First set of 2017 INSIDE: World Festival of Interiors winners revealed

As the sister event to the anticipated 2017 World Architecture Festival in Berlin, the INSIDE: World Festival of Interiors competition scopes out the best of the best projects in the global interior design scene. This past summer, 78 projects were shortlisted. On Day One of the INSIDE Festival, competition drastically narrowed down and concluded with the announcement of the first three category-winning projects, which you can check out below. The remaining six winners will be revealed at the end of Day Two tomorrow.

Once all nine category winners are announced, only one project will be crowned as the coveted World Interior of the Year 2017.

Retail Winner: WZWX Architecture Group, ROU by T HAM Concept Store, Taipei, Taiwan

The judges felt that the design for the specialist meat store has created a new typology for the retail experience, turning meat into a precious object – worthy even of gift-wrap. “The butchers’ shop is transformed into a sophisticated hygienic environment with a colour palette and choice of materials that creates a soft and warm atmosphere.” The judges called the integration of services “masterful”.

Offices Winner: Heneghan Peng Architects, Airbnb European Headquarters, Dublin, Ireland

The judges were impressed by “the clarity and richness of the theatre concept, layered horizontally and vertically to enable both intimate and collective social encounters”. This created a “highly agile working environment both for its current use and future potential re-uses”.

Health & Education Winner: CannonDesign + NEUF architect(e)s, Centre Hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal, Montréal, Canada

In integrating existing facilities and adjacent heritage buildings, the judges recognised the new Centre Hospitalier as an “urban experience of lively and accessible nature”, commenting that “the architects played a key role in determining the final brief and came up with a smart strategy for phasing. Main circulation spaces and public areas are treated as places for encounter providing easy orientation. The transition into the treatment areas is well supported by the architectural concept.” The judges said that the hospital’s precise choreography of views out to the city was “remarkable”.

All photos courtesy INSIDE: World Festival of Interiors 2017.