Judging Panel
An independent panel of recognised and expert judges, representing Ireland's fit out industry, will determine the winners of the Fit Out Awards.
Our focus is to deliver a balanced judging assessment from industry leaders who will bring their extensive knowledge, enthusiasm and expertise to the judging process ensuring that the winning entries are truly outstanding and worthy of receiving a Fit Out Award.
The panel is carefully selected to ensure the Awards judging process is fair and objective. The judges are bound by a strict confidentiality agreement and are required to declare any conflict of interest in entries over which they deliberate, in which case that entry will be reallocated. The integrity of this process lies at the very heart of all that we do.
A comprehensive judging process has been put together to decide the worthy winners of the Fit Out Awards.
Judging Co-ordinators
Ann Marie Aguilar - Director of Operations/Europe for the WELL Faculty at the IWBI
Ann Marie Aguilar joined the IWBI team in 2016, and from a base in London oversees the dayto-day activities of IWBI Europe. She supports the business development and technical teams and is the first point of contact for clients and design teams interested in all applications of WELL Certification.
Angela Connolly - President, Interiors Association, Founder, Conbu Interior Design
Angela Connolly was elected President of the Interiors Association in 2014. The Interiors Association is Ireland’s leading professional organisation of accredited Interior Designers, Interior Architects and Trade Suppliers. Angela’s presidential role involves strategic business planning, marketing and communications, education and membership promotion.
Judging Panel
Vanessa Brady OBE - President & Founder, Society of British & International Design
Dr Vanessa Brady OBE is an international multi-award winning interior designer, Business Consultant and Founder of the Society of British and International Design with over thirty years’ experience in B2B procurement and post analysis of the design profession.
Hugh Wallace - Director, Douglas Wallace Consultants
Hugh Wallace F.I.D.I., B.Arch., R.I.A.I. is a founding partner of Douglas Wallace Architects and is now a Director of Douglas Wallace Consultants.
Neville Knott - Programme Coordinator, Honours BA & MA in Interior Design, Technological University Dublin
Neville is the course coordinator for the Honours BA & MA in Interior Design in the Technological University Dublin having lectured in design for over thirty years. HIs private practice has focused on designing for retail, leisure and commercial domestic both nationally and internationally while also being a member of international colour influence panels who forecast future colour trends.
Peter Mance - Director, MAAPS Design & Architecture
Peter Mance is the director and founder of MAAPS Design and Architecture. With more than 30 years in his design career, Peter’s experience spans from hospitality, residential, and education through to retail, marine, and commercial.
Alan Crawford - Managing Director, Crawford Partnership Architects & Interior Designers
Alan Crawford is the founding partner of Crawford Partnership, which was established in 1997 as a design led architecture and interior design practice, with offices in London and Lima, Peru. Prior to setting up Crawford Partnership, Alan was a partner in a London based practice, and spent 7 years working in the Middle East on many challenging projects.
Britt Berentzen - Programme Director Interior Design & Interior Architecture, Griffith College
Britt Berentzen is a qualified Interior Architect with 12 years of experience in the architectural field, and 6 years of experience in higher education.
A former Director of Aiden Powell & Associates Architects, an architectural practice focusing on residential, commercial and conservation architectural projects, Britt was responsible for identifying solutions to customer demands and needs throughout the architectural project stages.
Kay Sargent - Director of WorkPlace, HOK
With more than 30 years of experience, Kay is a recognized expert on workplace design and strategy issues. She has worked with several Fortune 500 companies to optimize their global real estate portfolios and create innovative work environments.
Ann-Marie O'Neill - Creative Director, O'Donnell O'Neill Design
Ann-Marie is the Creative Director of O’Donnell O’Neill Design and has more than 25 years’ experience in high end Hospitality Design.
Peter MacCann - Designer and Lecturer in Interior and Furniture Design, Dublin School of Creative Arts, TU Dublin
Peter MacCann is a Designer with a multi-disciplinary background.
A DIT graduate (BA Interior & Furniture) Peter also holds a Diploma in graphic design (WIT) and a MA in furniture design (BCUC).
Specialising in furniture and lighting, Peter has worked with clients worldwide and has won a number of international awards for his products.
John Mitchell - Owner, DMOD Architects
John Mitchell co-founded DMOD Architects in 1989 (then trading as Duffy Mitchell Architects). Over the following 30 years John has been responsible for the design and execution of innumerable fit out projects for both Irish and Multi-national institutions.
Alan Coakley - Managing Director, Ardmac
Leading the main contracting, microelectronic and pharma teams at Ardmac is Alan Coakley, Managing Director. A native of Dublin, Alan joined Ardmac in 2013 as Group Operations director. With over 36 years’ experience in the Construction Industry, Alan began his career as a quantity surveyor, and progressed through project management and contracts management roles in Ireland and the UK to his current position. Alan holds chartered memberships of the CIOB, SCSI and RICS.
Rowan Watson - Lecturer, Architectural Design & Interior Architecture and Design, IT Sligo
Rowan is an architect with eighteen years of involvement in Interior Architectural education. She is currently the programme chair of the BA (Hons) in Interior Architecture and Design at the Institute of Technology Sligo.
Sue Corcoran - Course Leader BA (Hons) in Interior Design, Limerick Institute of Technology
Sue Corcoran is programme leader on the new BA (Hons) in Interior Design at the Limerick Institute of Technology. Sue has been involved in design education for almost 10 years and holds a Masters in Art & Design Education. Sue has spent the last two years on curriculum development for the new Level 8 programme which started in September 2019.
Emer Tubridy - Design Department Head, Blackrock Further Education Institute
Emer Tubridy graduated with honours from the School of Architecture, University College Dublin and began her career with the renowned Paris architectural firm Henri et Bruno Gaudin. As a Project Architect at Gaudin Architects Emer co-designed and managed a number of award-winning projects including and the renovation of the Stade Sébastien Charléty and the Musée national des arts asiatiques Guimet.
Aidan McGovern - Chartered Engineer, Office of Public Works
Aidan McGovern qualified as an engineer in the Dublin Institute of Technology, Bolton Street. He joined the public sector as a design engineer with the Office of Public Works in 2001.
Barry McCabe - Managing Director, McCabe Design Group
Barry's photo & bio will be available shortly.
Keith Somers - Commercial & Hospitality Lead, Optimise Design
With over 13 years’ experience in commercial interiors, Keith spent his early years focused on delivering best in class workplace fitouts for a wide array of multinational clients. He most recently led the design team at Staycity, one of Europe’s leading aparthotel operators, where he created the Look + Feel of the brand ahead of its planned growth to 15,000 units.