Australian House & Garden’s Top 50 Rooms award winners have been revealed today, with first-time entrant Lawless and Meyerson taking out the coveted Room of the Year prize in a unanimous judges’ vote.
The magazine awards, now in their 18th year, were once again supported by key sponsor Warwick Fabric, in addition to category sponsors including Winning Appliances, Blum and Holman Industries.
The Top 50 Rooms edition is Australian House & Garden’s annual design industry celebration and showcases the best rooms in the country completed over the past 12 months.
This year’s entries were judged by a panel of leading experts including House & Garden columnist and The Block judge Darren Palmer, Warwick joint managing director Cameron Warwick, Yellowtrace design blogger Dana Tomic-Hughes Lucy Sutherland of the International School of Colour and Design, Annalisa Capurro (head of Design at Enmore College) and House & Garden’s editor-in-chief, Lisa Green.
Green said the winning room by Joanne Lawless of Sydney interior design studio Lawless and Meyerson is “a serene family room which combines the raw materials of concrete and timber with soft furnishings in linen, wool and silk”.
Photo: This year’s winning room by Lawless and Meyerson (captured by Justin Alexander)
“It is architecturally striking, and the earthy palette is sophisticated yet practical.” Cameron Warwick added. “Symmetrical, with a multi-layered use of natural products, this room is highly contemporary without being austere.”
Winners were announced at an awards lunch at Sydney’s Dolphin Hotel, with the Room of the Year winner earning a trip for two to Maison & Objet trade fair in Paris.
A people’s choice vote launches on Monday at Bauer Media’s digital homes destination, homestolove.com.au, giving voters the chance to a $3,000 voucher from Warwick Fabric and a weekend at an Art Hotel of their choice.
House & Garden’s bumper 244-page Top 50 issue goes on sale on Monday, provides home decorators and renovators with expert insights from the industry’s best practitioners, according to Green, “along with a shopping list of cutting edge material finishes, design ideas, colour palettes and furnishings”.
Here is the full list of winners:
ROOM OF THE YEAR
Winner: Lawless and Meyerson, Sydney
BEST USE OF SOFT FURNISHINGS
Winner: Adelaide Bragg, Melbourne
BEST USE OF COLOUR
Winner: Chelsea Hing, Melbourne
BEST USE OF MATERIALS
Winner: Lawless & Meyerson, Sydney
BEST INDOOR-OUTDOOR CONNECTION
Winner: Williams Burton Leopardi, Adelaide
BEST KITCHEN
Winner: Amanda Lynn Design, Melbourne
BEST BATHROOM
Winner: Drew Heath Architect, Sydney
BEST USE OF LIGHTING
Winner: Williams Burton Leopardi, Adelaide
