Macao Signature Buildings Win International Architecture Prizes

Prix Versailles 2019 - an annual international architecture prize acclaiming buildings that combine architectural beauty with commercial functionality - announced the winners of the 2019 Continental Awards in June.

Morpheus at City of Dreams and Apple Cotai Central at Sands Cotai Central in Macao won the Prix Versailles 2019 in the Hotel category and Shops & Stores category, respectively. All Prix Versailles 2019 Continental Awards winners will compete against each other for the World Titles to be decided at the World Finale to be held at UNESCO headquarters in Paris on 12^th September.

Designed by the late legendary architect Dame Zaha Hadid, Morpheus is the world’s first free-form exoskeleton high-rise architectural structure, in which a series of voids fills the 40-storey building complexity with surprising volume. Two towers are connected at the podium levels and the roof, while two additional bridges allow guests to experience the spectacular external voids from within the building. The hotel - featuring 770 guestrooms, suites and villas, an executive lounge, and a sky pool situated 130 metres above the ground - also accommodates the world’s top fashion brands and retail options.

Designed by world renowned British architectural design and engineering firm Foster and Partners, Apple Cotai Central - the fiftieth Apple Store in Greater China - is finished in a façade of composite panels of glass and stone. In order to achieve the desired translucency, the stone veneers are only 1mm thick and sandwiched between the glass, a world first. Apple Cotai Central is also the first Apple Store in the world to feature a bamboo grove, shooting up through the stairwells all the way to the second floor’s stunning skylight.

Prix Versailles is the world architecture and design award for Shops & Stores, Shopping Malls, Hotels, and Restaurants. Founded in 2015, the Awards initially recognised outstanding commercial architecture and design in France. Evolving into an international awards format in 2016, it salutes architecture and designs which promote sustainable development where ecological, societal and cultural dimensions intersect.   

The selection process for Prix Versailles is divided into two phases.

In phase one - the Continental selection - one Prix Versailles and two Special Prize (Interior and Exterior) are awarded to each region from the six Prix regions - namely, Africa and West Asia; Central America, the South and Caribbean; North America; Central Asia and the Northeast; South Asia and the Pacific; and Europe for a total of 72 awards.

In phase two, all Continental Awards winners compete with each other for the 12 World Titles, including one Prix Versailles and two Special Prize (Interior and Exterior) in four categories, with each architectural and design submission evaluated by an international judging panel at UNESCO headquarters based upon ecological performance, societal considerations, culture, aesthetically sustainable elements, and so forth.