Words by FX Magazine
The deadline for entries into the prestigious FX Awards is now less than two months away, but there's still time to put an entry together for this year's competition. To find out everything you need to know to put your application together before Saturday 25 July, head over to our awards site.
In the meantime, we'd like to introduce our judging panel for 2020! Each judge has been selected due to their integrity, experience, and in-depth knowledge of our industry, and we're proud to have the individuals below as our judging panel for this year. Here's an introduction to each of the judges, while you can find out more about our judging process below:
The Judges
Alistair Weir
Partner, PRP
Alistair leads PRP’s Manchester studio. He has over twenty years’ experience designing complex, high-profile projects that span all sectors. Projects include CoRE, the conversion of a listed pottery works for the BRE to showcase renewable technologies, and The Sharp Project, converting a disused warehouse into a state-of-the-art centre for the digital creative industry.
prp-co
Andrew Mcmullan
Director, Mcmullan Studio
Mcmullan Studio brings together eclectic ideas and thoughtful pragmatism to create buildable, beautiful architectural and interior projects for progressive clients.
mcmullanstudio.com
Anthony Brown
Sales & marketing director, BW: Workplace Experts
Anthony began his career in advertising as a copywriter before entering the construction world. As a co-owner of BW: Workplace Experts, he is part of the team that have transformed a small company into one of the most successful and innovative interior fit out specialists.
wearebw.com
Helen Berresford
Head of ID:SR Sheppard Robson
Helen is head of ID:SR, Sheppard Robson’s award-winning interior design group, and is passionate about designing for people, championing an activity-driven design approach that puts human experience and requirements at the heart of the design process.
sheppardrobson.com
Ian Johnston
Founder, Quinine
Quinine is a leading retail experience consultancy devoted to the power of design to drive innovation and growth. Quinine helps brands create world-class social, cultural and commercial experiences that enrich and delight their customers’ everyday lives.
quininedesign.com
Jill Entwistle
Executive editor, lighting, (Illumination in Architecture)
Jill Entwistle is the executive editor of Lighting (Illumination in Architecture). She is the author of three books on lighting, including Detail in Contemporary Lighting Design (Laurence King), and the editor of the first BCO (British Council for Offices) Guide to Lighting.
Jill Higgins
Creative director + founder, Studio Jill
Jill is an interior designer with over twenty years’ experience working in hospitality, retail and exhibition design. Established in 2019, Studio Jill brings together a team of talented designers who create beautifully detailed interior design solutions that are appropriate to the client’s commercial needs.
studiojill.co.uk
Keith Bell
Architect, LOCI:architecture
Principal architect with LOCi:architecture, a design studio focussing on bespoke houses, hospitality and regeneration in Cornwall.
Levent Çaglar
Chief ergonomist, FIRA
Levent Çaglar is the key UK expert in the design evaluation of furniture. He works with designers, architects and specifiers to create efficient work environments for the wellbeing of people.
fira.co.uk
Michelle Nicholls
Principal, Jump Studios
Jump Studios is a collective of architects and designers focused on challenging conventions and redefining boundaries. As Principal, Michelle leads multiple teams and shapes the creative output of the work.
jump-studios.com
Midori Ainoura
Partner, PLP Architecture
PLP Architecture is a dynamic collective of architects, designers and researchers. The practice has delivered intelligent and ground-breaking designs around the world.
plparchitecture.com
Morag Morrison
Head of Interior Design, Hawkins\Brown
Morag is a partner and head of interior design at Hawkins\Brown, a multidisciplinary architecture practice based in London, Manchester, Edinburgh and Los Angeles.
hawkinsbrown.com
Nigel Bidwell
Partner, JTP
JTP is an award-winning international placemaking practice of architects and masterplanners, with extensive experience of delivering successful projects throughout the UK, Europe, Russia and the Middle East.
jtp.co.uk
Patrick Abrams
Managing director, Applied Studio
Applied Studio is a design led, architecture and interiors practice creating unique designs, applied to the real world.
applied.studio
Peter Barbalov
Partner, Farrells
The medium sized, agile practice is collective of architects; thought leaders, thinkers, strategists, urbanists and technicians – all connected through a desire to deliver quality buildings that make a difference to London.
farrells.com
Pippa Nissen
Director, Nissen Richards Studio
Pippa Nissen, director of architects and exhibition designers Nissen Richards Studio, works with some of the world’s greatest cultural institutions.
nissenrichardsstudio.com
Poppy Szkiler
Founder and CEO, Quiet Mark
Poppy Szkiler is the founder and CEO of Quiet Mark, the global award programme associated with the UK Noise Abatement Society verifying leading noise reduction design solutions.
quietmark.com
Reda Amalou
Studio founder and partner, AW2
Reda is a French architect who founded AW² architecture workshop in 1997, built on a contextual approach to design. With Stéphanie Ledoux, he developed a multidisciplinary team to respond to all aspects of a project, from the scale of an urban plan to bespoke furniture and fittings. Reda launched his own furniture and accessories brand, Reda Amalou Design in 2013. aw2.com
Rob Owen
Head of Interiors, The Manser Practice
Rob has a broad range of experience, designing for the hospitality and residential sectors. His trademarks are attention to the smallest detail and creative space planning.
manser.co.uk
Sarah Featherstone
Co-director, Featherstone Young
Sarah is an architect and co-Director of Featherstone Young, a practice with expertise in place-making and social engagement. She is interested in how architecture can capture the character and identity of a place and stimulate, rather than dictate, social interaction.
featherstoneyoung.com
Sophia Jarvie
Development director, Native Land
Sophia Jarvie is Development Director at Native Land, a privately-owned investment and development company behind some of London’s most acclaimed mixed-use and residential developments.
native-land.com
Veronica Simpson
Architecture/design/art critic and environmental psychologist
Veronica has spent three decades sniffing out interesting evolutions in design, art and architecture. With an MSc in Environmental Psychology, she frames her analysis within relevant personal, cultural and social contexts. Informing her nose for a story is a desire to reveal the mechanisms by which design/art/architecture can make a difference. veronicasimpson.com
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About the judging system
The FX International Interior Design Awards is open to architects, designers, clients and suppliers for interior design projects or products completed or launched between June 2018 and July 2020. The judges are independent experts who are recruited to form a fresh new panel each year, and comprise engineers, clients, architects and designers from many different sectors to reflect our audience. They were invited onto the 2020 panel because of their experience, opinions and commitment to design. Judges, and their companies, are not permitted to enter any categories.
Each category is judged by a different set of judges, so if you do not win in one category you could win in another. Because of the large number of entries, and to preserve the integrity of the FX Awards, we use a transparent system in which each judge ranks their top six entries in each category before they know who their co-judges are. With up to 10 judges for each of the hotly contested categories, these placings are then scored and added together to confirm the shortlist and the ultimate winner.
Many thanks to all our judges, who give up so much of their valuable time and brought their expertise and enthusiasm to the process. Sincere thanks also to Cherrill Scheer, who will act in an advisory capacity as unofficial chair of the judges.
