The leading international architect firm Tsao & McKown, responsible for Hong Kong’s fashionable restaurant SEVVA atop the prestigious Prince’s Building in Central, has won a top honour in the US National Design Awards at a lunch reception with First Lady Michelle Obama.
New York-based Tsao & McKown Architects won the Interior Design category of the awards promoting excellence and innovation in design, further enhancing the reputation of Bonnie Gokson’s SEVVA as a haven for stylish design and dining.
The First Lady paid tribute to the award-winners, saying: "You are scientists and artists; your work is both technical and poetic, educational and inspirational. Thank you for inspiring the next generation.”
Working together with Hong Kong-based style icon Bonnie Gokson their design of SEVVA evokes warmth, soul, energy and elegant sophistication in five different areas, each with its own individual design and ambience. Also featured is a stunning vertical garden wall which is a highlight of the lounge, and a spectacular decked wraparound terrace with panoramic views of the Central business district and Victoria Harbour.
Calvin Tsao met the First Lady Michelle Obama and found she was "…even more warm, thoughtful, sincere and serene than our high expectations."
Partners Calvin Tsao and Zack McKown were applauded for a "unique sense of seamlessness between outside and inside exhibited in their many celebrated projects".
Other notable projects recognised for the award included interiors for Hong Kong fashion tycoon Joyce Ma, Suntec City in Singapore, and architecture and urban master plans in Budapest, Hungary, Berlin, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and China.
Paul Warwick Thompson, director of award organisers Cooper-Hewitt, said: “This year’s winners reflect the design climate of the times. We are in an era that demands public commitment and work that strives for change and the responsible use of resources. The public impact of the daily work of the nominees demonstrates the far-reaching effect of design innovation in every sector.”
The awards were inaugurated in 2000 as a project of the White House Millennium Council.
SEVVA appointed world renowned architect Calvin Tsao for the Princes Building penthouse for his reputation for transforming complex buildings into memorable spaces. SEVVA was a unique challenge as it was a former office building.
