Winners of the seventh edition of the Dezeen Awards were announced during a ceremony—organised in partnership with Bentley—in central London, UK, on November 26, 2024. The winners of the Dezeen Awards 2024 were selected from more than 4,130 entries from across 82 countries. From amongst a shortlist of 41 project category winners, Dezeen awarded four overall Project of the Year awards across the categories of Architecture, Interiors, Design and Sustainability. Additionally, Dezeen also announced six Designers of the Year and the Bentley Lighthouse Award winner during the ceremony.

Organised by the design magazine Dezeen, the awards programme annually honours studios across disparate categories such as housing, building renovation, cultural projects, workplace design, health and wellbeing projects, educational architecture, heritage projects, hospitality projects, mixed-use architecture, landscape design, urban design, furniture design, lighting design, textile design, product design, graphic design, installation design, retail interiors, residential interiors, workplace interiors, sustainable design, material innovation and more. The felicitation event for Dezeen Awards 2024 was attended by the shortlisted studios and several creatives who have judged the awards show, such as fashion designers Christian Louboutin and Ozwald Boateng, designers Giles Tettey Nartey and Sabine Marcelis and architects Nikoline Dyrup Carlsen and Carolina Maluhy.

STIR, a media partner with Dezeen Awards 2024, offers a glimpse into the works awarded by Dezeen this year.

Architecture

Under this category, Dezeen felicitates Studio Cho as the overall winner for their project Taiwan-Reyhanli Centre for World Citizens, in Turkey. This community centre, designed for refugees and residents affected by the 13-year Syrian civil war and the 2023 Turkey-Syria earthquake, was deemed by the jury as a “monumental yet accessible design that has had a transformative effect on the city and the people who live there”. Chosen from among the finalists announced for 15 architectural categories, Studio Cho’s project was earlier announced as the Civic Project of the Year. "Its bold, repetitive shape serves as a landmark and delivers a powerful architectural statement, seamlessly integrating with the city's geometry making it an outstanding contribution to the community. The Taiwan-Reyhanli Centre for World Citizens exemplifies the true role of architecture – to improve lives and uplift communities," the jury shares. 

The 14 other finalists under Architecture hail from Australia, Turkey, Rwanda, France, Morocco, Scotland, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and Finland. Australian architectural firm LLDS was accorded the House (urban) of the Year award for their Northcote House, a self-designed home with a curved plywood roof in Melbourne, Australia and Izat Arundell received the House (rural) of the Year award for Caochan na Creige, a remote residence designed to blend in with its proximal landscape. Shay Cleary Architects received the Housing Project of the Year award for The Residences at Sandford Lodge, a low-rise residential complex organised around a communal courtyard in Dublin and KOOP Architects was awarded the Heritage Project of the Year for revitalising the 17th century Seddülbahir Fortress into an open-air museum.

Other finalists under this category exemplify each practice’s commitment to environmental responsibility, sustainability and communal well-being. Amongst these are Grotto Studio’s Shadow House for House Renovation of the Year, Elding Oscarson’s Wisdome Stockholm timber theatre for Cultural Project of the Year, Atelier du Pont’s Pavillon Jardins in Paris for Workplace Project of the Year, MJMA Architecture & Design’s Churchill Meadows Community Centre for Health and Wellbeing Project of the Year, MASS Design Group’s Rwanda Institute for Conservation Agriculture (RICA) for Education Project of the Year, Bergendy Cooke’s Maison Brummell Majorelle for Hospitality Project of the Year, Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects’s The Land Bridge & Prairie at Memorial Park for Infrastructure and Transport Project of the Year, Littow Architectes and Majamaja’s Majamaja Of -Grid Village for Small project of the year, Urbanus’s Nantou Hybrid Building for Mixed-use Project of the Year and Cobe’s The Opera Park for Landscape and Urban Design Project of the Year.

Design

The Faneeri folding chair, designed by Jonas Forsman of Forsman Design for the Finnish brand Nikari, was named both, the Seating Design of the Year and the overall winner in the Design category. “It’s timeless yet not boring, and pleasing for all ages. It is a product that doesn’t shout for your attention in an age of constant noise," the jury shares about the minimalist chair design. Chosen from among 11 design categories, the folding chair exhibits a restrained and elegant design.

Other design finalists, following the current focus on cognizant and simple designs, exhibit a certain moderation in their form and design. While Switzerland-based Gini Moynier’s Formwork furniture collection, accorded Furniture Design of the Year by Dezeen, is made using upcycled spruce and oak wood, Makhno studio’s Breathable Walls, granted Surface Design of the Year, includes eco-panels made from flax, barley, sesame, linden, nettle, lemon balm, musk, coffee cake and wood shavings. Kirkby Design’s Aloe is a sustainable textile collection that won Textile Design of the Year. Pentagram’s Ambessa Play, on the other hand, is a flashlight assembly kit for refugee children that was awarded Product Design (consumer and wearables) of the Year.

Some trendy and adaptable designs that were honoured under this category include the Bilboquet table lamp by Philippe Malouin for Flos and the Nova desk lamp by Humanscale, which won the Lighting Design of the Year and Workplace Design of the Year award, respectively. The award for Product Design (health and wellbeing) of the year was accorded to The Pelvic People for Kiwi, a multipurpose vibrator and Tokyo-based Spread won Graphic Design of the Year for a series of geometric colourful covers that the studio designed for Journal of Architecture and Building Science. Amongst spatial interventions awarded by Dezeen are the Artificial Bar project by Light Origin Studio and NC Design & Architecture (NCDA), which won the Architectural Lighting Design of the Year and Una / Unless’s A Pavilion for Swell of Spæcies, which was awarded Installation Design of the Year. Both these interventions exhibit a futuristic and otherworldly charm.

Interiors

The overall winner in the Interiors category is Spanish design studio Mesura for their project Aesop Diagonal. A finalist in the Retail Interior (small) Project of the Year category, this retail space in Barcelona follows a circular approach—repurposing local stone into functional objects within the store. “Using an arrangement of 78 stone pieces including ancient fountains, archways, and pedestals, the studio combined a mixture of stainless steel and natural finishes to emphasise the textures and perforations of the stone remnants,” mentions an excerpt from the press release.

Amongst the other finalists are the Kanso Philosophy project by Miriam Barrio Studio, which won Residential Interior of the Year for its minimalist reinterpretation of Japanese and Mediterranean elements; Austa Restaurant by Studio Gameiro for Restaurant and Bar Interior of the Year and Locke at East Side Gallery by New York-based architecture studio Grzywinski + Pons for the Hotel and short-stay Interior of the Year award. Land Over Water in the Netherlands by Firm Architects won the Workplace Interior (small) of the Year, Chancery House by Norm Architects and dMFK Architects was awarded Workplace Interior (large) of the Year, and Unmaking for IZA Tokyo by Japanese studio Office Shogo Onodera was accorded Retail Interior (large) of the Year. Divooe Zein Architects was awarded under the Health and Wellbeing Interior of the Year category for converting an abandoned coal mine in Taiwan into a wellness space and Semester Studio received the Exhibition Design (interior) of the Year award for their temporary pavilion design conceived with recycled materials.

Sustainability

An atypical category in contrast with the other brackets set aside by Dezeen, sustainability is a topic, trend, approach and ethos that continues to remain at the forefront of discussions pertaining to design and architecture. The term remains, however, its meaning, implications and understanding evolve every year. This year’s finalists and overall winner delineate the latest sustainable attributes that are dominating discussions and our news and social feeds.

From among the six sustainability category winners, Dezeen awarded the overall Sustainability award to Mass Design Group for Rwanda Institute for Conservation Agriculture(RICA). Also named Sustainable Building of the Year, RICA was constructed using rammed earth and compressed earth blocks. "The Rwanda Institute for Conservation Agriculture respectfully sits within its landscape, using local bio-based materials while regenerating biodiversity and benefitting the local community through training and job creation," the jury shares.

In addition to RICA, various architectural projects exemplify sustainable practices in the realm of renovation, interiors, product design and material innovation. While Wuzhen Rural Brewery by Lichao Architecture Design Studio is touted for the renovation of an abandoned 25,400-square-metre factory in Jiaxing City, China, the interiors of Stockholm Office by Tengbom won sustainable interior of the year for its office redesign in Stockholm, Sweden. Designer Paul Crofts’s Tejo sofa for Isomi won the Sustainable Design (consumer) of the Year award and Kooo Architects was accorded the Sustainable Design (building product) of the Year for their custom-made bricks that combine tea leaves and earth. Lastly, Teruhiro Yanagihara’s Ame, for the brand Kvadrat, won in the Material Innovation of the Year category.

Designers of the Year

Launched last year, this category "recognises the best emerging and established talent whose innovative work has made a notable impact on the industry across architecture, interiors and design". Bangladesh-based eponymous practice Marina Tabassum Architects, which aims to raise the standard of living conditions for low-income populations, won the Architect of the Year award. The Emerging Architect of the Year award was won, on the other hand, by Studio Saar, an architecture and research practice that puts social and environmental sustainability at its core. The Interior Designer of the Year and Emerging Interior Designer of the Year awards were accorded to French designer Dorothée Meilichzon’s Paris-based studio CHZON and Polish multidisciplinary practice Mistovia, respectively. Sabine Marceline, a Dutch designer and artist renowned for her experimental and evocative work in the realm of product, installation and spatial design, won under the Designer of the Year category and Helsinki-based artist and designer Didi Ng Wing Yin was honoured with the Emerging Designer of the Year award.

Bentley Lighthouse Award

In honour of Dezeen’s collaboration with Bentley, Mexican designer Fernando Laposse was named as the awardee for the Bentley Lighthouse Award. The award is conceived for creatives who are curious and courageous in their approach and who work keeping in mind their responsibility to ensure social and environmental sustainability, inclusivity and community empowerment. Laposse works in collaboration with the indigenous farming community in Tonaquixla, Mexico, to restore farmland and create new job opportunities for the community through his design. He also works with natural entities to produce sustainable and regenerating materials for common usage.