The Royal Hotel by Giannone Petricone Associates Inc. Architects;Photograph by Doublespace
GRAY Media announces the breakout category, guest room finalists for the 7th Annual GRAY Awards.
SEATTLE, January 22, 2024 — Now in its 7th year, GRAY Awards — the international cross-disciplinary design awards program — continues to recognize the outstanding work happening around the world. Finalists have been selected in the fields of ARCHITECTURE, INTERIORS, LANDSCAPE, and PRODUCT DESIGN.
JUDGES CATEGORIES
Designers and manufacturers were invited to submit their projects in nine judges categories plus an editors’ pick Design for Good category. An esteemed panel of international design luminaries will select a winner in each of the initial nine categories. The winning designers will receive print and digital recognition as well as a custom designed trophy by acclaimed glass artist John Hogan.
GRAY CATEGORIES
GRAY encourages designers and manufacturers to create "Design for Good" projects —projects that have made a positive impact through design on a humanitarian, community, or environmental issue — and offers an award dedicated to these works each year.
In 2020, when the GRAY Awards expanded from a regional to international program, GRAY added a Legacy Award dedicated exclusively to a Pacific Northwest-based designer's lifetime achievement, honoring the region where GRAY began and the home to the GRAY Awards Parties. GRAY will name the next Legacy at the Party.
BREAKOUT CATEGORIES
Newly introduced at the 6th annual GRAY Awards last year, GRAY added several Breakout Categories, opening up opportunities to win GRAY Awards in micro-categories from Kitchens to Collaborations.
All winners will be announced at the GRAY Awards Party held in Seattle in March, 2024. The party is one of the most highly anticipated design bashes of the year, where all guests are treated like winners.
To purchase tickets, visit the 7th annual GRAY Awards Party page.
JUDGES
It is our privilege each year to welcome an international group of distinguished creatives to the GRAY Awards judging panel. Each working at the top of their game, these professionals now focus a discerning eye on determining the winners of the coveted GRAY Awards trophies.
7th annual GRAY Awards judging panel: Lee Broom, Brigitte Shim, Alessandro Munge, Silvia Tcherassi, Stephen Burks
FINALISTS - BREAKOUT CATEGORY, GUEST ROOM
Photograph by Doublespace
A key challenge in this project was restoring the lost luster of the 31,000-square-foot Royal Hotel, while also elevating it to a contemporary version of itself. When the project started, the building was in a state of ruin. A part of the roof had caved-in, letting in rain and snow over a few seasons, leaning blistered walls, moss covered floors, a compromised structure, and a waterlogged central staircase. The design team salvaged three brick walls and reconfigured the back of the building to add terraces and open the interior to increased natural light. Inside the restored building, the team established 28 guest rooms with relaxed, open-concept layouts that offer a transporting experience.
Playing on the expectations of the hotel’s history and context, guest rooms feature a rich contrast between the formalities of British tradition and the informalities of rural Ontario. The six room types are named after local varieties of apples and pears, distancing the hospitality experience from its buttoned-up past and signaling guests to enjoy a more relaxed approach. Vestiges of the original hotel’s formalities still find creative expression, but in ways more likely to delight modern travellers. Curved, fumed oak walls reminiscent of Victorian-era fireplace screens enclose soaker tubs, and scalloped bathroom vanities mimic starched linens being pressed into service in a surprising new way.
Photograph by Anton Benedikt Photo
In this bedroom, Interiors by Popov played with texture, texture, texture. The house is in an urban setting, and this bedroom is located right off the kitchen on the main floor. The designers wanted the room to feel like a different world after crossing the threshold from the busy living area.
The furniture layout the clients had in place needed some tweaking - proper clearances and a fresh perspective. These homeowners have a lot of character and they wanted this bedroom to reflect that; monochromatic simplicity was not going to cut it here. The designers knew that they needed to focus on their selections from the furniture and bedding, to the lighting and draperies. Once the layout was where it needed to be, they started with the bed and rug. Scale was important here. The rug brought the base layer of pattern on which the upholstered bed would be placed and this started the simple layering that flowed from there.
7th Annual GRAY Awards finalists' announcements began December 18, 2023 and will continue to publish daily until all categories have been announced. For more information, visit our GRAY Awards Party page.
Thank you to our 7th annual GRAY Awards sponsors and industry partners:
