Now in its fourth edition, the Prix Versailles is an annual architecture award that focuses on the world of hospitality, celebrating the most impressive designs to grace hotels, restaurants and stores around the world. Among the big winners in 2018 are a predictably opulent Dolce and Gabbana retail space, an Apple flagship store and fine dining facilities in downtown New York.
The Prix Versailles awards are decided by an eight person jury that includes architects, designers, a chef and the mayor of Versailles himself, François de Mazières. The competition is spread out over different categories for Shops & Stores, Shopping Malls, Hotels and Restaurants, with a grand prize for each along with awards for the best interior and exterior.
Apple's first flagship store in Singapore, Apple Orchard Road, claimed top honors in the Shops and Stores category. The UK architecture firm behind it, Foster + Partners, has come up with a number of designs for Apple including its flagship store in Dubai and futuristic Apple campus in California.
But it describes Apple Orchard Road as one of its "greenest Apple spaces yet." The store sits on a tree-lined avenue and, with trees inside, on the mezzanine and at the entrance, it attempts to blur the boundaries between inside and out.
It's not total glitz and glamor, however. Also on the winners list is an eco-tourism lodge in Rwanda made up of a cluster of six forest villas inspired by the traditional architecture of a former king's palace. There's also a hotel built into a cliffside in the Seychelles that subtly blends in with its rocky surroundings and an incredible shopping mall interior in Shanghai, China.
Check out all 12 winning designs in the gallery.
Source: Prix Versailles