Australian Design Review and inside magazine announced the winners of the 2023 Interior Design Excellence Awards (IDEA) at a gala event in Sydney on Thursday 23 November and Kennedy Nolan – Somers House shone as the IDEA 2023 Overall Project of the Year
The highly regarded Overall Project Winner is awarded to the submission that the jury believes to be the most outstanding design among the individual category winners. This year, Kennedy Nolan took out the top prize for Somers House.
Somers House replaced a building that was the repository of good memories but was also damp, poorly organised and at the end of its useful life. The new, unmistakably Australian coastal house in the Victorian seaside town of Somers, integrates these existing and future memories into a well-organised, functional, accessible and zoned abode.
“A unanimous standout project and much loved by all the judges – both beautiful and masterful in solving complex problems of multi-family requirements with wheelchair access. The project draws together a palette and textures from the landscape, the owner’s artefacts and precious memories, and creates a deep warm interior experience that seemingly glows from within. Although rich in a layered immersive approach to the palette, there are small references to the modest Australian modernist holiday house that are relaxed and fun.”
Judge’s comment: Sue Fenton
IDEA 2023 Overall Project of the Year is proudly brought to you by our sponsors Miele
Above is an excerpt of an article that appears in the upcoming IDEA Winner’s Edition of inside magazine, out 11 December. To read the full article, subscribe now.
Images by Derek Swalwell