Singapore, Singapore, 2014-10-03 –

A grand yet modest bookstore in Sao Paulo was awarded the best Retail interior of 2014 as the first of two sets of category winners were announced at the INSIDE World Festival of Interiors at the Marina Bay Sands, Singapore. Winners have been revealed across five diverse categories, with a further four category winners to be announced tomorrow evening.

The Cultura Bookstore in Sao Paulo by studio mk27 overcame established fashion houses such as a Just Cavalli concept store and the new escalator hall in Harrods by MAKE Architects to claim the premier design award. This 21st century interpretation of a bookstore incorporates socialising, reading, relaxing, events and purchasing into one space that replaces the traditional book shop model.

A research facility based in Singapore won the Display category for an exhibition area that outlines ongoing research studies and features a prototyping lab. Located in the Dover Campus at the Singapore University of Technology and Design, the IDC Space features a ceiling installation made up of 6000 custom-designed lights. The project was described as ‘futuristic’, ‘technologically brilliant’ and ‘intuitive’ by the judges.

In the Residential category, Xintiandi Penthouse by Joyce Wang Studio claimed the prize for their three-storey apartment featuring a prominent cantilevered staircase that defines the centre of the home. Located in the heart of the Shanghai Xintiandi district, the design reflects the warehouses of the region with a ‘beautifully crafted industrial aesthetic’, said the judges. The layout of the home consists of a series of free-flowing spaces that seamlessly interconnect with each other while remaining unique.

Joyce Wang Studio claimed a second award in the Bars and Restaurant category for Mott 32, a former facility that once held family heirlooms in Hong Kong. The designers combined an industrial New York aesthetic with classical Chinese décor, using forgotten memorabilia, colonial-style furnishings and Chinese propaganda to complete the design. The judges commended an ‘ingenious use of materials’ and an ‘excellent layout despite no access to natural light.’ Mott 32 overcame stiff competition such as the new Christopher’s Restaurant in London and the redevelopment of the famous Bar Riviera in São Paulo to claim the category award.

Tama Hotel Phnom Penh Tower was named the best interior in the Hotels category for a project that the judges believed displayed a ‘youthful energy towards the future of hotel design.’ The hotel has been designed for oversees business guests and places workspace and relaxation zones at the heart of the design. Breakout work areas are placed throughout the hotel but are also decorated with homely comforts to help the transition of those on short-stay business trips.

Tomorrow the category winners from the Office, Education and Health, Civic, Culture and Transport, and Creative Re-Use will be decided to complete the list of nine category winners. All the winners will then go head-to-head on the final day of the festival, re-presenting their projects live to the INSIDE super jury, in an attempt to claim the World Interior of the Year award, announced on Friday evening at an exclusive ceremony.

Press requests:
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Information on the judges can be found on the below link:
https://www.insidefestival.com/judges#icon

CATEGORY WINNERS:

Category: Bars & Restaurants
Architect/Designer: JOYCE WANG STUDIO
Project: Mott 32
Location: Hong Kong
Originally a storage facility for family heirlooms forgotten by wealthy Chinese immigrants, Joyce Wang Studio combined this history into their contemporary design. Mott 32 creates a blend of industrial New York design and classical Chinese décor, complemented with an inspired collection of forgotten heirlooms, Colonial-style furnishings and antique Chinese propaganda. Accessibility to the site for diners was also a difficult issue to tackle for the practice due to a long snaking route but this meandering path now creates a more hidden and exclusive arrival experience.

Category: Display
Architect/Designer: Singapore University of Technology and Design
Project: IDC Space: research and display space for the International Design Centre
Location: Singapore
Situated at the heart of the Dover Campus of the Singapore University of Technology and Design, IDC Space is a showcase space for the International Design Centre. The 13m x 16m space hosts an office, a small prototyping lab as well as an exhibition gallery for showcasing some of the most exciting on-going IDC design research work. The space features a ceiling installation comprised of 6000 custom-designed lighting and display components; the light fixtures are based on a patent-pending SUTD/IDC design. Partitions, posters, and exhibition panels are suspended from the ceiling so the space can quickly be reconfigured for multiple uses.

Category: Hotels
Architect/Designer: FHAMS Ltd.
Project: Tama Hotel Phnom Penh Tower
Location: Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Located in the Phnom Penh Tower building, the Tama Hotel has been designed for oversees business visitors. Workspace and comfortable settings suited for both long and short stay guests’ help to create a homely environment. The restaurant has been designed to be a working lunch space for entertaining clients and desk space for laptops.

Category: Residential
Architect/Designer: JOYCE WANG STUDIO
Project: XINTIANDI PENTHOUSE
Location: Shanghai, China
A three-storey penthouse set in the heart of Shanghai’s Xintiandi district, this private residence boasts some of the best lake and skyline views in the city. A cantilever staircase winds around the double-height atrium and as one ascends the stairs the stunning view unfolds. The dinning area sits within a nest-like environment so the family can enjoy the intimacies of their home. Wood-grain etched concrete, Corten steel and walnut timber line the walls, floors and ceiling in reference to the warehouses of old Shanghai. Geometric graphic patterns are created on the flooring as one material joins another in order to zone various areas in the home.

Category: Retail
Architect/Designer: studio mk27
Project: Cultura Bookstore
Location: Sao Paulo, Brazil
The Cultura bookstore has been designed to be a bookstore for the 21st century, a store where socialising, relaxing and purchasing are all combined. The top floor provides the main area of the store, a large area encased with bookshelves provides an open plan space with lounge chairs where customers can read and discuss. The space also features large tables and can be used for lectures and other events.

Alongside the category winners the following were awarded Highly Commended:

Category: Bars & Restaurants
Architect/Designer: SANJAY PURI ARCHITECTS
Project: Auriga
Location: Mumbai, India
Transformed from a disused warehouse, Auriga is a nightclub and restaurant that creates the feeling of being within a sculpture rather than looking at one. The nightclub on the ground floor is made up of a series of angular aluminium fins that fold to create the roof, the walls, bar and staircase. On the second floor the restaurant is a more fluid design to contrast to the angular shapes downstairs, thin wooden strips flow freely from the ceiling and walls to the bar and kitchen counters. Auriga has been designed and delivered on a small budget and in a sustainable manner, the lower floor is made from the waste metal left over from the manufacturing of air conditioning units and the upper level is leftover wood from other projects.

Category: Hotels
Architect/Designer: a21studio
Project: The Tent
Location: Nha Trang, Khanh Hoa, Vietnam
The Tent is a small spa perched in the folds of a rock face terrace, inside an operating hot spring and mineral resort looking over the main river of Nha Trang city, Vietnam.  One of the biggest constraints of the site is the intense heat from the West, which is constant throughout the year but the Tent’s steep roof with thick thatch helps not only to deflect the sunlight but also blends the project with the surrounding landscape. The roof props lend a distinctive look to the Tent, shields the interior against the elements and also makes up the main structure of the building. The main beams that span the Tent are connected using indigenous building techniques, mortise and tenon joints, together with local materials, dry-stacked stones and coconut leaves, with rocks quarried on site and reinforced steel and tiles. Inside the Tent, the space is divided into two levels, on the lower space there is an infinity mineral pool with traditional wooden furniture. On the upper floor, there is a private bedroom covered by a wood frame and coloured glass with a net installed in the void between the structure and rock, allowing guests to look down to the river below.

Category: Residential
Architect/Designer: Manor Studio Pte Ltd
Project: Chu Lin Road Apartment
Location: Singapore
Chu Lin Road Apartment is an intervention within an apartment built in the 1960s post war period, nestled in the quaint neighbourhood of Chu Lin Road. The original footprint of the apartment was both deep and long but suffered from a lack of natural light and ventilation. The impetus of the new design was to retain the spaciousness of the original layout whilst encouraging maximum cross ventilation and natural light. The false ceiling that ran across the space was removed and the original walls were demolished in favour of an open plan space, following the structural beams. These beams, which once used to cap off the full height brick walls, now support a floating solid pine cabinetry in the middle of the apartment. Designed with different heights and porosity, and extending in various directions, this central cabinet piece is conceived as a sculpture that not only forms the focal point of the apartment but also delineates the spaces while maintaining spatial continuity, ventilation and natural lighting throughout the apartment.  

Category: Retail
Architect/Designer: Neri&Hu Design and Research Office
Project: Camper Showroom/Office
Location: Shanghai, China
Inspired by the surrounding urban environment, this Camper Showroom reassembles the Shanghai ‘nong-tang’ alleyways. An exterior lane extends into the showroom creating a sectional cut in the structure and a skylight heightens the experience by casting long linear shadows across the walls throughout the day. Neri&Hu designed the store as their interpretation of a two-storey house slotted in an old warehouse. The project sees grey brick combined with wood salvaged from demolished lane houses. The salvaged wood reveals a history from the paint, newspaper and wallpaper still attached to the planks.
Notes to Editors:

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