Anna Simone studied Interior Design at Humber College of Applied Arts and Technology, where she graduated with honours.
As a founding partner of Cecconi Simone Inc., a multi-disciplinary design firm, Anna Simone has been involved with numerous award winning projects in retail, hospitality and multi-unit residential design. Anna has worked on the retail concept for Oni One [winner of the ARC award for best new retail concept and International Interior Design Association award for best retail store in 2004], she lead the team for The Ritz Carlton [Toronto] and the Georgia Hotel [Vancouver] as well as XIS [Stratford], a boutique hotel. Anna was the partner-in-charge for corporate clients like the Royal Bank of Canada, DMB&B Advertising, Serendipity Point Films, and Dominion Securities Retail Sales [BCE Place] projects.
A large portion of Cecconi Simone’s portfolio has been in multi-unit residential and high-rise developments in Toronto, Vancouver, the US, China, Dubai and Qatar. Cecconi Simone has been regarded as a leader in innovative, small-space design creating living environments that make intelligent use of three-dimensional space. They have designed over 30 towers in the city of Toronto alone. Anna has lead the Merchandising Building, CityPlace, [the largest residential development in Toronto’s history – Concord Adex will eventually build 23 towers], Waterclub, Vu, X, Riva Point [NYC], Sullivan Square [Las Vegas], UNO [Vancouver], BOSA Ventures Mondrian and Mondrian 2 [Vancouver] and a large multi-tenant development in China. One of her most recent design projects is in [Dubai, UAE] where Cecconi Simone has been instrumental in designing communities including over 8,000 residential units, marketing and convention centres. She was invited along with her partner, Elaine Cecconi, as one of 200 international guests to The Conference on Applied Brilliance – the first conference of its kind in 2000. Both Elaine and Anna are currently developing luxury bath fixtures and furnishings for American Standard.
Anna has lectured at Humber College of Applied Arts and Technology, Ontario College of Art, Ryerson Polytechnic University, The Design Exchange, The Japan Foundation, The International Academy of Merchandising and Design, Home Builders Association, IIDEX and The Vancouver Home and Interior Design Show. She has served on the Advisory Board at Humber College of Applied Arts and Technology and Durham College as well as The Interior Design Show, Canada’s premiere design show for the trade and public. She is a former Executive Board member of the Association of Registered Interior Designers of Ontario [A.R.I.D.O.] and has served as juror on the panel for the annual A.R.I.D.O. Awards, Virtu and for the Toronto Arts Awards. Anna is the co-founder of the Pugly Awards which recognizes the best and worst residential and commercial developments in the city of Toronto and has now finished taping the second season as a judge on HGTV’s hit show Designer Superstar Challenge. Anna, along with her business partner Elaine Cecconi, is a key player in HGTV’s Design Interns. Premiering Fall 2006, Design Interns pits design graduates against each other in the hope of landing an internship with prestigious Toronto design firm Cecconi Simone Inc.