The Spira Silva, in Williamsburg's redeveloped waterfront, envisions a vibrant, eco conscious future by integrating nature with urbanism. Unlike traditional timber buildings, the project utilizes twisted CLT panels for both aesthetics and efficiency. Interior spaces vary across floors, offering flexible configurations and adaptable layouts. The Spira Silva challenges conventional skyscraper design, fostering a welcoming atmosphere and promoting sustainable urban living.
Designed by Hao Zhong & Yuchen Qiu
Recognized by A' Design Award.
Hao Zhong and Yuchen Qiu are New York City-based architects with a diverse portfolio encompassing commercial, educational, residential, and healthcare projects. Committed to crafting thoughtful and impactful spaces, they approach design with a fresh perspective, blending creativity with technical expertise. Their work has been recognized in prestigious domestic and international competitions, highlighting their dedication to innovation and design excellence.
Hao Zhong & Yuchen Qiu has AA Rating, valid through 2025. AA stands for Excellent Rating. DBI Awards the AA Rating to entities demonstrating designs of high quality and innovation, marked by consistent performance and a commitment to delivering exceptional outcomes. This rating reflects a dedication to achieving excellence in innovation and design. This certificate is awarded following a rigorous evaluation process conducted by an esteemed jury panel, comprising a diverse group of experts from around the world, including journalists, academics, design professionals, and entrepreneurs. The assessment adheres to a blind peer-review methodology, ensuring complete impartiality. Entries are meticulously evaluated based on pre-established criteria, with scores being normalized and standardized to uphold fairness and consistency. This process recognizes and highlights excellent achievements in innovation, design quality, and creative capacity.
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The Design Business Index (DBI) is a merit-based rating system and professional directory founded to address one of the design industry’s biggest challenges: the difficulty of reliably assessing a designer’s true capabilities before a project begins. Through its partnership with the internationally recognized A’ Design Award, DBI combines a rigorous blind review process with transparent evaluation criteria to transform subjective design quality into objective credentials. By featuring only those who have demonstrated excellence under these stringent standards, DBI ensures a carefully curated pool of top talent, where clients can make confident, data-driven decisions about creative partnerships.
Beyond its directory, DBI offers a comprehensive DBI Credibility Suite™ designed to help designers and studios stand out in an overcrowded market. Each DBI-rated professional receives authoritative certificates, digital assets, and rating logos that validate their skills and attest to their proven creative excellence. These tools seamlessly integrate into websites, social media, and marketing materials—reinforcing trust, credibility, and, ultimately, market value. Notably, DBI ratings remain valid for a two-year period, encouraging ongoing professional development and highlighting those who continuously push the boundaries of innovation.
By systematically reducing guesswork and eliminating reliance on subjective portfolio reviews alone, the Design Business Index creates a more efficient, trustworthy, and merit-based environment for both clients and designers. With DBI, top talent rises above the noise, clients gain peace of mind, and the entire global design community benefits from higher standards of creativity, innovation, and professional excellence.
Design Business Index champions design excellence, valuing official recognition from respected international juries over mere popularity. Our criteria focus on transparent, rigorous evaluations by peers, assessing quality, ethics, and innovation. Notably, the prestigious A' Design Award highlights truly exceptional projects, judged by academics, press members, and professionals using a documented scoring system. We exclusively feature professionals and studios that have earned at least one peer-reviewed award, particularly the A' Design Award, ensuring that our listings represent meritocratic accomplishment, innovation, and credibility.
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