Press Release
Timber Shadow Residential Interior by Tzu-Chun Yen and Jhih-Wei Chen Is Granted the Bronze A' Design Award in Interior Space and Exhibition Design
Tzu-Chun Yen and Jhih-Wei Chen of 水設計室物所 W.Design honored for interior space and exhibition design by the international grand jury of the 2025 - 2026 A' Design Award & Competition
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COMO, Italy, April 20, 2026 /DesignNewswire/ Timber Shadow Residential Interior by Tzu-Chun Yen and Jhih-Wei Chen of 水設計室物所 W.Design, designed for W.Design, has been granted the Bronze A' Design Award in the Interior Space and Exhibition Design category, A' Design Award & Competition has announced. The recognition forms part of the 2025 - 2026 A' Design Award & Competition and was decided through blind peer review by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members, who assessed anonymized entries against predetermined criteria.
About the Bronze A' Design Award
The Bronze A' Design Award is given to outstanding designs that showcase a high degree of creativity and practicality. It recognizes the dedication and skill of designers who produce work that stands out for its thoughtful development and innovative use of materials and technology. These designs are acknowledged for their professional execution and potential to influence industry standards positively. Winning this award highlights the designer's ability to blend form and function effectively, offering solutions that enhance people's lives and wellbeing.
More About Timber Shadow Residential Interior
Timber Shadow is a residential interior design for a 56.2 square meter apartment in Taipei. The layout is open plan, with curved walls that link the kitchen island to the living area. Rhythmic vertical slats of custom-milled dark oak line the walls and soften spatial boundaries. Surfaces are finished with hand-applied mineral coatings in understated golden undertones, and the floor is laid with chevron oak. Concealed cabinetry with 10 mm shadow gaps and indirect 3000K LED lighting keep the compact home calm and free of clutter.
About Tzu-Chun Yen and Jhih-Wei Chen
Tzu-Chun (Michelle) Yen is the Founder and Design Director of W Design. As a multi-disciplinary designer with a background in landscape architecture, she is also a certified RYT200 yoga instructor. Her unique perspective allows her to integrate well-being and natural vitality into high-end residential interiors. Currently serving as the Vice Secretary-General of TnAID, Michelle continues to lead the industry through innovative, emotion-driven spatial choreography that has earned her multiple international accolades.
About 水設計室物所 W.Design
W Design is a boutique interior firm in Taipei, specializing in high-end residential spaces. We craft bespoke sanctuaries that harmonize minimalist aesthetics with organic, emotional vitality.
Award Record
This recognition makes Tzu-Chun Yen and Jhih-Wei Chen of 水設計室物所 W.Design a winner of 1 A' Design Award.
About the A' Interior Space, Retail and Exhibition Design Award
The A' Interior Design Award is an international interior design competition recognizing good interior designs by interior designers and architects worldwide. The competition is organized within the A' Design Award & Competition and is open to interior designers, interior architects, architects and decorators from all countries. Entries typically include residential interiors, restaurants, hotels, offices, galleries and retail stores. Awarded interior designs are published at https://designers.org/design-category/interior
About A' Design Award & Competition
A' Design Award & Competition is an international, juried design accolade organized annually since 2008. The competition is open to entries from all countries. The A' Design Award has a philanthropic mission to advance society through good design by recognizing and promoting superior products, projects and services that benefit society, and by creating a global awareness and appreciation for good design practices and principles. Entries are peer reviewed and anonymously evaluated by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members against predetermined criteria such as functionality, ergonomics, engineering, presentation, innovation, usability, sustainability and technology, with score normalization applied to remove biases. Awards are conferred at Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Iron levels. The A' Design Prize granted to eligible laureates includes the award trophy, the certificate of design excellence, the hardcover yearbook, a lifetime license to use the A' Design Award winner logo, exhibition of awarded works, an invitation to the gala night and award ceremony in Italy, inclusion in the World Design Rankings and Designer Rankings, and public relations and publicity services. Registration, the upload of a work and the preliminary score are free of charge, and Professional and Digital Edition laureates are not contractually obliged to pay further fees to claim the A' Design Prize. Further information is available at https://competition.adesignaward.com
Press Resources
- Winner Page: https://designers.org/182941
- A' Design Award Page: https://competition.adesignaward.com/182941
- Media Showcase: https://www.designnewsroom.com/!182941
- Laureate Profile: https://designers.org/d/368628
- Further Information from the Laureate: http://8t3.net/1015
Media Contact
Giulia Ferrari, Press Office
Designers.Org
Via Leone Leoni 32, 22100 Como, Italy
press@designers.org
+39 031 4491953
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Fact Sheet
The Work
- Project
- Timber Shadow Residential Interior
- Function
- Residential Interior
- Category
- Interior Space and Exhibition Design
- Discipline
- Spatial Design
- Industry
- Architecture and Packaging & Retail
- Colors
- Dim Gray, Dark Gray, Silver, Dark Slate Gray and Gray
- Images
- 5
- Client
- W.Design
The Recognition
- Laureate
- Tzu-Chun Yen and Jhih-Wei Chen
- Country
- Taiwan (China)
- Brand
- 水設計室物所 W.Design
- Recognition
- Bronze A' Design Award
- Edition
- 2025 - 2026
- Design ID
- #182941
Credits
- Team
- Tzu-Chun Yen and Jhih-Wei Chen
- Image Credits
- Photographer W.Design, Timber Shadow, 2025.
Design Details
- Unique Properties
- Timber Shadow transforms a 56.2-square-meter residence into a tranquil sanctuary. It distinguishes itself by balancing organic warmth with architectural stillness, creating an expansive feel in a compact footprint. Key features include custom-curved walls and rhythmic vertical timber slats that dissolve spatial boundaries. The design integrates specialty mineral paint with understated golden undertones and chevron wood flooring to add a tactile, luxurious dimension. By merging seamless storage with strategic lighting, the project achieves high-density functionality in a sophisticated urban environment.
- Inspiration
- The design is inspired by the ephemeral interplay of light and shadow observed within a dense forest, aiming to integrate the inherent tranquility of nature into a modern urban residence. The core concept of Timber Shadow reflects a profound desire to balance organic warmth with meditative stillness. By abstracting natural textures into minimalist architectural forms, such as rhythmic vertical slats that mimic tree trunks and fluid curved walls that mirror natural landscapes, the project establishes an introspective sanctuary.
- Research
- Type: Environmental psychology. Objectives: Enhance spatial perception in 56.2m2. Methodology: Light-shadow interplay analysis. Tools: 3D modeling and material prototyping. Participants: Urban dwellers. Results: Seamless curves and vertical slats dissolved boundaries. Insights: Dark palettes can evoke openness via strategic texture. Effect: Elevates residential well-being and provides a scalable, sophisticated design model for dense urban societies, redefining small-scale luxury.
- Challenge
- The primary challenge was balancing a deep, atmospheric palette with the requirement for spatial expansion in a 56.2m2 footprint. We overcame visual confinement by implementing curved architectural transitions and rhythmic vertical elements that direct focus upward. Technically, integrating seamless concealed cabinetry into complex curved substrates required extreme precision and advanced joinery. This synthesis of light and materiality successfully transformed a restricted urban space into an expansive, restorative sanctuary.
- Realization and Technology
- Advanced precision engineering was employed to realize a seamless minimalist aesthetic. Key technologies include custom-milled vertical timber slats and hand-applied mineral coatings with understated golden undertones on complex curved substrates. Integrated concealed cabinetry was executed with millimetric precision, incorporating shadow-gap detailing at floor and ceiling junctions. Strategic indirect LED integration ensures a uniform light wash, enhancing the tactile quality of materiality across the 56.2m2 footprint.
- Operation and Interaction
- The home orchestrates a seamless daily ritual through an intuitive open-plan flow. Residents are guided by fluid curved walls that dissolve boundaries between the kitchen island core and the living area. Interaction is driven by natural light filtering through rhythmic vertical slats, creating a dynamic dance of shadows that evolves from dawn to dusk. Hidden storage ensures a clutter-free environment, allowing the tactile specialty finishes to foster a profound sense of tranquility and space.
- Project Duration and Location
- The project commenced in September 2024 in Taipei and was successfully completed in January 2025 in Taipei, Taiwan. This intensive five-month timeline encompassed both the comprehensive design development phase and the meticulous on-site realization of the custom curvilinear forms and integrated lighting systems, ensuring that every detail of the 56.2-square-meter sanctuary was executed to the highest professional standards.
- Specifications
- Total Floor Area: 56.2 square meters. Materials comprise custom-milled dark oak timber and hand-applied mineral coatings with understated golden undertones and a tactile matte finish. Flooring features precision-laid chevron oak. Lighting specifications include high-grade 3000K indirect LED strips and bespoke architectural pendant luminaires. Technical details involve precision-fabricated concealed cabinetry with 10mm shadow-gap detailing at ceiling and floor junctions.
- Keywords
- Residential Interior, Minimalist Design, Curvilinear Forms, Timber Slats, Light and Shadow, Compact Living, Specialty Finishes, Chevron Flooring, Taipei Residence, Modern Sanctuary
