Announcing the Winners of the 2018 AZ Awards

On June 22 at Toronto’s Evergreen Brick Works, the international architecture and design community gathered for the eighth annual AZ Awards.

With finalists and winners travelling from as far away as Austria, Japan and Mexico, the winners of the competition were revealed amid a celebration of innovation and excellence.

The 20 winners of the 2018 AZ Awards are among the leading voices in international architecture and design.

Their diverse projects – ranging from an ambitious landscape restoration to a stunning silo-to-residential-tower transformation to an induction light that repurposes spent fluorescent tubes – are a snapshot of the zeitgeist, projects that embody the transformative impact of design.

To celebrate their achievement, each winner was awarded a sculptural trophy conceived by acclaimed London-based designer Michael Anastassiades, created in Carrara from a 10cm-tall piece of Salvatori stone.

In 2018, AZ Awards received an unprecedented 997 entries from 46 countries – the greatest amount of submissions in AZ Awards history. Naming the best of the best was no small feat for our jury of esteemed experts, who, after extensive debate and discussion, selected 64 finalists in April.

This year, the panel consisted of Claire Weisz, founding partner at New York architecture, urban design and planning firm WXY; Megan Torza, partner at Toronto architecture, landscape architecture and urban design firm DTAH; the aforementioned Michael Anastassiades; Michel Rojkind, founder of Mexico City architecture firm Rojkind Arquitectos; and Allen Chan, co-founder of Toronto multidisciplinary studio DesignAgency.

Through thoughtful consideration and conversation, they selected the best of the best – the 20 remarkable winners:

ARCHITECTURE

Best Residential Architecture, Single Family

Winner (tie):
Taller Héctor Barroso: Entrepinos, Valle de Bravo, Mexico

Best Residential Architecture, Single Family

Winner (tie):
Davidson Rafailidis: Big Space, Little Space, Buffalo, New York, USA (People’s Choice)

Finalists:
• la SHED architecture: Maison Wilson, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
• Mork Ulnes Architects: Mylla Hytte, near Oslo, Norway
• nodo17 group: House City Wall, Seville, Spain
• 35-51 Architecture Office: Vanoosh Villa, Vanoosh, Iran

Best Residential Architecture, Multi-Unit

Winner:
COBE: The Silo, Copenhagen, Denmark

Finalists:
• Studio MK27: Somosaguas, Madrid, Spain
• gad·Line+ Studio: Contemporary Rural Cluster: Dongziguan Affordable Housing, Hangzhou, China

Best Architecture Over 1,000 Square Metres

Winner:
C.F. Møller Architects: Copenhagen International School, Copenhagen, Denmark

Finalists:
• NADAAA: Daniels Building, Toronto, Ontario, Canada (People’s Choice)
• Neri&Hu Design and Research Office: The Walled – Tsingpu Yangzhou Retreat, Yangzhou, China
• ORIGEN 19º 41′ 53″ N: RMV – Refugio para Mujeres Victimas de Violencia, Uruapan, Mexico
• Skidmore, Owings & Merrill: Poly International Plaza, Beijing, China
• Antonini Darmon & RMDM Architectes: Extension of the CTLES, Bussy-Saint-Georges, France

Best Architecture Under 1,000 Square Metres

Winner:
Studio MK27: Micasa Volume C, São Paulo, Brazil (People’s Choice)

Finalists:
• Key Operation Architects: Kanda Terrace, Tokyo, Japan

Best Temporary & Demonstration Architecture

Winner:
DevolutioN: DevolutioN PARK, Xiamen, China

Finalists:
• Claude Cormier + Associés: 18 Shades of Gay, Montreal, Quebec, Canada (People’s Choice)
• RAW: Fine Line, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Best Landscape Architecture

Winner:
Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects: Orongo Station Stewardship Master Plan, New Zealand

Finalists:
• John Wardle Architects & NADAAA in collaboration with Oculus: Tanderrum Pedestrian Bridge, Melbourne, Australia
• Claude Cormier + Associés: Berczy Park, Toronto, Ontario, Canada (People’s Choice)
• Turenscape: Building a Greenway – Puyangjiang River Eco-Corridor, Zhejiang Province, China

CONCEPTS

Best Unbuilt Concept

Winner:
Lemay: Saint Joseph’s Oratory of Mount Royal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada (People’s Choice)

Finalists:
• Modern Office of Design + Architecture (MoDA): GROW, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
• Trahan Architects: Magazine Street Residence, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Best Ideas/Protoypes

Winner:
Public Work with Greenberg Consultants: The Bentway, Toronto, Ontario, Canada (People’s Choice)

Finalists:
• FXCollaborative: Public Square, New York, New York, USA

INTERIORS

Best Residential Interior

Winner:
Smartvoll: Loft Panzerhalle, Salzburg, Austria

Finalists:
• RIGI Design: A White House, Shanghai, China (People’s Choice)
• Jean Verville architecte: IN 3, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Best Institutional & Commercial Interior

Winner:
Esrawe Studio: El Califa, Mexico City, Mexico

Finalists:
• Freelon Adjaye Bond/SmithGroupJJR: Contemplative Court at Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture, Washington, DC, USA (People’s Choice)
• Linehouse: WeWork Weihai Lu China Flagship, Shanghai, China
• Squire and Partners: The Department Store, London, UK

DESIGN

Best Furniture Design

Winner:
Allermuir: Axyl, by Benjamin Hubert of Layer

Finalists:
• Two Degrees North: Mantis Table, by Brigitte Shim and Howard Sutcliffe (People’s Choice)
• Arper: Cila, by Lievore Altherr
• Springboard Working Surfaces: Q!

Best Furniture System

Winner:
Molteni&C: Gliss Master-Glass, by Vincent Van Duysen (People’s Choice)

Finalists:
• Teknion: Expansion Cityline, by Martin Chenette and Teknion’s Internal Design Team

Best Lighting Fixtures

Winner:
Castor Design: Induction Wall Light, by Brian Richer and Kei Ng

Finalists:
• ANONY: Highwire, by Christian Lo & David Ryan (People’s Choice)
• Innermost: Kepler, by Cohda
• Luceplan: Amisol, by Daniel Rybakken

Best Lighting Installations

Winner:
Moment Factory: Jacques Cartier Bridge Interactive Illumination, Montreal, Quebec, Canada (People’s Choice)

Finalists:
• Licht Kunst Licht AG with Ingenieurbüro Heiming and ttsp hwp seidel Planungsgesellschaft mbH, HSBC Cafeteria, Dusseldorf, Germany

Best Architectural and Interior Products

Winner:
OberSurfaces: Pure Paper Color, by Patrick Norguet

Finalists:
• Casali: Cocoon Lounge, by Daniele Merini and Maurizio Casali (People’s Choice)
• Agape: Immersion Bathtub, by Lyndon Neri and Rossana Hu

EXPERIENTIAL GRAPHIC DESIGN

Winner:
Rios Clementi Hale Studios: Row DTLA, Los Angeles, California, USA

Finalists:
• ZGF Architects LLP: University of California, Los Angeles, Wasserman Football Center, Los Angeles, California, USA (People’s Choice)

ENVIRONMENTAL LEADERSHIP

Winner:
Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects and Duke University: Duke University Water Reclamation Pond, Durham, North Carolina, USA (People’s Choice)

Finalists:
• Ruhl Walker Architects: Gap Cove House, Rockport, Massachusettes, USA

SOCIAL GOOD

Winner:
Hariri Pontarini Architects: Casey House, Toronto, Ontario, Canada (People’s Choice)

Finalists:
• Carleton University/Ben Kaufmann: BIO Water Distilling Device, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
• Insitu Project: Miaoxia Community Guesthouse, Miaoxia, Sichuan Province, China
• Iredale Pedersen Hook: Fitzroy Crossing Renal Hostel, Fitzroy Crossing, Australia

A+ Student Award

2018 AZ Awards Press release

The 2018 AZ Awards is presented by Cosentino, Keilhauer, and Laminam, and sponsored by Flos, Landscape Forms, Urban Capital, and George Brown College School of Design.

The AZ Awards Gala is sponsored by Alpi, DXV, Farrow&Ball, Scavolini and TAS. Our hotel partner is The Drake Hotel Media.

Partners: Archello, ArchiExpo, Archilovers, Archinect,Archiproducts, Architect@Work, The Architect’s Newspaper, ArchiTonic, Bustler, core77, Interior Designers of Canada, Index Design, v2com and World-Architects.