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IH/M&RS Presents 2009 Gold Key Awards

Alexandra Champalimaud accepts this year's Designer of the Year award, while Jerry Hruby-Holy of Unilight is honored with the fifth annual Icon of the Industry award.

Laurel Petriello -- Interior Design, 11/9/2009 12:00:00 AM

Alexandra Champalimaud accepts the 2009 Designer of the Year Award

Fresh from the 2009 International Hotel/Motel & Restaurant Show (IH/M&RS), hospitality design’s best and brightest gathered this morning for the 29th annual Gold Key Award breakfast atop the New York skyline.. In keeping with tradition, Cindy Allen and Jeff Weinstein, editors in chief of Interior Design and Hotels, took to the podium to recognize seven lucky design firms with one of the industry’s top awards.

Receiving over 225 entries this year from 24 countries worldwide, judges Randy Gerner of Gerner Kronick + Valcarcel, Architects, PC; D.B. Kim; Michael Silberstein of Crowne Plaza Times Square; and Michael Whiteman of Joseph Baum & Michael Whiteman Co. selected 30 project finalists in nine categories based on aesthetic appeal, practicality, and functionality of design.

Michael Holy Jerry Hruby-Holy Icon of the Industry

NEWH president Anita Degen opened the breakfast presenting the fifth annual Icon of the Industry award to Michael Holy who accepted on behalf of his father Jerry Hruby-Holy, founder of Unilight. Following shortly thereafter, Degen granted Savannah College of Art and Design senior Saray Gill with the NEWH 2009 Icon scholarship award. A grateful, tearful Gill accepted the scholarship paying tribute to both her own father and Hruby-Holy noting that their “go-getter attitudes” have inspired her from the beginning of her educational career.

Wrapping up the event, Alexandra Champalimaud, president and principle designer of Champalimaud, accepted the Gold Key 2009 Designer of the Year award. She was selected for the award program’s highest mark of distinction for her seasoned understanding of the foundations and principles of classic design. Humbled by the honor and attributing her success to a community effort, Champalimaud thanked her family, staff, and colleagues stating, “we do none of this alone…best of luck in 2010. It’s going to be a hard year, but we’ll get through it because 2011 is going to be fabulous!”

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