Last week, designers from across the globe were at Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands to present their shortlisted INSIDE projects to a panel of esteemed judges, which included among others, Nigel Coates (head judge) and Lyndon Neri (INSIDE’s inaugural winner in 2011).

The results are out, with the much-anticipated ‘World Interior of the Year’ going to Carrer Avinyo (top image), a refurbished apartment in Barcelona, Spain by David Kohn Architects. Two projects in Singapore also took the spotlight: WOHA’s Parkroyal on Pickering and Asylum’s Hublo pop-up store came out tops in the Hotel and Display categories respectively.

Carrer Avinyo

Carrer Avinyo features an open plan living room, bathroom and three bedrooms – two stacked one above the other with the third joined by an elevated mezzanine level. The architects had remodelled the space, removing partition walls and harmonising the apartment with the medieval streets beyond, to create a pied-à-terre for the clients – two brothers, who had lived there for some time.

The project maximises a tight floor plan to consequently evoke a sense of ‘theatrical delight’. Scales have been cleverly manipulated, and the furniture elements come together to create an architecture inside the room.

Commenting on the panel’s final decision, head judge Nigel Coates says, “The project has a quality we set out to find today, that is the quality of magic. Spanning extremes of scale, it has become a suitcase you can sleep in but also a place for celebration and entertainment. The newly achieved large central room combines simplicity with a sense of space that stimulates curiosity.”

WOHA’s Parkroyal on Pickering (Singapore) – winner in the Hotel category

This year’s Category Winners

– Bars and Restaurants: Ammo Bar + Restaurant by Wang (Hong Kong)
– Creative Re-use: Dardanel Administration Building by Alatas Architecture & Consulting (Turkey)
– Culture: Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki by Francis-Jones Morehen Thorp, fjmt + Archimedia (Architects in Association) (New Zealand)
– Display: Hublo Pop-up Store by Asylum Creative Pte Ltd (Singapore)
– Education: DPS Kindergarten School by Khosla Associates (India)

Asylum’s Hublot pop-up project (Singapore) – winner in the Display category

– Health: Knowledge Centre, St. Olavs Hospital by Nordic Office of Architecture (Norway)
– Hotels: Parkroyal on Pickering by WOHA (Singapore)
– Office: Clemenger BBDO by HASSELL (Australia)

Wang’s AMMO restaurant (Hong Kong) – winner in the Bars & Restaurants category

– Residential: Carrer Avinyo by David Kohn Architects (Spain)
– Shopping Centres: Emporia by Wingårdh arkitektkontor (Sweden)
– Shops: Tashya by charged voids (India)
– Transport: Barrakka Lift by Architecture Project (Malta)

INSIDE
insidefestival.com