2009 ARIDO awards honour Ontario's best interior designers

TORONTO, Sept. 25 /CNW/ - The Association of Registered Interior Designers of Ontario (ARIDO) announced the winners of its annual ARIDO Awards Program, during a gala dinner last night at the Liberty Grand in Toronto. This prestigious awards program honours innovation, creativity and professional achievement in the province's interior design industry. Judges selected 32 designs from 10 categories; among the winning entries were 11 Awards of Excellence, 20 Awards of Merit and one Project of the Year. (See attached list.)

The winning projects showcase a wide range of interior design talent, from retail to residential, corporate to health-care, public and institutional spaces to major restoration projects, and specialty elements to trade show displays. They include a museum of biodiversity, a 2010 Olympic Games store, a retail concourse, conference centre, dentistry office, and restaurant, as well as private residences, condo sales offices, corporate offices, and a design show display of crystals. An integrated graphics program was honoured, along with a custom-made conference table system and a fireplace.

This year's projects are not confined within Ontario's borders. "We are very proud of the fact that a number of ARIDO members are creating award-winning designs for national and international clients," says ARIDO's president, Deborah Rutherford. "Four of this year's Award of Excellence projects are outside of Canada."

The transformation of a historical powerhouse in St. Louis, Missouri, into a modern office building was selected as Project of the Year. The design, by Maureen Donohue of Cannon Design, Toronto, beautifully contrasts the original structure with contemporary elements. A hotel as well as a condo sales office in Atlanta, Georgia, and a retail men's department in Dublin, Ireland, also received top awards. All three of these projects were designed by Diego Burdi of burdifilek, Toronto.

In addition to Project of the Year, interior designers from Cannon Design, Toronto, received two more awards for their workplace designs. And Stantec received awards for the design of its firm's Toronto and Guelph offices, as well as an award for a regional health centre. Two Awards of Excellence went to Elaine Cecconi and Anna Simone of Cecconi Simone Inc. for an appliance showroom and the Lippincott model suite. Valerie Gow of Gow Hastings Architects Inc. was honoured with an Award of Excellence for her design of the Music Production Facility and Recording Studio at Humber College, and an Award of Merit for George Brown's Centre for Hospitality & Culinary Arts.

"The Association takes great pride in the contribution its members make to public and private spaces," says Rutherford. "ARIDO's Awards Program builds public awareness of our professional capabilities and the important contribution interior designers make to the built environment."

About ARIDO

ARIDO is the professional association for Interior Designers in Ontario. ARIDO's mandate is to serve the interests of both the public and the interior design industry. It does so by registering interior designers who voluntarily meet required standards of education, experience and examination. For more information on ARIDO, please visit arido.ca.

    
    2009 ARIDO Award recipients:

    Project of the Year: Cannon Design, St. Louis Office
    Interior Designer: Maureen Donohue / Design Firm: Cannon Design

    11 Awards of Excellence

    Project: Stratford Cottage
    Interior Designer: Brenda Bjarnason / Design Firm: Bjarnason & Associates
    Interior Design Inc.

    Project: Sub-Zero Wolf Showroom for Maroline Distributing Inc.
    Interior Designer: Elaine Cecconi and Anna Simone / Design Firm: Cecconi
    Simone Inc.

    Project: VANOC Olympic Store
    Interior Designer: Ted Wilson / Design Firm: Hbc Store Planning and
    Design

    Project: Brown Thomas & Co. Men's Department
    Interior Designer: Diego Burdi / Design Firm: burdifilek

    Project: 2009 Interior Design Show, Crystal Clear
    Interior Designer: Jenny Lee and Yvonne Ho / Design Firm: FULL SCALE &
    PARTNERS

    Project: Lippincott Living Model Suite
    Interior Designer: Elaine Cecconi and Anna Simone / Design Firm: Cecconi
    Simone Inc.

    Project: W Hotel - Condo Sales Centre
    Interior Designer: Diego Burdi / Design Firm: burdifilek

    Project: W Atlanta - Downtown
    Interior Designer: Diego Burdi / Design Firm: burdifilek

    Project: Humber College, Music Production Facility and Recording Studio
    Interior Designer: Valerie Gow / Design Firm: Gow Hastings Architects
    Inc.

    Project: Schad Gallery of Biodiversity, Royal Ontario Museum
    Interior Designer: Fang-Pin Lee / Design Firm: Reich + Petch Design
    International

    Project: Stantec, Toronto Office
    Interior Designer: Kelly Stobbe / Design Firm: Stantec

    20 Awards of Merit

    Project: Modern Family Home
    Interior Designer: Jeffrey Douglas / Design Firm: Douglas Design Studio

    Project: Astley Avenue
    Interior Designer: Theresa Casey / Design Firm: Casey Design Group

    Project: Spring @ Minto Gardens
    Interior Designer: Carmen Dragomir / Design Firm: esQape design inc.

    Project: 145 King Street Retail Concourse
    Interior Designer: Trifon Voltsinis / Design Firm: Mole White + Cohos
    Evamy integratedesign(TM)

    Project: Invesco Enterprise Services
    Interior Designer: Michel Arcand / Design Firm: Cannon Design

    Project: Urbacon
    Interior Designer: Don Parker / Design Firm: Cannon Design

    Project: Mackenzie Investments
    Interior Designer: Erik Heppner / Design Firm: IBI Group

    Project: Cara Operations Ltd., Head Office
    Interior Designer: Theo West-Parks / Design Firm: Westparks & Associates
    Inc.

    Project: Newalta Corporation, Head Office
    Interior Designer: Jane Lawson / Design Firm: Walker Lawson Interior
    Design Inc.

    Project: IT Headquarters
    Interior Designer: Beverly Korchynos / Design Firm: Sizeland Evans
    Interior Design Inc.

    Project: FUEL Advertising
    Interior Designer: Inger Bartlett / Design Firm: Bartlett & Associates
    Ltd.

    Project: Conference Centre
    Interior Designer: Sharon Martens / Design Firm: MartensGroup Licensed
    Interior Design Studios Ltd.

    Project: Peterborough Regional Health Centre
    Interior Designer: Stacy Fleming / Design Firm: Stantec

    Project: Dr. Janice Lee Dentistry
    Interior Designer: Neal Prabhu / Design Firm: nkA

    Project: George Brown College, Centre for Hospitality and Culinary Arts
    Interior Designer: Valerie Gow / Design Firm: Gow Hastings Architects
    Inc.

    Project: Makimono
    Interior Designer: Joe Cho / Design Firm: J. CHO Design

    Project: Stantec, Guelph Office
    Interior Designer: Alan Dalquen / Design Firm: Stantec

    Project: MMM Group: Integrated Graphics Program
    Interior Designer: Yvonne Campbell and Chantal Frenette / Design Firm:
    modo

    Project: Deloitte National, Conferencing Table System
    Interior Designer: John Kelly and Kristina Moeller / Design Firm: Kelly
    McTernan Lavoie

    Project: Illuminated Fireplace
    Interior Designer: Jeffrey Douglas / Design Firm: Douglas Design Studio
    

For further information: visuals, or to arrange an interview, please contact: Penny Tomlin, Manager, Communications, at [email protected], or [phone] x 227, or [phone] (cell)