What Makes an Award-Winning Apartment? Six Lessons from Nine Projects
Updated: 4 days ago
An award-winning apartment is rarely the one with the most expensive finishes. In my experience, it's the one with a clear idea: a plan built around how the family lives, one strong gesture, joinery that does more than one job, a calm palette with a single accent and a floor that ties the home together.
By Maya Sheinberger | 03.04.25
Between 2018 and 2022, eight of my projects were selected as Archilovers Best Project, and one was chosen for Archello's Best of 2020. They include compact apartments and a family house, two seafront vacation homes and a duplex with a roof terrace. Looking at them side by side, the same few decisions come up again and again.
Key takeaways
Start from the people, not from a style.
Give each home one strong idea, and let everything else stay quiet.
Design joinery that hides storage, columns and systems.
Keep the palette restrained, and add one or two accent colors.
Choose the floor early. It sets the tone for every room.
Let the site lead: a sea view, a tree or the light.
What is the Archilovers Best Project award?
Archilovers is an international online platform where architects and designers publish their projects. Each year, its editors select a group of published projects as Best Project of the year. Archello, another international architecture platform, publishes a similar Best of selection. The table below lists my nine selected projects and the idea that defines each one.
Project | Award | Year | The idea that defines it |
B apartment, Tel Aviv | Archilovers Best Project | 2018 | A seafront vacation home with herringbone oak floors |
M apartment, Tel Aviv | Archilovers Best Project | 2018 | A sculptural blue staircase and a roof terrace |
V apartment, Tel Aviv | Archilovers Best Project | 2018 | A palette that never competes with the sea |
C apartment, Tel Aviv | Archilovers Best Project | 2019 | Planned before construction, in layered grays |
MG House, Hod Hasharon | Archilovers Best Project | 2019 | A window framed around an olive tree |
S apartment, Hod Hasharon | Archilovers Best Project | 2020 | A smoked-oak cabinet that replaced a wall |
AA apartment, Tel Aviv | Archello Best of 2020 | 2020 | A cabinet that wraps a structural column |
RB apartment, Tel Aviv | Archilovers Best Project | 2021 | A black iron shelving wall and a relocated kitchen |
RA apartment, Tel Aviv | Archilovers Best Project | 2022 | A pantry hidden in the kitchen cabinetry |
How do you plan a home around the people who live there?
None of these homes started from a mood board. They started from a question: who lives here, and how? The S apartment, an 82 sqm apartment in Hod Hasharon, was designed for a woman in her late seventies, so every centimeter had to work hard and stay easy to use. The M apartment was designed for a mother and daughter, with a playroom and an upper workspace that can both become bedrooms as their needs change. In the C apartment, a couple planned their home before the building was finished, and the grandchildren got a flexible room of their own.
Why is one strong idea enough?
Each project has one gesture you remember. In M, it's the blue staircase with a glass balustrade. In MG House, it's the large window in the family lounge, with an olive tree in the garden that I moved from the entrance of the lot to the center of the new window. When one element leads, the rest of the home can stay calm, and the strong idea looks intentional instead of loud.
How can joinery do more than one job?
The S apartment has an unusual triangular shape. We removed the corridor wall between the public and private areas and replaced it with a smoked-oak cabinet that holds the TV, an air-conditioning unit and a lot of storage. Without the wall, you can see across the whole apartment, and you reach the bedrooms on both sides of the cabinet. In the AA apartment, a cabinet wraps around a structural column, hides the washing machine and becomes the backdrop to the dining table. In the RA apartment, the tall kitchen cabinets hide a pantry. Joinery like this is a studio signature: it hides what doesn't need to be seen and leaves the room quieter.
How do you keep a palette restrained?
The C apartment is built on layered grays, black details and natural oak, with small touches of turquoise and nude. B uses white and soft gray with pink and blue accents. M is mostly black and white, with vivid blue and yellow. In each case, the base is calm and the color is placed in a few chosen spots. In my studio, a home has no more than three dominant textures, and variety comes from new combinations of the same materials rather than from adding more.
Why choose the floor early?
Herringbone oak runs through B, RB and RA. In B, I chose it because the walls met at angles, and a herringbone floor doesn't need to line up with any of them. S has light terrazzo, and in V we kept and polished the original travertine floor. I often call the floor the make-up of the home: when it's right, everything else is easier.
How does the site lead the design?
In the two seafront vacation homes, B and V, the sea is the main event, so the interiors stay light and low. In MG House, it's the garden and the olive tree. In RB, the young couple chose a quieter northern Tel Aviv neighborhood, and the design brings in air and light. Every constraint can become a design opportunity, as I wrote in my post on fearless renovation.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Archilovers Best Project award?
Archilovers is an international platform for architecture and design projects, and its editors select Best Projects from the work published on it each year. Eight of my projects were selected between 2018 and 2022.
Do you need expensive finishes to win a design award?
No. Several of these projects kept the existing layout and focused on joinery, materials and furniture. A clear idea matters more than an expensive finish.
What do award-winning interiors have in common?
A plan built around the residents, one strong design idea, custom joinery, a restrained palette and a thoughtful choice of floor.
Can a small apartment win a design award?
Yes. The S apartment is 82 sqm, plus a 14 sqm balcony, and its precise planning and custom storage make it feel far more generous than its footprint.
Planning a renovation in Tel Aviv or central Israel? I'd love to hear about your project.
Maya Sheinberger is an interior designer with more than 17 years of experience. After five years at a leading architecture firm, she founded her independent studio in 2012. She holds a B.Des with honors from the College of Management. Her work has appeared in more than 150 publications in Israel and abroad, including eight Archilovers Best Project awards, and one of her apartments features in the book The New Minimalist Style.
Photography @itaybenitphotographer · Styling @maya_livnat_harush
