Pushelberg Takes ‘Best Of Show’ At Gold Key Awards

NEW YORK— The top seven grand prize winners of the Gold Key Awards for Excellence in Hospitality Design were selected from a field of 20 finalists this morning at The Waldorf-Astoria, with Toronto-based design firm Yabu Pushelberg winning top honors as “Best of Show” for its Blue Fin restaurant in the W Times Square Hotel here. The 22nd annual event, held during the International Hotel/Motel & Restaurant Show going on here at the Jacob Javits Convention Center, also featured keynote speaker Donald Albrecht, curator of “New Hotels for Global Nomads.” The exhibit, at the Smithsonian’s Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum in upper Manhattan, examines some exotic design examples of 21st century hotels. The grand prize winners and their respective categories are: Spa and Resort: RTKL Associates, Inc., Coral Gables, FL for the Boca Raton Resort & Club Spa, Boca Raton, FL; Lobby/Reception Area: Cheryl Rowley Design, Beverly Hills, CA for the Hotel Monaco, New Orleans, LA; Suites: Walt Disney Imagineering, Glendale, CA for Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel, Anaheim, CA, with interior design by Brayton Hughes; Guestrooms: HBA/Hirsch Bedner Associates, Atlanta, GA for Le Touessrok Hotel & Spa, Trou D’Eau, Mauritius; Restaurants, seating to 110: Burdifilek, Toronto, Canada for Basilico, Woodbridge, Canada; Restaurants, seating over 110: Yabu Pushelberg, Toronto, Canada for Blue Fin W Hotel, W Times Square Hotel, New York City; and Senior Living Facility: Perkins Eastman Architects, Pittsburgh, PA for Sun City Takatsuki, Takatsuki, Japan. Judges for the awards were: Raymond Bickson, general manager of The Mark, New York City; Wing Chao, evp/Walt Disney Imagineering; Suzanne Couture, design manager, Ian Schrager Hotels; Steven Hanson, president, BR Guest, Inc.; and Colum McCartan, principal, MCCARTAN. —Stefani C. OConnor