In the Winners' Circle

Nearly 200 firms vied for top honors in the International Interior Design Association's 34th annual competition. While there was certainly no shortage of innovative submissions, only five could make the cut. The judging was done by Richärd + Bauer's Kelly Bauer, Westin Hotels & Resorts Worldwide vice president of design D.B. Kim, David Oakey Designs's namesake president, and Pollack Architecture's Richard Pollack. Ultimately, the jury selected Giorgio Borruso Design's fashion boutique Fornarina in London, D'Aquino Monaco's Silver Rain Spa in Grand Cayman, Gensler's law firm Seyfarth Shaw in Chicago, Minarc's residence in Los Angeles, and Hironaka Ogawa & Associates's Kimukatsu restaurant in Tokyo. Receiving this year's Will Ching award, which honors firms of five or less, is Dialogue 38, designer of Toronto jewelry boutique Eko. (See the April issue's "Hide-and-Seek," page 76.) All the winners are being honored—and the Best of Competition project announced—at the IIDA's Cool gala on June 11, during NeoCon in Chicago.

At London's Fornarina boutique by Giorgio Borruso Design, the staircase's acrylic balustrade frames a faux sky of LED-lit polycarbonate units on the ceiling.