One hundred and twenty entries from more than 60 New Zealand design practices were pared back to single out one Supreme Award winner, an Emerging Design Practice and one winning project in each of the five major award categories - retail, hospitality, culture and civic, workplace and installation design.

An elaborate, historic restoration project, St Thomas’ Chapel in St. Matthew in-the-City Church by Salmond Reed Architects was honoured with the Supreme Award on the night. The awards’ jury led by Interior editor, Michael Barrett, described the project as “a sophisticated work where the modern and functional sit respectfully alongside the revered and historic”. Read the full citation here.

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, noting, “this is an architectural experience married to a branding and graphic design experience, built from the ground up.”

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 awards’ jury described the Novotel project as a visual highlight in a landscape short on icons. “They’ve abstracted concepts and woven them through the building; they’ve highlighted the skills of this country’s craftspeople in a few key areas; and they’ve written stories that tell a little of this country’s culture.”

In the Workplace Award category it was Stephenson & Turner’s 6 Green Star-rated Wellington Design Studio by Stephenson & Turner that was presented with the winning title. “Stephenson & Turner has clearly thought about how it wants to position itself in the market and this fit-out, which showcases the strengths of its architects and engineers, is a vehicle for that.” said the judges.

The Culture and Civic Award was also won by St Thomas’ Chapel in St. Matthew in-the-City Church by Salmond Reed Architects. The judges were particularly impressed by the high calibre of entries into this category, commenting: “There was an embarrassment of riches and, in truth, the judges thought that each of the finalists could have gone on to win the main award. Ultimately, it was a once-in-a-lifetime ecclesiastical project that pulled through: a project with a long, interesting narrative that begins in the 19th century, involves forensic architecture, restoration and, to get a little bit New Testament on it, resurrection.”

The inaugural award for Installation Design was won by Auckland-based Bureaux Ltd. Their multi-disciplinary audio-visual exhibition, Children of Tangaroa, saw lycra-clad screens, projections, a bespoke audio solution and clever graphic treatments used to create a very successful, immersive and educational exhibition of whales and dolphins. The judges commented, “given a pauper’s budget, the designers showed incredible resourcefulness in enlisting help to portray an understanding of what is, for many people, a very emotive subject.”

Finally the hard-fought Emerging Design Practice Award was presented to Assembly Architects. The Wellington-based practice, headed up 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. View Assembly’s Repurposed Wellington Zoo project here.

A full summary of the Interior Awards winners is below. The winning interior projects and judges’ citations are featured in the June 2012 issue of Interior magazine.

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 Ltd.

 The Interior Awards 2012 are sponsored by BKA, Lundia, Kada, Geon, Inzide, Resene, LG and PSP.