Award Categories

Our mandate is to uncover the best in the industry, celebrate it and inspire designers to aim for equal or higher benchmarks for the betterment of our built environment.

To do this we judge project entries across eleven award categories which includes our new ‘Education’ category:

Retail

This category recognises a shop, retail outlet, showroom, department store, food market etc

Hospitality

This category recognises a cafe, bar, restaurant, motel, hotel, boutique lodge etc.

Healthcare and Wellness

This category recognises a surgery, medical practice, hospital, gym, yoga studio, later-living and assisted living developments, spa, dentist etc

Civic

This category recognises a gallery, museum, concert hall, theatre, exhibition venue, place of worship, library, community centre, consulate, law court, parliamentary building, airport, railway station, port and ferry terminal.

Workplace – up to 1000m²

This category recognises an office, studio, warehouse, factory etc.

Workplace – over 1000m²

This category recognises an office, studio, warehouse, factory etc.

Education

This category recognises schools, universities (including halls of residence), child and daycare centres, and other learning facilities.

Residential

This category recognises the entire interior design within a house, villa, townhouse, apartment or unit.

Residential Kitchen

This category recognises the design of a kitchen within a house, villa, townhouse, apartment, unit etc – commercial kitchens are excluded.

Community Impact

This category celebrates the collaboration and often pro bono work that designers and architects bring to the creation of spaces for communities and not-for-profit organisations.

To be eligible for the Community Award and prize money, the project cannot be fully or mainly funded through a government organisation or agency. The entry must have substantial community funding/fundraising. You will need to provide details of how the build was funded.

Projects will be judged on the social good and community impact the project generates, rather than the criteria of quality of design, innovation and materiality that other award categories are judged on. For examples, a winning project might be a community hall, surf lifesaving club, sports clubroom, local museum, health centre, cultural centre, and so on.

A $5,000 cash prize is awarded to the community the winning project benefits.

A community project can be entered into multiple categories i.e. Civic, Education and so on. A separate entry fee must be paid for entry into these award categories.

Further information can be found here

*This award category is not eligible for the Supreme Award

Emerging Design Professional

This category recognises professionals 35 years of age or under on, or before the 1 May 2024, either employed in a design or architecture practice; or self-employed.

(An exception to the age requirement will be made for those who have changed career and joined the design industry later, but who are under the age of 40 on or before 1 May 2024, and have been employed or self-employed for a maximum of 8 years).

The Judging Criteria:

•  Detail your body of work within the design sector along with your professional achievements.

• State your design philosophy including, how this is manifested in the design of projects you have been involved in

• Optional statement of support or endorsement from employer/client.

$1,500 cash prize is awarded to the Emerging Design Professional.

*This award category is not eligible for the Supreme Award