David Kohn Architects' Carrer Avinyó awarded INSIDE World Interior of the Year 2013

David Kohn Architects won the World Interior of the Year 2013 title at the INSIDE: World Festival of Interiors awards ceremony in the Marina Bay Sands Hotel, Singapore on Oct. 4. The INSIDE festival occured within the same week of its parent event, the World Architecture Festival 2013.

David Kohn Architects won the top interior design award for their refurbishing of the Carrer Avinyó apartment in Barcelona. The UK-based firm beat out 55 nominations that included notable, competitive names like Zaha Hadid Architects, HASSELL, and KPF.

Nigel Coates led this year's international panel of judges, which included INSIDE's 2011 inaugural winner, Lyndon Neri.
The judging panel also featured: Pernilla Ohrstedt, Pernilla Ohrstedt Studio; Shawn Sullivan, Rockwell Group; Koichiro Ikebuchi, Atelier Ikebuchi; Scott Walker, HASSELL; Nicolas Henchoz, EPFL+ECAL Lab; Ian Moore, Ian Moore Architects; Wendy W Fok, director/founder and team member of WE-DESIGNS.ORG, LLC (Architecture); Andrew McCann, creative director of MoreySmith; Chris Lee, creative director of Asylum; Sean Barrington Pearson, Director of RUF Project; Alberto Miceli-Farrugia, partner at Architecture Project; and Mien Tan, Director at Shed Asia.

David Kohn will join the panel of judges for next year's festival.

Check out photos of Carrer Avinyó right below.

"The refurbishment of the apartment in Barcelona’s gothic quarter 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. Kohn has remodeled the space, removing partition walls and harmonizing the apartment with the medieval streets beyond, to create a pied-à-terre for his clients, two brothers, who had lived there for some time."

"David Kohn Architects has maximized the tight, acute floor plan, consequently evoking a sense of theatrical delight. Scales have been cleverly manipulated. The specially made tiled floor references a triangular public square nearby with a tessellated pattern progressively graduating with 25 colors, while the furniture elements – including the library and elevated bedrooms – create an architecture inside the room."

"David Kohn commented: 'We are absolutely delighted to have won the award. The project demonstrates how an interior can be about the city in which it is situated. An homage to Barcelona' "

"Now in its second year, the three-day INSIDE Festival attracted some of the best names in design from around the world with nominations coming from 25 different countries...

Head Judge, Nigel Coates, expanded on the reasoning behind the panel’s final decision: '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.

The jury debated extensively where architecture ends and interiors begin. We thoroughly support the potential for these two worlds to cross into one another’s professional territory, but some of the entries seemed not to capitalise on the special skills that are evident in tonight’s prize-winning scheme.'"

INSIDE Awards were also given in the following categories:

Bars and Restaurants: Ammo Bar + Restaurant by Wang
Creative Re-use: Dardanel Administration Building by Alatas Architecture & Consulting
Culture: Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki by Francis-Jones Morehen Thorp, fjmt + Archimedia (Architects in Association)
Display: Hublo Pop-up store by Asylum Creative Pte Ltd
Education: DPS Kindergarten School by Khosla Associates
Health: Knowledge Centre, St. Olavs Hospital by Nordic Office of Architecture
Hotels: Parkroyal on Pickering by WOHA
Office: Clemenger BBDO by HASSELL
Residential: Carrer Avinyo by David Kohn Architects
Shopping Centers: Emporia by Wingårdh arkitektkontor
Shops: Tashya by charged voids
Transport: Barrakka Lift by Architecture Project

For the full shortlist and other details, click here.

Photos courtesy of INSIDE World Festival of Interiors .