2012 NZ Interior Awards
Supreme Award and Culture and Civic Award winner – St Thomas’ Chapel in St Matthew-in-the-City Church by Salmond Reed Architects.
Retail winner – Platinum Sports Co. by Switch and Frame Architecture.
Hospitality winner – Novotel Auckland Airport by Warren and Mahoney.
Workplace winner – Stephenson & Turner Wellington Design Studio by Stephenson & Turner.
Installation Design winner – Children of Tangaroa Exhibition, Maritime Museum, Auckland by Bureaux.
Emerging Design Practice Award winner – Assembly Architects, led by Justin and Louise Wright.
New Zealand’s best interior design was celebrated at the 2012 New Zealand Interior Awards, announced at Auckland’s Imperial Lane on 27 June.
The jury, led by Interior editor Michael Barrett, selected winners in five award categories – retail, hospitality, culture and civic, workplace and installation design – as well as an emerging design practice and a Supreme Award winner.
An elaborate, historic restoration project, St Thomas’ Chapel in St Matthew in-the-City Church by Salmond Reed Architects, received the Supreme Award. The jury described the project as “a sophisticated work where the modern and functional sit respectfully alongside the revered and historic.” Read the jury citation here.
St Thomas’ Chapel also won the Culture and Civic Award with the judges saying that it was a project with a long, interesting narrative that begins in the nineteenth century and involves forensic architecture, restoration and resurrection.
In the Workplace category it was Stephenson & Turner’s 6 Green Star-rated Wellington Design Studio that was presented with the winning title. “Stephenson & Turner has clearly thought about how it wants to position itself in the market and this fitout, which showcases the strengths of its architects and engineers, is a vehicle for that,” said the judges.
In the Retail category, it was Platinum Sports Co. by Switch and Frame Architecture that received the top award. The judges were impressed by the experiential and character-filled nature of the retail space.
Novotel Auckland Airport by Warren and Mahoney, a project that saw “architecture and the art of making things walk side by side,” was announced as the winner of the Hospitality Award.
The inaugural Installation Design Award was won by Auckland-based Bureaux. Its multidisciplinary audio-visual exhibition, Children of Tangaroa, saw lycra-clad screens, projections, a bespoke audio solution and clever graphic treatments used to create a successful, immersive and educational exhibition of whales and dolphins.
The Emerging Design Practice Award was presented to Assembly Architects. The Wellington-based practice, led by Justin and Louise Wright, received praise from the judges for their exploratory approach to architecture and a willingness to push the boundaries of materials and technical understanding of not just the “drawing of things,” but of the making of things as well.
A full summary of the Interior Awards winners is below:
Supreme Award – St Thomas’ Chapel in St. Matthew-in-the-City Church by Salmond Reed Architects
Emerging Design Practice – Assembly Architects
Culture and Civic – St Thomas’ Chapel in St. Matthew in-the-City Church by Salmond Reed Architects
Retail – Platinum Sports Co. by Switch and Frame Architecture
Hospitality – Novotel Auckland Airport by Warren and Mahoney
Workplace – Stephenson & Turner Wellington Design Studio by Stephenson & Turner
Installation Design – Children of Tangaroa Exhibition, Maritime Museum, Auckland by Bureaux
