NSW Architecture Awards 2026: Public Projects Lead National Recognition

NSW’s strongest showing at the 2026 Australian Institute of Architects National Architecture Awards may be its public projects. The state collected 12 awards and commendations across homes, commercial buildings and public spaces, with work ranging from Sydney’s new Fish Market to a small hinterland outhouse. The mix points to architects taking on questions of housing, climate, cost pressures and community use. Whether award winning design can shift those broader pressures is a harder question; the projects do show how design teams are responding to them.

In total, 34 projects across Australia were recognised for design, sustainability and community impact at the awards, announced on Thursday, October 29. The winning work included new homes, First Nations collaborations and public architecture.

Public projects take centre stage

Jury chair Adam Haddow said this year’s entries carried “an energy of hope” and showed communities coming together to challenge assumptions. National judging, he explained, considers projects that have already won at state level and asks what makes them exemplary: how they go beyond the expected response to a brief.

Haddow singled out NSW’s commitment to public architecture. Jurors visit each project in person, he said, so they can experience how the spaces work rather than judge them from photographs. That’s a meaningful distinction: a building’s public value is difficult to assess from an image alone. Haddow also said most winners were doing “really great things with public money”.

NSW national award winners and commendations

National Award for Commercial Architecture

New Sydney Fish Market — 3XN, in association with BVN and ASPECT Studios (NSW)

The Daryl Jackson Award for Educational Architecture

Green Square Public School and Community Spaces — BVN (NSW)

National Award for Enduring Architecture

Clubbe Hall — AJC Architects (NSW)

National Award for Heritage

Entertainment Hall White Bay — DunnHillam Architecture Urban Design with Placemaking

National Commendation for Heritage

The Lands by Capella — Hassell in collaboration with Purcell Architecture (NSW)

National Award for Public Architecture

Central Station — Woods Bagot in collaboration with John McAslan + Partners (NSW)

National Commendation for Public Architecture

Pier Pavilion — Besley & Spresser (NSW)

National Award for Residential Architecture — Houses (New)

EA House — Bokey Grant (NSW)

The Frederick Romberg Award for Residential Architecture — Multiple Housing

Lacebark — Smart Design Studio (NSW)

Commendation for Residential Architecture — Multiple Housing

Habilis — Collins and Turner (NSW)

National Award for Small Project Architecture

Magenta Outhouse — Atelier Marks Gaal (NSW)

The Walter Burley Griffin Award for Urban Design

Sydney Harbour Bridge Northern Access Cycleway — Collins and Turner with Aspect Studios, Eckersley O’Callaghan and Design 5 – Architects (NSW)

Public projects are being judged by who they serve

The Green Square public school shows what coordinated government investment can achieve, Mr Haddow said. Its public art by Blak Douglas gives First Nations people and culture a visible place in how the school is understood. That’s more than a design choice: it shapes the identity of a civic building. He also cited the Sydney Harbour bicycle path as infrastructure built for the long term, widening access to more sustainable transport. And the White Bay Power Station matters because adapting the building for use can keep it from being abandoned.

Smaller homes, broader access

This year’s winning buildings look ahead with optimism, Mr Haddow said, while reflecting the pressure of Australia’s cost of living crisis. The response has been a rethink of scale: homes that are modest, flexible and efficient, sized for the people who live in them rather than built to sprawl. The point is plain: a smaller house can still support a good life. A commendation for a small Inner West housing project highlights another part of that shift. Haddow said it was designed to provide quality housing to people who often struggle to find it. He also observed that all the projects were electric, signalling a clear move toward more sustainable buildings. The data here doesn’t explain how far that change will reach, but the direction is hard to miss. Crazy rural mansion sells after a year on the market