Yabu Pushelberg will be honored with the IIDA Star Award during the IIDA Annual Meeting in June. With their studios in Toronto and New York, George Yabu and Glenn Pushelberg have developed and realized their vision through distinctive projects around the world, including Bergdorf Goodman New York; the Four Seasons Hotels in Toronto and Tokyo; the W Hotel in Times Square, New York; Louis Vuitton, Hong Kong; the Viceroy Maldives Resort, and many more.

Today, we try to narrow down our favorite projects to just five!

1. The London EDITION

As described by DesignBoom, the hotel reflects the grand traditions of great Britain: the traditional, aristocratic English country manor and the quintessential London private gentleman’s club with a modern, edgy, urban feel. When these diametrically opposed aesthetics come together, they create an alchemy that takes the hotel and the experience to an entirely new level.

 

2. Kate Spade

The Kate Spade offices embody both sophistication and youthfulness. Yabu Pushelberg bring to life the brand’s oft repeated tagline “live colorfully” through a whimsical tape installation created by Rebecca Ward and as pops of color lead you through the space.

3. Opus Hong Kong, Show Apartments

The show apartments in Frank Gehry’s first Asian residential development are enhanced by Yabu Pushelberg’s luxurious interiors. While luxe, Pushelberg did note to Wallpaper.com, ‘The mood of home design is changing,’ he says. ‘It is less about gilding the lily and more about quality of design and attention to detail. It is not about the most expensive materials. It has to function well, too.’

4. Fin Restaurant

The list of restaurants designed by Yabu Pushelberg is ever-growing. Here in Chicago we have the Pump Room, in Toronto Brasserie Aix, and in Las Vegas Fin. While each design is different, according to George Yabu you will never find a design featuring bad lighting, acoustics, or uncomfortable chairs.

5. Louis Vuitton, Hong Kong

Yabu and Pushelberg approach each project by first creating a story. WWD.com sat down with Pushelberg who explained, “we created a whole story line about this girl named Chloë. She’s from the Upper East Side and then went to NYU. She got married and went back uptown, but she still has this downtown attitude,” stated Pushelberg. We always come up with a script for clarity — both for ourselves and to keep clients on track.”