furniture solutions which both stimulate and provide efficiencies; meeting the demands of evolving workplaces. Customers throughout the world come to KI, not just for high-quality contract furniture but for the knowledge to make the right choices. Working with KI gives you access to our wealth of experience and innovation, so we can help you select the perfect furniture for the desired application.
KI Europe has recently introduced the 800 Series Shelving System, designed to offer a flexible platform for designers to divide space in open plan offices with shelving systems providing a domestic aesthetic. We have introduced a new seating range utilising the latest injection moulding techniques to provide flexible comfort and a lightweight aesthetic called Grafton, a new injection moulded dining chair called Hatton an enhancement to the market leading education seating range Postura+ providing fully recycled plastic options and a new generation Sit/Stand Collection of desking and benching called Work 2.1 to meet the evolving requirements for enhanced wellness across major organisations.
We wanted to engage with the SBID in order to better promote KI’s capabilities and desire to work with the world leading design practices which the SBID attract.
This week's instalment of the #SBIDinspire interior design series features the playful charm and intoxicating narrative of Torno Subito for Massimo Bottura; the Italian restaurateur's latest venture in Dubai. Vibrantly captured by Bishop Design by Paul Bishop, the SBID Award winning project for the Restaurant Design category is an explosion of utterly beautiful reminiscence.
Ultimately la dolce vita, with colour-bombs and beachside terrace, Torno Subito is situated within the latest W Hotel offering upon The Palm Jumeirah Dubai. The venue beautifully fuses design, food and influences from the golden days in one harmonious offering, through an intoxicating reflection of Massimo’s affection with the past; also mirroring his culinary approach of ‘tradition in evolution’. With its distinctive storyline, Torno Subito brings a playful charm to the UAE as it completely immerses guests within its narrative; infused with sunshine-yellow tiles, Italian-punk inspired artworks and a Polaroid photo feature ceiling. Entirely ahead of its time, Torno Subito revolutionises the F&B (food and beverage) landscape as a pioneer of immersive dining.
SBID Awards: Restaurant Design winner sponsored by Perennials and Sutherland
Company: Bishop Design by Paul Bishop
Project: Torno Subito
Location: Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Photos by Alex Jeffries
Torno Subito, situated within the latest W Hotel upon the Palm Jumeirah Dubai, is a visual celebration for famed World’s number one chef and 3-star Michelin Holder Massimo Bottura. The chef known for passion, creativity and even his quirkiness saw a unique opportunity with this venture, in that he could recreate his childhood memories through intelligent design and an innovative food offering. The brief was simply to realize the sentiment of Massimo having fun. A metaphysical manifestation of beachside days reminiscent of Rimini’s coastal playground in the 1950s/60s - fun-filled days enjoying amazing food, drinks and ultimate relaxation. The interiors were to transport you to destinations beyond imagination through an intoxicating reflection of Massimo’s affection with the past. Film was to be an integral expression throughout as inspiration from Fellini films took precedent. The venue was to be a beautiful fusion, bringing together design, food and influences from the golden days into one harmonious offering.
An intoxicating narrative of bygone days sets Torno Subito far beyond alternate offerings in the region, elevating the design as one of the most revolutionary in the country. Ultimately La Dolce Vita, with colour-bombs and beachside terrace, “Torno Subito” is an explosion of utterly beautiful reminiscence. Massimo’s “tradition in evolution” approach to food enticed the design direction to inherit the best of the past and carry it forward to the future. Days of Italian pop culture were to be relived in a bewitching series of pure memoirs, satisfying Dubai’s crave for an authentic experience in its absent nostalgia.
To capture a vision belonging to someone so passionate as Massimo was challenging, yet we superseded expectations by perfectly creating his desired narrative. So far beyond solely an F&B venue, the walls tell a beautiful story inspired by Massimo’s memories, enabling guests to relive Italian food markets and beachside days in 1950s/60s Rimini. Even the name itself “Torno Subito,” translating to “I’ll be back soon,” reflective of Italian shopkeeper window signs, perfectly captures the sentiments of the venues story, whilst playing a tongue-in-cheek reference to Massimo’s presence at the restaurant.
We had never worked to realize such an inspiring story as the one told Torno Subito. The narrative was enhanced through physically diversifying materials and installations evoking a recollection of memory and re-collection of object. Pastel tones compliment the bold color mélange; contrasting against a morphing monochromatic floor that seamlessly blends into a unique, three-dimensional sand-print flooring. An eclectic array of black and white Polaroid photos suspends from the ceiling, including films of Fellini and Massimo’s collection of nostalgic 1960s summers. Cinematic ideologies evolve through corrugated iron forms representative of cinema curtains, surrounding the WC entrance. Animated graphic-stamped ceiling panels float in irregular lines representing the canopies of old Italian food market tents that Massimo has been visiting since he was young.
Showcasing projects of the highest calibre all over the world, the SBID Awards stand as a desirable platform for every designer to share their work. It truly is a privilege to be able to submit a selection of our projects and be crowned SBID Award winners, as we become inspired year on year with the unprecedented talent and expertise that the awards showcase.
Questions answered by Paul Bishop, Owner and Founder of Bishop Design by Paul Bishop
If you missed last week's Project of the Week featuring SBID Award winners for CGI & Visualisation with the stunning visualisations of their skyscraping penthouse project, click here to see more.
We hope you feel inspired by this week's Restaurant Design! Let us know what inspired you #SBIDinspire
SBID Awards 2019 | Restaurant Design Winner sponsored by Perennials and Sutherland
This week's instalment of the #SBIDinspire interior design series features stunning residential CGI visualisations from the SBID Award winners for the CGI & Visualisation category with their cool, skyscraping penthouse project in London. Straddling the border between the Square Mile and Old Street, the Atlas Building takes in the best bits of both the City and East London. At 152 metres tall, it is Tech City’s newest and tallest residential addition, towering over all its surrounds. Ken Shuttleworth’s award-winning architecture practice MAKE has designed the building around nine enormous architectural blades, with a staggered design which creates a series of balconies and terraces.
Angel O’Donnell were commissioned by their client to design the incredible penthouse on the 38th floor. The design needed to be art-deco inspired whilst remaining current and cool, fit for the tech-titans that would be living in the building and working nearby. The client requested that Angel O’Donnell create CGIs in order to visualise the design within the space that would then also serve for marketing the apartment for letting purposes. Teaming up with the tech geniuses at Intermarketing, the team created CGIs that were truly astonishing, completely realistic and then topped off with a 360 degree walk through the penthouse.
SBID Awards: CGI & Visualisation Winner sponsored by Vectorworks
Company: Angel O'Donnell
Project: The Atlas Building
Location: London, United Kingdom
Whilst the client had a very strong idea of their design aspirations, the penthouse was ultimately to be a rental investment, so AOD needed to use as much commercial insight into the designs that they were producing as possible, to ensure it was fitting of the penthouse setting but equally that the fit-out cost was affordable whilst commensurate to a high-value rental property.
Given the long lead time before the building’s construction was due to be finished, the client requested that Angel O’Donnell produce CGIs that would provide complete clarity on the designs AOD had produced, featuring the exact furniture, colour schemes and fabrics as they would need to serve for marketing purposes.
We started with the idea New York City and the Great Gatsby, inspired by our client's love of art deco and being a Shoreditch sky scraper, it really was London's answer to New York! The view is like no other in a tall building in London, you really can see an entire London cityscape, North, South, East and West, completely panoramic! So of course, if one thinks Gatsby design, they think retro Gatsby scales and we wanted to have this as a feature in the master bedroom headboard but how we could incorporate that in a modern sky scraper in East London was a challenge, to go all out art deco wouldn't be right and it very much had to be a modern interpretation. Then on a trip to South of France, we were inspired by the all-round arches of the Pont Du Gard bridge near Nimes and felt by rounding off the Gatesby scales into arches, it gave the more modern look we were after! From there the design flowed, mixing modern, art-deco inspired loft with edgy Shoreditch penthouse.
Builders! Once the client had seen the fabulous CGIs and 360 degree walk through we had produced on our virtual reality goggles, he wanted the project complete as soon as possible. The challenge, however, was the main contractor who was struggling to finish the building so they could handover to the client and in turn to ourselves. We ended up having to work around the contractors which had impacts on snagging, the number of people on site and of course damage to our very expensive FF&E. However, at Angel O’Donnell, we take the view that there is no such word as “can’t” and everything is resolvable, so we put in some long shifts finishing at gone 1am to get the project finished and meet the client’s high expectations.
The comparison between the CGIs and the real thing! The CGIs were so realistic, it was easy to think that they were actual photographs, and when wearing the goggles, to believe you were in the actual apartment! Everyone was thrilled with the result and Intermarketing were able to add finesse to the visualisations that you just wouldn’t achieve from a typical render.
Between Ed O’Donnell and myself, we’ve got 20 years’ experience within the design and real estate industry but always working for others. Having established Angel O’Donnell only a year ago, we wanted to enter an awards where just being shortlisted would be a huge honour and provide us with industry recognition of our own. We never imagined that in this short space of time we would be recognised for our talent and being shortlisted (let alone actually winning!) is testament to the hard work and long hours we’ve been putting in over the last 12 months!
Questions answered by Richard Angel, Co-Founder of Angel O'Donnell
If you missed last week's Project of the Week featuring the SBID Awards' Overall Winner 2019 with the non-invasive and nature-inspired property in Mexico, click here to see more.
We hope you feel inspired by this week's CGI & Visualisation design! Let us know what inspired you #SBIDinspire
SBID Awards 2019 | CGI & Visualisation Winner sponsored by Vectorworks
This week's instalment of the #SBIDinspire interior design series features a nature-inspired property in Quintana Roo, Mexico which claimed the SBID Award for Overall Winner 2019. Centric to this award-winning design was the drive to redefine life in the jungle, promoting a non-invasive dialogue between architecture and its natural surroundings. Roth Architecture crafted this unique residence to harmoniously blend in with the environment, respecting and honouring the natural habitat that hosts it.
The use of ferro-cement was specifically chosen to avoid the introduction of heavy machinery into the jungle, thus preventing the felling of 250 trees. The finish, carefully crafted with local materials, makes this a unique space of purely organic forms.
SBID Awards: Overall Winner
Sector: Residential Design
Company: Roth Architecture
Project: Uh May Residence
Location: Quintana Roo, Mexico
The client’s request was to achieve a harmonious way of cohabiting with the idiosyncratic ecosystem. The main instruction was to have the least possible interference with nature by not cutting any trees and leaving the surface of the soil intact. The fundamental precept to preserve the curvature of the earth and not to cut any trees in the 10 hectares guided every step of the project. Our intention is to show that we can build by learning from nature and integrating and building on its teachings.
The project was inspired by the shape of the Fibonacci spiral. The house unfolds akin to the shell of a snail, respecting the golden cut while effortlessly meandering through the network of trees.
The purpose that guided the construction of the project was the integration of the intelligence of nature’s networking, specifically the information contained in the shape of the surface of the earth and conveyed through the network of trees. The intelligence of Earth’s ecosystem has evolved over millions of years, gradually becoming more accurate. Connected through mycelium, a complex fungus network that is still being researched, trees communicate, help and protect each other.
The toughest hurdle was, precisely, to not sacrifice any trees. We had to develop new construction techniques to preserve the natural fabric of the surroundings. Everything had to be done manually and in an artisanal manner, which resulted in fostering the collaborative spirit and consolidating our tribe akin to the experience Mayans would have had at the time the pyramids were built.
For this project I worked for the first time with trained architects which was a new experience, especially since I never followed a formal curriculum myself. When I would trace the outline of the construction in the air with my hand, and the architects would first transpose it into drawings on paper.
Whereas the Mayan members of the team would immediately process the outline, almost like through a photographic process, and start building without previously translating the vision into a concept.
In the course of the project we could observe a cross pollination between the two approaches which was a highly rewarding experience.
We are at a point in human evolution where it is necessary to redefine man’s place in the world through projects activating three fundamental pillars: art, nature and ancestral wisdom.
These three pillars inform not only each and every of our projects but also our organisational structure and the way we connect as a tribe.
Our architecture shows how human creation can harmoniously coexist with the natural world, a concept which was well understood by the original cultures who lived under these precepts and expressed them in a plastic way, with art and architecture operating as a bridge to the source.
Questions answered by Roth, Founder of Roth Architecture
If you missed last week's Project of the Week featuring the first photography exhibit for famed Toronto photographer, click here to see more.
SBID Awards 2019 | Overall Winner
The highly anticipated winners of the SBID International Design Awards 2019 have been revealed today (Friday 25 October 2019) at a dazzling ceremony at the Grosvenor House in London’s Mayfair. With more entries than ever before, this year’s awards have been one of the most globally represented editions to date, with industry talent from over 48 countries across the globe. The competition this year was as inspiring as ever, with winning projects from the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Qatar, Poland, Barbados, Monaco, Japan, Indonesia, Brazil, Australia and more. Click here to see the full list of winners.
Winning a SBID International Design Award is truly a high achievement; all 15 categories are assessed by a technical panel, a public vote and a panel of leading industry experts, who look for outstanding examples of technical content and aesthetic creativity which ensures that all projects are assessed strictly on quality. Now in its ninth year, the SBID Awards are regarded as the most prestigious accolades for interior design. The SBID Awards were recently accredited as the first interior design awards scheme to achieve GOLD standard by The Independent Awards Standards Council and were commended as “exemplar in how awards should be operated”. As a proudly independent contest, the SBID awards are driven purely by a desire to recognise talent and creativity, with every entry fairly and equally considered. The annual event continues to reward and celebrate outstanding projects and products from the industry at large.
Judges this year included Directors and CEO’s from global design corporations such as Nike, MAC Cosmetics, Universal Studios and Soloman R. Guggenheim Museum and Foundation.
The Overall Winner Award is presented to the project that received the highest score after both tiers of judging and the public votes considered. This year the overall award was given to Mexican-based practice Roth Architects for their Uh May Residence in Mexico.
Uh May residence is a habitable sculpture of 3,7502, located in a property of 10 hectares in the middle of the jungle, only 30 minutes away from the iconic town of Tulum, in the Yucatán Peninsula. The house harmoniously blends in with the environment of AZULIK Uh May whilst also respecting and honouring the natural habitat that hosts it. With no straight lines or sharp angles, it respects the organic shapes of the ground on which it was built. There is real purpose in its design: to force us to be present, paying attention and observing our every step.
The use of ferro-cement was specifically chosen to avoid the introduction of heavy machinery into the jungle, thus preventing the felling of 250 trees. Moreover, the material gives the space a cozy feeling. The finish, carefully crafted with local materials, makes this a unique space of purely organic forms. Meticulously conceived thorough attention to detail and amenities for entertainment, this property redefines life in the jungle, promoting a non-invasive dialogue between architecture and its natural surroundings.
SBID Founder and CEO, Dr Vanessa Brady OBE said: “Each year the SBID International Design Awards continue to grow from strength to strength. With a sell-out ceremony and more countries represented this year than any other, it truly is held as the premier interior design awards by the global industry and SBID is proud to present it each year. This year’s Overall Winner demonstrates the seriousness in which the design industry at large is taking in the environmental conservation and project procurement”.
All winners for each category received a bespoke crystal trophy crafted by Sans Souci glass deco. They have also been featured in the SBID Global Interior Design 2019 coffee table book which is available to purchase online at www.sbidawards.com.
CGI & Visualisation sponsored by Vectorworks
Angel O'Donnell for The Atlas Building
Club and Bar Design sponsored by Oxley's Furniture
House of Design by Suzy Habre for Iris
Development Sales Centre sponsored by Vessel Gallery
Matrix Design for Gemdale Fenghua International Sales Center NanJing
Healthcare & Wellness Design sponsored by The Stone Federation
Diana Interiors Group for The Salt Room
Hotel Bedrooms & Suites Design sponsored by Yves Delorme
G.A Group for Belmond Cadogan London
Hotel Public Space Design sponsored by Viva Lagoon
CCD / Cheng Chung Design for InterContinental Shanghai Wonderland
KBB Design sponsored by VitrA UK
Masterwood Joinery for Slopehill Road
Office Design sponsored by KI Europe
ADP Architects for Axon Office - “Work-Space-Ship”
Public Space Design sponsored by Sans Souci
Tengyuan Design for China Railway Qingdao World Expo City Conference Center
Residential Apartment under £1M sponsored by Lalique
Kolomoiets-Project for Apartment with History
Residential Design over £1M sponsored by THG Paris
STA Architectural Group for Palazzo del Cielo
Residential House Design under £1M sponsored by Kassavello
LEIVARS for Esher Contemporary Open Plan Family Home
Restaurant Design sponsored by Perennials & Sutherland
Bishop Design by Paul Bishop for Torno Subito
Retail Design sponsored by Blooms Art
Hyphen and Portview Fit-Out for LUSH Liverpool
Show Flats and Development sponsored by Foglie D’oro
II BY IV DESIGN for Ten York
This week's instalment of the #SBIDinspire interior design series features the first photography exhibit for famed Toronto photographer, Elie Kimbembe who became personal photographer to The Weeknd, Travis Scott, Banks and Selena Gomez. Stacklab collaborated closely with Elie on the design of the 'Solo' exhibition which combined themes such as discovery and immersion, creating a sense of intimacy and interpersonal connection. The main gallery features a series of vaulted chambers, made up of a regular arrangement of diffusely lit fabric wells.
Sector: Public Space Design
Company: STACKLAB
Project: #Solo
We collaborated closely with acclaimed photographer, Elie Kimbembe on the design of his first solo exhibition. A social media icon, Elie was interested in creating a new gallery ‘type’ that offered a contemplative and interactive art viewing experience for the digital art consumer (in contrast to the ephemeral and solitary way his art is typically consumed). #Solo combined themes like discovery and immersion with intimacy and interpersonal connection.
The main gallery featured a series of eight vaulted chambers, made up of a regular arrangement of fifteen diffusely lit elastane wells. Harnessing Einstein’s theories on the curvature of space, each ‘well’ appeared to have been stretched from the top-down, emitting a deluge of ultrasonic mist across the luminous floor plane. Contrasted against the gravity of the conic piers, Sixteen of Elie’s photographs hung, back-to-back, in the quiet, vaporous space between them.
The bold, tectonic wells, each measuring 13 feet in diameter, framed and illuminated Elie’s photographs while obstructing others outside of the viewer’s direct sight line. This served a dual purpose of compelling the viewer to circulate the exhibit and created moments of intimacy between themselves, the art, and other observers.
In addition to carrying diffuse light throughout the exhibition space, the ultrasonic mist served two key, performative roles. Firstly, the mist elevated the visible ground plane to further frame the photographs within the vaults. Mostly, however, it precipitated a slow and calming pace to the circulation of viewers within the space. We designed this temporal aspect of the exhibition to answer one of the artist’s primary objectives - “to give people a chance to really interact with the work, and each other”.
The toughest hurdle was time. The quality of the effect we created was significantly improved on thorough iterative prototyping over a very short period. #Solo was fabricated in less than 30 days. On-site installation took a group of six two days, including calibrating the mist medium to the space. Take down took 12 hours, as will re-installation for subsequent uses.
Achieving specific cost targets, addressing the nuances of the artist’s brief, and (specifically with respect to mist) referencing our project sponsor, Up Cannabis’s signature medium- vapor - as a gateway to creativity were our key highlights of the project.
Questions answered by Jeffrey Forrest, Founder of STACKLAB
If you missed last week's Project of the Week featuring a kitchen design inspired by clean and minimal styles from Scandinavia, click here to see more.
We hope you feel inspired by this week's Public Space design! Let us know what inspired you #SBIDinspire
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