I’m aware that the world spent all of last year locked indoors, but believe me, if these ‘indoors’ looked anything like the ones I’m about to show you, I could sit indoors forever! Here to break your ‘Indoor Fatigue’ are some absolutely refreshing Interior Designs from the A’ Design Award and Competition.
Interior Design forms just one of the various categories of the A’ Design Award and Competition, which spans the popular categories like Architecture, Lighting, and Consumer Electronics, as well as the obscure, lesser-known categories like Cybernetics, Prosumer Products, and Safety Apparel Design. The A’ Design Award’s ultimate goal is to be an umbrella that covers good design across all disciplines, which is why it has 100 different categories for submitting design projects, and 218 jury members (comprising academics, design professionals, and press members) from all around the world collectively judging the works. Winners of the A’ Design Award don’t just secure a trophy and a certificate, but receive an entire PR Campaign dedicated towards pushing their career, clout, and even their projects to newer heights. A’ Design Award’s winners and even its participants are included in its annual award book and business network, while additionally contributing to their country’s overall design ranking that paints a holistic picture of how design-centric and design-forward each country is.
Interior Design remains one of the most popular category at the A’ Design Awards, receiving entries by the thousands each year. Here are a few favorites that we wish we had enough money to afford!
Register to participate in the A’ Design Awards now! Hurry, with the final date just 3 weeks away… You still have time to grab yourself an A’ Design Award and make 2021 YOUR year!
01. 4000 Light Restaurant by Niandi Xu
Lighting is perhaps one of the most important aspects of interior design, but it almost always plays a supportive role by illuminating the space. With the 4000 Light Restaurant, the lights define the space. Designed as a fashionable hot pot restaurant for young people, the restaurant cleverly uses lights as a design element, allowing it to define the curves of walls, ceilings, and the individual seating zones (image at the beginning of the article), and be the star element of the restaurant!
02. Guiyang Zhongshuge Bookstore by Xiang Li
Inspired by the natural landscape of the Guizhou region in China, the Guiyang Zhongshuge tries to pay tribute to the area’s cave-like geography with perhaps one of the most appealing looking bookstores I’ve ever seen. The Guiyang Zhongshuge Bookstore makes the terms ‘living under a rock’ and ‘living in a cave’ sound rather appealing with its meandering tunnels that are lined with books from top to bottom. A mirror-finish floor helps complete the illusion by reflecting the semi-circular space to make it look like a fully circular underground tunnel… you know, the kind of underground tunnel a bookworm would enjoy!
03. Commercial Office Space by Shu Yuan Chang
By liberally using white to make the office look airy and spacious, and integrating greenery into the interiors, Shu Yuan Chang’s Commercial Office Space sets the gold standard for office spaces as well as WFH setups! The project, based out of Taipei city, aimed at renovating a rundown office space with a wild backyard. Through the renovation, not only was the backyard garden made into a quaint recreational space, but elements of greenery were brought indoors through the means of a living wall right in the office space, allowing you to work for hours while still feeling connected with the outdoors, and occasionally getting the whiff of fresh air thanks to the wall’s air-purifying ability.
04. Perception Cafe by Haejun Jung – Feelament
While the previous design made use of living walls, the Perception Cafe displays a living ceiling! Carefully shaped wooden elements help turn a boring flat ceiling into an incredibly detailed art installation that gives the room its signature depth. Dubbed by the designer as the “Shading tree”, this organically shaped ceiling extends all the way from the kitchen to the entrance, creating an ambiance that is second to none. “It gives an unusual spatial effect to people and also become a medium for people who want to be lost in thought with flavorous coffee”, says designer Haejun Jung.
05. Phuket VIP Mercury Studio Office by Songhuan Wu
Inspired by the designer’s obsession with the cosmos and astronomy, the Mercury Studio in Phuket looks quite literally out of this world! Combining clean, modern, Bauhaus-esque details with postmodern elements, the Mercury Studio has a quirky appeal that’s undeniable. Combine that with the presence of hemispherical cosmos-inspired design flairs and you’ve got a studio that is just universally appealing!
06. Cozy White Residential by Yu-Chi Liu and Yi-Han Chen
White interiors, a loft-inspired design, and a spiral staircase right in the living room. What more could you ask for?! The Cosy White Residential space uses 80% white paint for a sense of tranquility, interspersed with wooden elements that give the interiors a signature warm coziness. If I had to work from home, this is exactly the kind of home I’d love to work from!
07. Chongqing Zhongshuge Bookstore by Xiang Li
Yet another bookstore by Xiang Li, the Chongqing Zhongshuge Bookstore is inspired by a mountainous landscape. Creating what feels like an endless facade of books, the Chongqing Zhongshuge uses a stepwell-ish pattern of staircases along with endless walls of books as far as the eye can see. In fact, the ceiling uses a massive mirror to give the space a sense of infinity, allowing you to feel like you’re floating in an Escherian world of books!
08. Omakase Restaurant by Tianwen Sun
Inspired by the ephemeral nature of the Sakura cherry blossoms which disappear after the early-spring rain, the Omakase Restaurant hopes to keep that Sakura spirit immortal by preserving that moment in time. The walls and omakase counters are dotted with sakura patterns, while the floor has pink, edge-lit brick pattern, almost looking like the roads and pavement covered with sakura petals. What’s so lovely about the space is that it interprets nature through an artificial lens, using acrylic, metal, glass, and LEDs, retaining the appeal but in a more modern way.
09. Portugal Vineyards Retail Space by Ricardo Porto Ferreira
If Apple designed a wine shop with a genius bar (literally a bar!), this is what it would look like. The Portugal Vineyards Retail Space uses white walls to show off its reds and whites. The red and white wine bottles are placed on shelves built into the curved walls, almost taking you on a journey as you window-shop. For assistance, an island at the center of the space lets you consult an expert, know more about the wine, or make your purchase. There are tasting booths too, don’t worry!
10. Painted Skin Tattoo Shop by Yalan Zheng
Perhaps one of the most expressive tattoo studios I’ve ever set my eyes on, the Painted Skin Tattoo Shop in Chengdu feels more like a museum than a tattoo studio! Its reception area is modeled on this incredibly detailed Baroque-in-black style, with the use of dark walls and pillars, and a gold chandelier and reception desk. The floor uses an intricate black and white tile system which also finds itself present in the tattoo booths. The tattoo booths are a stark contrast to the baroque reception desk. Designed to look more like a professional dentist setup (I guess the studio has a quirky appeal), the booths use mirrors, and an adjustable medical chair (with a light) to really take your eyes and mind on an unusual, unforgettable journey!
Register Here for the A’ Design Awards and Competition 2020-2021: Deadline 28th February 2021