• The World Architectural Festival 2019, sponsored by GROHE, welcomed 2,300 professionals from 75 countries and hosted 39 exhibitors
• LocHal Public Library in Tilburg, the Netherlands was chosen as the best completed design from 467 submitted entries, winning the “World Building of the Year” Award
• JCA Living Lab, a house in Taipei city, Taiwan, by JC Architecture, has been named as the World Interior of the Year for 2019 at INSIDE World Festival of Interiors
• APAC shortlisted entries comprise more than 50% of WAF/INSIDE competitors

GROHE, the founder sponsor of the World Architecture Festival (WAF), looks back at a successful event in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. We welcomed more than 1,000 visitors from the international architecture and design world at the GROHE booth, and: “We are proud to be a part of some of this year’s nominees for the Building of the Year Award”, says Stefan Schmied, Vice President Global Projects Grohe AG. “Being able to contribute to some of the finest buildings around the world continues to be an inspiration and an honor. We are very happy to see those buildings get the professional acclaim they deserve.”

As an indication of the immense interest amongst Asia-Pacific architects and designers, more than half of this year's 500+ shortlisted WAF/INSIDE competitors have come from this region. Professionals from China & Hong Kong form approximately 25% of the total competition shortlist, followed by ANZ at 15%, with India, Singapore and Thailand making up the majority of the rest.

A Platform for Professional Exchange

As founder sponsor of the festival, GROHE appreciates the WAF as an opportunity to meet with the industry’s top specialists and, of course, potential partners and customers. As in years past, the 2019 festival proved that the event is the place to be when it comes to professional networking and exchange about innovations, trends, and future developments in architecture and the built environment.

“As founding sponsor, GROHE is thrilled and immensely proud to see how WAF has developed over the years. What makes this festival so unique is the ability to engage in discussions with architects from all over the world and explore developing macro trends such as urbanisation, sustainability, health and wellbeing. We’d like to thank the architectural community for the positive feedback to the products we have shown at our booth. Many of our solutions have been created from the insights we’ve gathered in the previous years” – Paul Flowers, Chief Design Officer LIXIL.

Investing in the Future of Water

As one of the most sustainable brands of the sanitary sector, GROHE is dedicated to supporting research that explores the future of saving and preserving our water. In this role, GROHE has been donating money for the Water Research Prize which is awarded at the WAF for the second time. This year, the research initiative “Recycle Build Brazil” convinced the jury with their proposed sustainable architectural solutions for a school in the Brazilian Saõ José dos Campos area. The Water Research Prize is based on the WAF Manifesto. It describes the most important challenges for architects within the next ten years. Proper handling of water is a top priority, which is also a key commitment for GROHE.

See all winners at World Architecture Festival here.

See all winners at INSIDE World Festival of Interiors here.