What makes a design award prestigious?

As an industry, design has more than its fair share of annual Awards.

In hospitality design alone there are numerous awards for hotel, restaurant, pub and bar interior design. Some are backed by accredited associations, others organised by trade magazines and trade exhibitions.

Some awards carry more weight than others and are considered more prestigious, but this doesn’t necessarily mean that the judging process has been fairer or more consistent.

I have been involved with a few hospitality design awards, as a judge, an organiser and even as a presenter.

Two thing occur to me.

One, it is impossible to devise an entirely fair judging system that will conclude in finding the best design, only the one that is considered best by a group of elected people, qualified or otherwise.

Two, when it comes to national or international design awards, it’s logistically impossible to include every venue, so the best design might still be out there!

These are just my musings and they should not take away the importance of design awards. Winners, and runners up, can use these accolades to great benefit.

They’re good for publicity and they’re great for staff morale.

More importantly, they can be good for business.

People are generally prepared to pay extra in order to get the ‘best’.

It is, however, important to ensure that Awards have merit and integrity.

The prestigious SBID International Design Awards have been accredited to GOLD standard by The Independent Awards Standards Council.

Our congratulations go to them as the SBID are the first interior design award scheme to be accredited to this standard.

The Awards Trust Mark Scheme was established with the aim of encouraging more award programmes to focus on their own ethics and transparency.

SBID Awards entrant: Bala Perdida Night Club, Axe Hotel in Madrid, by Hotel Investment Partners

The scheme scrutinises everything from criteria, scoring, feedback, transparency and judging.

Considered as one of the most prestigious accolades in interior design by the best in the industry, the SBID International Design Awards are awarded purely on the quality of the design, innovation, aesthetic and value-added to the project.

Each entry undergoes an exhaustive two-tier judging process by panels of leading industry experts for both technical content and aesthetic creativity.

Evaluating essential elements such as compliance with the brief, budget, health & safety and fit-for-purpose design.

SBID Awards entrant: Xiangqi Chicken Pot in China, by Cyril Architectural Design Company

Chris Robinson, Co-Founder of the Independent Awards Standards Council, and MD of the world’s first award entry consultancy, Boost Marketing commented: “The SBID International Design Awards scheme is an exemplar in how awards should be operated.

“Their attention to every detail, from the transparency of the scoring system, to the briefings provided to judges, to the quality of websites, the clarity of the entering process, and the quality of customer service throughout is exemplary.

“I hope more schemes will aspire to this level of service and also earn the Gold Standard Awards Trust Mark.”

SBID Award categories cover all aspects of interior design including Retail design, Public Space, Healthcare & Wellness Design, Residential Design, CGI, Club & Bar Design, Restaurant Design, Office Design and Hotel Design.

The highly anticipated finalists of the SBID International Design Awards 2019 are due to be announced on Friday 16th August, the public will then be invited to vote for their favourite projects which accounts for 30% of the final results.

SBID Awards entrant: Mombo in South Africa, by Artichoke

Last year saw one of the most globally represented editions to date with an astounding 225,000 unique voters during the voting period.

Founder and CEO of SBID International Design Awards, Dr Vanessa Brady, OBE comments “We’re thrilled to receive this accreditation and recognition which is a further endorsement of the value that an SBID Award generates to winners and one of the many reasons why the industry hold the SBID Awards as the ultimate recognised achievement for Interior Design”.

sbidawards.com