(Inside) magazine has announced the winners of its 2014 Interior Design Excellence Awards (IDEA). The 12th annual awards were celebrated in style at Royal Randwick Racecourse in Sydney on Friday.

The winners are as follows:

Overall Winner: Kennedy Nolan – St Kilda West House

The judges called this a superb design incorporating Asian architectural themes within a contemporary vernacular. Taking inspiration from the client’s desire for a home that would be expressive, without being formulaic or symbolic, Kennedy Nolan’s design responds with a sensibility that is never literal. The project was also recognised as the winner of the Residential Single category.

Designer of the Year: Woods Bagot

The judges said Woods Bagot’s contribution of exemplar projects over the past year saw them take home the Designer of the Year title. Presenting work across hospitality, commercial and public space, their exceptional calibre of work is celebrated for its unique and elegant response.

Gold Medal: Chris Connell

The judges said Chris Connell, one of the country’s most highly regarded design figures, took home this year’s most prestigious award, the IDEA Gold Medal, presented to practitioners who have made an enduring contribution to Australian design over the course of their career.

Editors’ Medal: Greg Natale

Greg Natale was named the inaugural winner of the Editors’ Medal. The judges said a designer of extraordinary talent, Natale is both an exemplar and prolific contributor to the Australian interior design milieu. Compounding his work as an interior designer and architect with his firm Greg Natale Design, Natale has also designed a range of rugs, carpets, wallpapers, and furniture this year, while launching his first book, The Tailored Interior, earlier this month.

Emerging Designer: C+M Studio

The highly regarded Emerging Designer award was this year awarded to C + M Studio, for their inaugural project Manly Penthouse. Their design saw a curved interior room inserted within a modernist shell with the skill and resolution of a mature practice.

Sustainability: Breathe Architects – The Commons

Emerging practice Breathe Architecture received IDEA’s Sustainability award for The Commons, a triple bottom line development that is, uniquely, replicable. Comprising a series of small, but delightful architectural moments, the whole is so much more than the sum of its parts. The project and Breathe Architecture were also recognised as winner of the Residential Multi category.

Event

Winner: NGV + Mathery – Pastello – Draw Act

Highly Commended: Fold Theory – City of Trees

Highly Commended: Justin Architecture – Fallow: Between Abandonment and Rebirth

Hospitality

Winner: DesignOffice – A. Baker

Highly Commended: Tonkin Zulaikha Greer Architects – Norton Street Cinema

Highly Commended: Pascale Gomes-McNabb Design (PGMD) – Yellow

International

Winner: BVN Donovan Hill – Regional Terminal at Christchurch Airport

Highly Commended: BVN Donovan Hill in association with Jasmax – ASB North Wharf

Highly Commended: Travis Walton Architecture – Sisterfields

Object – Furniture and Lighting

Winner: Coco Flip – Bucket Table

Highly Commended: Christopher Boots – Asterix Series

Highly Commended: Ross Gardam – Asymmetry

Public Space

Winner: Bates Smart – 171 Collins Street

Highly Commended: Luchetti Krelle – Claremont House Driveway

Highly Commended: Museum Victoria Design Studio – First Peoples Exhibition

Residential Decoration

Winner: Arent&Pyke – The Avenue

Highly Commended: Sarah Davison Interior Design – Art House

Residential Multi

Winner: Breathe Architecture – The Commons

Highly Commended: DesignOffice – Park and Raphael Display Unit

Highly Commended: Smart Design Studio and Koichi Takada Architects – One Central Park

Residential Single

Winner: Kennedy Nolan – St Kilda West House

Highly Commended: Andrew Burges Architects – Pittwater House

Highly Commended: Maddison Architects – Cabin 2

Retail

Winner: Kerstin Thompson Architects – Aesop Emporium

Highly Commended: Elenberg Fraser – Adrian Zumbo Patisserie

Highly Commended: Studio Equator – Whites Dispensary

Workplace Over 1000sqm

Winner: Architectus and Ingenhoven Architects – Sydney Commonwealth Parliament Offices

Highly Commended: CO-AP – Camperdown Childcare

Highly Commended: Intermain – WWF Australia

Workplace Under 1000sqm

Winner: Melbourne Design Studios – Birkenstock Australia HQ

Highly Commended: Alexander &Co. – Calida HQ

Now in their 12th year, (Inside) magazine’s annual Interior Design Excellence Awards IDEA are nationally recognised as the country’s premier independent design awards program. Close to 500 entries were received this year. The 2014 judges were Miriam Fanning from Mim Design; Fiona Dunin from FMD Architects; Trent Jansen; Grant Amon, from Grant Amon Architects; Jon Goulder; Mark Simpson from DesignOffice and the Jury chairs, Inside Magazine’s editors Jan Henderson and Gillian Serisier

For more information.