The winners of the The Great Indoors Awards 2007 were announced on Saturday, with Wonderwall of Tokyo named Interior Design Firm of the Year, and Thomas Heatherwick, Zaha Hadid, Item Idem and Ryuji Nakamura Architects winning awards. Above: Jin's Global Standard Nagareyama by Ryui Nakamura).

The East Beach Cafe by Thomas Heatherwick (above) and the R. Lopez de Heredia winery by Zaha Hadid (below) were praised for "forming a coherent whole of interior and exterior". The jury said: "The iconic exteriors of both structures have given rise to interiors that are undeniably related to their shells but also striking in their own right. Selecting these two designs was the jury's way of emphasizing the importance of projects in which exterior and interior are seen as equal parts of one task, preferably to be realized by a single designer or design firm."

Conversely, Bernhard Wilhelm flagship store by Item Idem (below) and Jin's Global Standard Nagareyama by Ryui Nakamura Architects (bottom) were praised for their "refusal to acknowledge the existence of the immediate surroundings [which] added to the quality of the design."

The jury said: "The Bernhard Willhelm flagship store in Shibuya, Tokyo, shows an exuberant interior by design collective Item Idem (Japan), located in a department store. Inspired by Bernhard Willhelm?s fashion brand, Item Idem laid siege to the conventions of high-fashion retail outlets. Jin's Global Standard, an eyewear shop in Nagareyama (Tokyo) designed by architect Ryuji Nakamura (Japan) might be an unlikely project to win a prize, being situated in a shopping mall which is seldom the location of innovative retail concepts. Nakamura transcended restrictions and ignored the ironclad rules of a shopping mall to create a strongly conceptual yet extremely customer-friendly interior.

The Interior Design Firm of the Year went to Wonderwall (Bape store, below). The jury said: "The trademark of Wonderwall (Japan), founded by designer Masamichi Katayama, was commended for the sometimes hilarious fusion of polished decadence and bizarre humour. Luxury, a must in hardcore retail, radiates from the abundance of details and the degree of perfection that this firm pours into its projects."

The following text is from the organisers of The Great Indoors Awards:

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Presentation The Great Indoors Awards 2007:

On the evening of Saturday 17 November, five awards of The Great Indoors 2007 were distributed in the NAi Maastricht, the Netherlands. The jury voted unanimously for the five selected entries. Wonderwall was honoured with the award for Interior Design Firm of the Year, while Zaha Hadid, Heatherwick Studios, Ryui Nakamura Architects and Item Idem carried away the other four of The Great Indoors Awards 2007. The Jury’s choice of these outstanding projects was based on a previous selection of 23 nominees out of 275 entries.

The Great Indoors is a new, biennial, international interior design award. Interior design, currently the most vital field of the design profession, combines the disciplines of fashion, architecture, and product design. By signalling the best interior design world-wide, The Great Indoors Award wishes to celebrate the best-realised projects biennially, thus raising the quality of interior design.

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Posted by Rose Etherington