This year’s Australian Interior Design Awards (AIDA) saw a hair salon reimagined with a ‘futuristic laboratory aesthetic’ being honoured with the top award. Sydney-based designer George Livissianis’ design for hair salon Usfin won the 2019 Premier Award for Australian Interior Design.

Entries to the prestigious awards program in its 16th anniversary year not only maintained the high standards that AIDA is known for, but also exhibited a fearless design approach that pushed boundaries to reinvent typologies, experiment with spatial planning, and innovate to improve user experience.

Livissianis’ Usfin led the stellar line-up of the country’s very best interior design projects that were recognised and honoured at a recent gala celebration in Melbourne, with 550 of Australia’s most esteemed interior design and architecture practitioners and professionals in attendance. Usfin also won the Award for Retail Design.

For Usfin’s design, Livissianis reinvented the standard hair salon typology, giving considerable thought to customer experience and employee satisfaction. Usfin’s selection as the Premier Award winner was a unanimous decision by the jury.

“It stands out because it is so complete as a concept and interior, and has a real joyfulness to it, despite its futuristic laboratory aesthetic,” said the 2019 jury.

Leading architecture design firm BVN was awarded the prestigious Award for Interior Design Impact for Our Lady of the Assumption Catholic Primary School. The jury unanimously agreed that the education project represented the spirit of this award through its physical transformation from a dark, sombre 1970s Telstra training centre to an open, light and energetic primary school.

The 2019 Award for Residential Design went to joint winners, Oak House by Kennedy Nolan and Edsall Street by RITZ&GHOUGASSIAN. The jury noted that both residences exceeded the brief, taking design to the next level by making it appear unabashedly personal, as though they’ve been designed specifically for the people who live in them.

Victorian design practice Pierce Widera received the 2019 award for Emerging Interior Design Practice. The jurors praised the definite diversity of their portfolio and confident detailing and thoughtful use of materials across all their hospitality projects.

The Australian Interior Design Awards is delivered through a partnership between the Design Institute of Australia and Architecture Media’s Artichoke magazine.

2019 Awards and Commendations:

Premier Award for Australian Interior Design

George Livissianis for USFIN, NSW

Award for Interior Design Impact

BVN for Our Lady of the Assumption Catholic Primary School, NSW

Award for Sustainability Advancement

HASSELL partnered with Arup for Arup Melbourne, VIC

Emerging Interior Design Practice

-Award

Pierce Widera, VIC

-Commendation

Adele McNab Architect, NSW

Studio Esteta, VIC

Residential Design

-Award

Kennedy Nolan for Oak House, VIC (Joint Winner)

RITZ&GHOUGASSIAN for Edsall Street, VIC (Joint Winner)

-Commendation

Hogg&Lamb for B&B Residence, QLD

Renato D’Ettorre Architects for Italianate House, NSW

Retallack Thompson for Challis Avenue Apartment, NSW

Robert Simeoni Architects for Powell Street House, VIC

Residential Decoration

-Award

Arent&Pyke for Under the Tree, NSW

-Commendation

Alwill Interiors for Tribute House, NSW

Chelsea Hing for Yarra Valley House, VIC

GOLDEN for Wattle House, VIC

Hospitality Design

-Award

Carr for United Places Botanic Gardens South Yarra, VIC

-Commendation

Amber Road for Edition Roasters, NSW

Jackson Clements Burrows Architects for Sable Drop, VIC

Pierce Widera for Shinbashi, VIC

Retail Design

-Award

George Livissianis for USFIN, NSW

-Commendation

Carr for Gaggenau Melbourne, VIC

HASSELL for StylecraftHOME Melbourne, VIC

Herbert & Mason for Paramount Recreation Club, NSW

Mim Design for e&s Showroom, VIC

SJB for The UNSW Bookshop, NSW

Public Design

-Award

Cox Architecture for Waltzing Matilda Centre, QLD

-Commendation

Bates Smart for 161 Collins Street, VIC

JCY Architects and Urban Designers, Cox Architecture and Billard Leece Partnership with HKS Inc. for Perth Children’s Hospital, WA

Spowers for RMIT University School of Fashion and Textiles City Campus, VIC

Workplace Design

-Award

BVN for BVN Sydney Studio, NSW

-Commendation

Branch Studio Architects, Piazza Dell’Ufficio, VIC

Cox Architecture for Cox Architecture Brisbane Studio, QLD

HASSELL for Origin Workplace Brisbane, QLD

HASSELL partnered with Arup for Arup Melbourne, VIC

Installation Design

-Award

National Gallery of Victoria and nendo for Escher X nendo: Between Two Worlds, VIC

-Commendation

Anna Tregloan for ACMI for Wonderland, VIC

Liminal Spaces for Dust, QLD

Best of State Awards for Residential Design

New South Wales – Renato D’Ettorre Architects for Italianate House

Queensland – Hogg&Lamb for B&B Residence

South Australia – Williams Burton Leopardi for Malvern Residence

Victoria – Kennedy Nolan for Oak House and RITZ&GHOUGASSIAN for Edsall Street

Western Australia – Lahaus Studio for The Villa

Best of State Awards for Commercial Design

New South Wales – George Livissianis for USFIN

Queensland – Cox Architecture for Waltzing Matilda Centre

South Australia – Exhibition Studios for Birds and Bees Exhibition

Tasmania – Liminal Architecture for Freycinet Lodge Coastal Pavilions

Victoria – National Gallery of Victoria and nendo for Escher X nendo: Between Two Worlds

Western Australia – JCY Architects and Urban Designers, Cox Architecture and Billard Leece Partnership with HKS Inc. for Perth Children’s Hospital

Best International Design Award

Templewell Studio in collaboration with Rezen & Lahaus Studio via Design Stables Platform for Wanderlust, SG

These images are provided by Papermill Media on behalf of the Australian Interior Design Awards.

Architecture News & Editorial Desk

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