Inside a West Hollywood Complex Brimming With Greenery

2023 Best of Year Winner for Domestic Multiunit Residential

Patrick Tighe, the Interior Design Hall of Fame member, has configured the 13 units in this new four-story building in West Hollywood around an interior courtyard that provides residents with privacy while also allowing natural light and air to flow through the apartments, each of which has a private terrace. On the street-facing elevation, the 38,000-square-foot concrete, steel, and glass structure of Larrabee sports a facade-spanning brise-soleil that serves as an energy-conserving thermal barrier, among the efforts to make the project minimally dependent on fossil fuels and also give it a strong identity. A two-story concrete arbor defines the entry; inside, amenities include a ground-floor screening room, gym, and coworking space, plus a parking garage in the basement. Above it all, the rooftop boasts a photovoltaic array and a planted terrace offering panoramic views, from the Hollywood Hills to the city below.

PATRICK TIGHE; KERVIN LAU. 

Stay in a Refreshed 18th-Century Catalonian Palace

2023 Best of Year Winner for International Hotel Transformation

After a tasteful intervention, an 18th-century Catalonian palace is ready for its next chapter. For the Palau Fugit Hotel in Girona, Spain, El Equipo Creativo honored the existing baroque architecture, refreshed by Isern Associats, and took additional inspiration from the local vernacular of the historic Barri Vell quarter, with its hidden cul-de-sacs, porticoes, and stone ramparts. Throughout its 18,000 square feet, complete with a spa grotto, the property’s vaulted ceilings and arched niches meet a moody palette of stone, clay, moss, and navy. Layered in are eclectic furnishings from all eras, alongside contemporary paintings, murals, and sculptures by area artists, imbuing a welcoming duality of easygoing comfort and refined luxury.

oliver franz schmidt; natali canas del pozo; lucas echeveste lacy; daniel trujillo; ricardo fabregat.

How Mayan Construction Shapes a Luxury Condo Complex in Mexico

2023 Best of Year Winner for International Multiunit Residential

The first of an eventual 16 residential buildings across a 12-acre master plan that includes a resort, The Village in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, is visually complex and dynamic, both outside and in. Designed by Sordo Madaleno, the 160,220-square-foot condominium springs from a modular, Mayan-inspired “defragmented pyramid” system that facilitates construction—and nods to the region’s pre-Hispanic history. Approximately 13-foot-square structural boards make up the modules, which have been configured to produce six different apartment layouts, ranging from 900 square feet to more than 2,500, and one to four bedrooms. The concrete-framed construction yields a seemingly random array of terraces that add greenery to the exterior, harmonizing the project with its lush jungle setting. The terraces also provide space for residents to plant their own flower and vegetable gardens. 

JAVIER SORDO MADALENO BRINGAS; JAVIER SORDO MADALENO DE HARO; FERNANDO SORDO MADALENO DE HARO; LUIS HERNÁNDEZ; JAVIER PÁEZ; ALEJANDRO OLIVIER; ANTONIO URRUTIA; RAYMUNDO BALDOVINOS.

Gensler Designs Boston Consulting Group’s Latest Office

2023 Best of Year Winner for Medium Corporate Office

Steps away from the White House, Boston Consulting Group’s new 90,000-square-foot campus in Washington, designed by Gensler, promotes a humanistic approach via a clever breakdown of inviting focus rooms, semiprivate hubs, and collaboration zones, all equipped with hybrid work–friendly cameras and monitors. The organic, curvilinear layout spans two floors, with glossy ceilings to reflect light and maximize the sense of space. Other features, such as dimensional panels and millwork fins inspired by fluted columns, nod to the city’s Greek Revival vernacular. Freshening the palette are living and preserved plants (encountered at least every 20 feet) that foster connectivity to nature, as do the touches of green throughout.

francisco gonzales; john mckinney; stephanie clements; christian amolsch; osamu osawa; foster kutner; aimee messina; yukiko takahashi; steven joswick; samantha pontius; franny gottsch; david bernhardt; abby young; andrew koenings.

Behind the Design of an Eco-Friendly Home in Mexico

2023 Best of Year Winner for On the Boards Single Family Residential

For a home situated in the drought-susceptible region of Ciudad López Mateos, Mexico, Desai Chia Architecture and MT Arquitectos envisioned an eco-friendly oasis for a family of four oriented around a courtyard that doubles as a collection point for rainwater. A standout semicircular staircase anchors the two-story, 6,000-square-foot plan, and floor-to-ceiling glazing ushers in daylight. The concrete facade will be cast in place and act as a natural thermal barrier. Interior walls will be finished with an ancient Mayan stucco technique made from a mixture of cement and boiled bark sourced from the native Yucatán chukum tree.

Houston’s Brava Tower Blends Newspaper History with Modern Luxury

2023 Best of Year Winner for Small Residential Lobby/Amenity Space

The Brava tower in Houston, Texas, a 46-story apartment building, has something most contemporary towers lack: a sense of place. A slim dynamic rectangle, Munoz + Albin Architecture & Planning rotated the structure 45 degrees to maximize views for the 373 rental units, its LED-edged glazed facade resembling a sail. Interiors, by MaRS Culture, focus on the history of the location, which was once owned by The Houston Chronicle, thus tip a hat to both the physical newspaper and the stories within it. In the lobby, for instance, a custom fluorescent-tube fixture spells out Libertas perfundet omnia luce, Latin for Freedom will flood all things with light, referring to freedom of the press. Gently undulating plaster walls evoke newspaper folds in the leasing lounge. And in a penthouse lounge nook, wallcovering is woven from recycled newspaper.

mars culture: kelie Mayfield; erick ragni; rachel grady; daniela gonzalez; linnea wingo; zoe pittman; alisha gaubert.

munoz + Albin architecture & planning: jorge munoz; enrique albin; jeff schmidt; taylor currell; richard rodgers; michael cox.

Take a Peek at This Residential Tower Design in Harlem

2023 Best of Year Winner for On the Boards Multiunit Residential

Coming soon to South Harlem is a 155,000-square-foot residential tower designed by Woods Bagot overlooking Central Park with an intricate terra-cotta facade sure to create an instantly recognizable silhouette. The seven-story podium base, containing mainly community facilities, will have wavy cladding and concave and convex glazing that recalls the stacked bay windows of nearby brownstones. Above will be the apartments—up to 60 percent affordable housing catering to residents from diverse backgrounds—featuring a facade scalloped to frame large terraces and angled windows.

Alireza Shojakhani; David Brown; James Hickerson; Jennifer Levy; Matt Stephenson; Yasamin Fathi; Agna Brayshaw.

A Whirlpool Brand Experience Center Puts a Futuristic Spin on Laundry

2023 Best of Year Winner for Shining Moment

Appliances never looked so good. At W House–Whirlpool Brand Experience Center in Foshan, China, MOC Design Office, which stands for mood, observation, and creativity, put a new spin on laundry machines, turning a mundane shopping experience into an engaging one. The century-old brand sought to refresh its image and show off its state-of-the-art products; the firm responded with an intriguing interplay between a reflective 7,000-square-foot interior and exterior, its eye-catching, forward-looking qualities emblematic of the client’s ethos. The two-story project occupies an origamilike building with long eaves of mirrored stainless steel. MOC extended the material and jagged geometry indoors with faceted, reflective ceilings and a prism that divides the space. Product displays, like a floor-to-ceiling wall of black washers, are striking, while bursts of yellow acrylic add warmth. It’s a virtual whirlpool of innovation.

Yang Zhenyu; Liang Ningsen; Wu Xiuwei; Yang Zhenyu; Huang Zhentao; Yan Wending; Li Ruiwen; Xie Xinyu; Chen Qianyu.

This Stylish Gender-Neutral Restroom Paves the Way Forward

2023 Best of Year Winner for Public Restroom

In China, childcare no longer falls along strict gender lines. “Moms and sons, dads and daughters, grandparents and grandchildren all take care of each other,” Uro founder Ying Zhang explains. That’s presented a challenge when it comes to restrooms that are traditionally separated into male and female domains. Uro Design, to its knowledge, has created the country’s first gender-neutral public restroom, located in a shopping mall in Shanghai, built with kids in mind. The faucets, for example, are mounted low to allow little ones to use the sink on their own; for even younger users, there are diaper-changing stations. Appealing to all ages is the evergreen terrazzo wrapping the facility’s 1,615 square feet, lending a sense of nature and vitality.

YING zhang; nan yang; peng ma; mingzhi chen; jinzhou wu; guosheng you; jun wu.

Indulge in a Gelato Shop With a Distinct Palette

2023 Best of Year Winner for Counter Service

A mélange of rococo architecture and modern chrome makes for a tasteful pairing at Tanu Gelaterie in Odesa, Ukraine, completed just before the war began. Sivak+Partners, a Kyiv-based firm, inspired by the shop’s name (Ukrainian for I’m melting), and the icy dessert itself, installed wavy metal cladding that cascades along walls below the existing ornate plaster ceiling, concealing mechanicals. A slew of vintage filament bulbs line one such partition, while silvery curtains drape behind. To finish, the design team chose lilac neon-look signage, filling the 800-square-foot space with a dose of sweet color.

dmitry sivak; ivanna gaidarzhy; yuliia storozheva; angelina stelmakh.