Young Interior Design Firms Challenging the Status Quo in 2023
Judging for the 11th A+Awards is now underway! While awaiting the Winners, learn more about Architizer’s Vision Awards. The Main Entry Deadline on June 9th is fast approaching. Start your entry today >
Interior designers are storytellers — the masterminds that shape our daily rituals and experiences of space. Across residential, commercial, municipal and hospitality spheres, their deft touch guides how we interact with our surroundings. But change is afoot in this evolving art. The next generation of interior designers is tearing up the rulebook and blazing new paths in their pursuit of transformative schemes.
The A+Awards program shines a spotlight on the very best firms in the industry, regardless of age and experience. These six emerging interior design studios were recognized at the 10th Annual A+Awards for their ingenuity and pioneering approaches to spatial organization. From product innovation and material dexterity to environmentally conscious practices and ambitious adaptive reuse initiatives, interior design is entering an exciting new chapter.
Jury Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Best Young Interior Design Firm
Firm Location: Shanghai, China
Founded: 2013
Pictured Projects: Mirror Bridge, Shanghai, China ; Wandering in the woods, Xiamen, China
This Shanghai-based firm works across numerous scales and typologies, encompassing on one extreme, snug city offices and children’s bedrooms, and on the other, expansive retail centers and stations. No matter the architectural terrain, the studio’s work is united by a common thread: the desire to reveal new perspectives to its spatial users.
The practice’s name, L&M Design Lab, is an abbreviation of their mantra: logic is magic. They lead with curiosity and a commitment to articulating the unexpected, whether it be a distorted metal ceiling that evokes an interdimensional tunnel or a veritable jungle of spiraling staircases and slides. Their outstanding portfolio is a harmonious fusion of creativity and precision.
Popular Choice Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Best Young Interior Design Firm
Firm Location: Beijing, China
Founded: 2015
Pictured Projects: Dong Fureng House Museum, Ningbo, China ; Fintech Office, Beijing, China
They may have only been founded in 2015, but this remarkable interior design practice already has awards to its name. Their interdisciplinary approach to spatial design combines interior artistry and architecture, resulting in considered, immersive schemes. WIT Design & Research also has a research and development arm, which specializes in crafting bespoke furniture, lighting, and fabrics.
While their work spans hospitality, healthcare, retail, residential, and corporate settings, one of their most notable projects to date is the Dong Fureng House Museum. A period listed building once home to a famed economist, the firm skillfully negotiated the structure’s heritage fabric. Through discreet modern interventions, such as air conditioning ducts disguised as old furniture, they breathed new life into its walls while preserving the museum’s historic integrity.
Firm Location: Saint Petersburg, Russia
Founded: 2013
Pictured Projects: CAKE & BUBBLES café, Saint Petersburg, Russia ; BIO MY BIO café, Saint Petersburg, Russia
Headquartered in Saint Petersburg, this ambitious studio reframes interior design through an architectural lens. Their approach prioritizes volume and form, addressing each project as a holistic entity, rather than simply a space to decorate. Consequently, custom-made elements sustainably sourced from local craftspeople are central to the firm’s designs.
DA bureau‘s work is underpinned by a drive to inspire new values and aesthetic benchmarks across design, the environment and day-to-day living. Whether a café, restaurant, pop-up installation or residence, their vision is guided by storytelling. Clients’ concepts are translated into a unique narrative, which is communicated in a bold, visual language. The result is dynamic, readable spaces that offer a thoroughly immersive experience.
Firm Location: Shanghai, China
Founded: 2018
Pictured Projects: B3, Shenzhen, China ; Le petit chateau, Shanghai, China
Informed by the diverse expertise of their founders, who come from landscape design, architecture and interior design backgrounds, this trailblazing firm is well-equipped to tackle small- and large-scale projects. Research is a core tenet of their creative process — they examine and dissect the ordinary to develop something extraordinary that fulfills the needs of their clients.
RooMoo Design Studio is adept at delivering commercial and residential projects, but their work across the hospitality sphere is especially impressive, underpinned by extensive industry knowledge. Yet, whatever the typology, the firm’s handling of materials is profound. Poised at the intersection between industrialization and craftsmanship, they reinvent and repurpose what already exists. Mindful of the environment, their rearticulation of materials culminates in tactile, multi-faceted spaces, with both a textural and temporal depth.
Firm Location: Shanghai, China
Founded: 2016
Pictured Project: Restaurant Lunar, Shanghai, China
With a varied portfolio spanning commercial, residential, municipal, hospitality and corporate spaces, this award-winning interior design studio emphasizes contextual sensitivity. The cultural and topographical qualities of each site are woven into Sò Studio‘s schemes to create rich spatial narratives, reinforced by innovative material details and product design.
A shining example of this environmental acuity is seen in their Restaurant Lunar project. Located in Shanghai, the space is a celebration of traditional Chinese dining, reimagined through a modern gaze. From the scheme’s exacting geometry to the water channels and rock detailing that zone the floor plan — a homage to the traditional Chinese garden — the restaurant is imbued with nostalgic symbolism. While shaped by a contemporary hand, the material palette harks back to a common past.
Firm Location: Shanghai, China
Founded: 2013
Pictured Projects: HOLILAND TRAVEL: Future Narrativism in the Multiverse, Shanghai, China ; Aaddd Beauty lifestyle flagship store, Shanghai, China
Founded in 2013, SLT Design is an acronym for ‘something like that’. Their playful name speaks to the heart of the practice’s philosophy. They eschew limitations, embracing boundless design possibilities to arrive at precise, yet esthetic solutions. The interior design consultancy firm specializes in elevating commercial spaces, combining cutting-edge technology and materials with exquisite artistry.
Their designs are whimsical and otherworldly, though carefully crafted to ensure functionality and the demands of business are met. The studio’s portfolio is wide-ranging and eclectic: a futuristic bakery translated into the surrounds of a spaceship invites customers to transgress the confines of space and time, while a flagship beauty store envelops visitors like a cloud, with its soft pastel hues, gentle curving lines and organic forms. This adventurous firm delivers truly transformative spaces that fragment the boundaries of contemporary design.
Judging for the 11th A+Awards is now underway! While awaiting the Winners, learn more about Architizer’s Vision Awards. The Main Entry Deadline on June 9th is fast approaching. Start your entry today >
