BIID Announce Merit and CPD Award Winners 2021

​Merit Award

he Merit Award honours a member who has particularly excelled in three key criteria: excellence in interior design practice; a contribution to the development of the Institute and a commitment to the wider field of design education. Chosen by the awards committee, the 2021 award was given to BIID Registered Interior Designer Joanna Wood.

Joanna is a renowned designer and founder of the eponymous design practice and shop in addition to being a partner of companies Lewis & Wood, Phillips & Wood and Lawson Wood. She has worked on residential and commercial projects in the UK and abroad and is one of the UK’s most celebrated designers. She is renowned for bringing her creativity and attention to detail to every project to produce a result which is both practical and visually exciting. She is notable for her use of craftsmen and furniture makers to achieve a bespoke interior for her clients, with a priority to create a place that is a home.

Despite her huge success Joanna remains decidedly down to earth and is known for her commitment to the industry and her fabulous sense of humour. She has been a member of the BIID since 1989 and has been one of its staunchest supporters. She is also a published author having published her book, Interiors for Living in 2015.

Joanna also has another career as a star of the stage in the beloved Interior Designers Pantomine. As well as bringing down the house with her fabulous performances in Peter Pan and the Designers of the Caribbean, Snow White and the Seven Designers and Jack and the Blingstalk, she has been a key part of the incredible fundraising that the panto has done for various worthy charities over the years, most recently for the Screw Cancer charity set up by the late William Yeoward. 

CPD Award

Commitment to Continuing Professional Development (CPD) helps to ensure that BIID members are keeping up to date with the latest developments in a rapidly changing industry. All BIID Members are required to undertake an annual CPD requirement of 20 hours.

The CPD Award honours the BIID member who gained the most structured hours in that year. At the 2021 AGM, the recipient of the award was BIID Registered Interior Designer Samuele Viola, who accrued 461 CPD hours between 1st April 2020 and 31st March 2021.

London based Interior Designer, Samuele Viola has extensive experience working in a range of style and periods to create comfortable and quiet luxury.  As a member of the Kelly Hoppen Interiors Team and Academic Tutor, Samuele continues his steps into the Prime Residential throughout the world, implementing his passion and dedication to detailed architecture, design, art and cultures.