Press Release
Xiyao Wang Receives the Silver A' Design Award for Echo Oriental Showroom in Interior Space and Exhibition Design
The international grand jury of the 2025 - 2026 A' Design Award & Competition recognizes Xiyao Wang for interior space and exhibition design
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COMO, Italy, April 22, 2026 /DesignNewswire/ A' Design Award & Competition has announced that Echo Oriental Showroom by Xiyao Wang, designed for Extended Play Lab, has been granted the Silver A' Design Award in the Interior Space and Exhibition Design category. The result belongs to 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 evaluated anonymized entries against predetermined criteria.
What the Silver A' Design Award Means
The Silver A' Design Award celebrates top-tier designs that embody excellence and innovation. This award acknowledges creations that are not only aesthetically pleasing but also highly functional, reflecting the designer's deep understanding and skill. Silver A' Design Award recipients are recognized for their contribution to raising industry standards and advancing the practice of design. Their work often incorporates original innovations and elicits a strong emotional response, making a notable impact on the improvement of everyday life.
More About Echo Oriental Showroom
Echo Oriental is a design reinterprets traditional Chinese cosmology through a contemporary architectural lens. A central double height sand table area serves as the heart of the project, positioned beneath a celestial stretch ceiling that symbolizes the sky over a square floor plan. A signature golden vaulted ceiling with leaf embossing adds tactile richness, while a palette of green marble and warm wood facilitates a sensory dialogue. The spatial choreography utilizes compression and release to guide visitors through a progressive ritual of thresholds.
About Xiyao Wang
Xiyao Wang, a licensed architect and member of the AIA, is a distinguished professional known for his innovative and transformative contributions to the field of architecture. With a rich professional background spanning over eight years, Xiyao has honed his skills in some of the world's most prestigious architectural firms and institutions, like KPF, HOK & Nikken Sekkei. Currently serving as an Associate Principal at Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates in New York, Xiyao leads the design, detailing, and documentation of cutting-edge façade designs for high-rise buildings.
Award Record
This recognition makes Xiyao Wang a winner of 5 A' Design Awards. The awards were granted between the 2024 - 2025 and the 2025 - 2026 editions of the A' Design Award & Competition.
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. It is organized within the A' Design Award & Competition and is open to interior designers, interior architects, architects and decorators from all countries. Typical entries include residential interiors, restaurants, hotels, offices, galleries and retail stores. The awarded interior designs are published at https://designers.org/design-category/interior
About A' Design Award & Competition
Organized annually since 2008, A' Design Award & Competition is an international, juried design accolade. The competition is open to entries from all countries. The philanthropic mission of the A' Design Award is 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. Nominations are peer reviewed and evaluated anonymously 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. Eligible laureates receive the A' Design Prize, which 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, uploading a work and receiving a 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. More information is available at https://competition.adesignaward.com
Press Resources
- Winner Page: https://designers.org/181303
- A' Design Award Page: https://competition.adesignaward.com/181303
- Media Showcase: https://www.designnewsroom.com/!181303
- Laureate Profile: https://designers.org/d/321759
- Further Information from the Laureate: http://eplab.studio
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
- Echo Oriental Showroom
- Function
- Showroom
- Category
- Interior Space and Exhibition Design
- Discipline
- Spatial Design
- Industry
- Architecture and Packaging & Retail
- Colors
- Saddle Brown, Dark Slate Gray, Dim Gray, Gray and Rosy Brown
- Images
- 5
- Client
- Extended Play Lab
The Recognition
- Laureate
- Xiyao Wang
- Country
- United States of America
- Recognition
- Silver A' Design Award
- Edition
- 2025 - 2026
- Design ID
- #181303
Credits
- Image Credits
- All Renderings by Xiyao Wang
Design Details
- Unique Properties
- Echo Oriental is a 400sqm exhibition center that redefines spatial ritual through a rigorous intersection of North-South and East-West axes. It distinguishes itself by seamlessly integrating traditional Chinese cosmology - the "Tian Yuan Di Fang" (Round Sky, Square Earth) concept - within a contemporary neo-luxury aesthetic. Unique features include a double-height sand table area under a celestial light and a golden vaulted ceiling with leaf embossing, creating a high-quality sensory dialogue.
- Inspiration
- The design is inspired by the organic fluidity of the adjacent Taihu Park, translating botanical motifs into architectural curves. Motivated by the tension between heritage and modernity, the project explores the "Echo" of ancient Oriental philosophy - specifically the harmony of the circle and square - within a high-end commercial context. Research into "spatial compression and release" informs the transition from intimate, deep corridors to expansive, light-filled grand halls.
- Research
- This project utilized Applied Spatial Psychology and Cultural Semiotics research to redefine real estate exhibition standards. Objectives focused on balancing ritualistic ceremonial order with botanical fluidity. Methodology involved Axial Mapping and Comparative Materiality studies. Data was collected via site-specific environmental analysis and historical research into "Tian Yuan Di Fang" cosmology. Participants included local design stakeholders and potential residents. Results showed a high-efficiency circulation flow that significantly reduced visitor fatigue. Insights reveal that "spatial compression and release" triggers emotional engagement.
- Challenge
- The primary challenge was manifesting a grand, ceremonial architectural ritual within a compact 400sqm footprint. Overcoming this required precise axial planning to resolve complex circulation patterns without sacrificing the sense of scale. Realizing the golden vaulted ceiling with leaf embossing involved a technical balance between artisanal textures and modern production. The project successfully navigated the obstacle of blending historic cosmology with current luxury market demands.
- Realization and Technology
- Conceived through hand sketch, perfected in Rhino 3D and rendered with Enscape and Photoshop
- Operation and Interaction
- The project operates through a progressive "step-by-step" ritualistic flow. Visitors interact with the space via a series of thresholds: from a high-contrast entry lobby to a monumental central core. The spatial interaction is defined by rhythm—alternating between the compression of deep, shaded corridors and the release of the bright, green-marble hall. Strategic "scenic openings" in VIP areas facilitate visual porosity, allowing the narrative of nature to permeate every interaction.
- Project Duration and Location
- Project finished in February 2026, and is located in Longgang, Wenzhou, China
- Specifications
- 400 square meters area. Single floor.
- Keywords
- Exhibition Design, Sales Office, Oriental Aesthetics, Tian Yuan Di Fang, Axial Symmetry, Neo-Luxury, Botanical Motif, Green Marble, Architectural Ritual, Longgang, Spatial Narrative, Interior Design.
