The winners of the 39th Dulux Colour Awards, which recognise transformative examples of colour use in the built environment across Australia and New Zealand, have been selected from a shortlist of 88 projects. According to a communique from Dulux, this year's prized projects "push the boundaries of established genres and defy previously accepted norms to astound and delight with their complexity and ambition."
"Our aim with the Dulux Colour Awards is to reveal and reward the ultimate exemplars of architectural innovation using Dulux Colour as a central design device," said Dulux colour and communications manager Andrea Lucena-Orr.
Dulux noted that this year's Grand Prix winners "represent somewhat of a pattern emerging, namely the use of a single colour as the pivotal and defining design strategy." This strategy is evident in Australia's Grand Prix-winning project, the Sarah and Sebastian Armadale retail store by Richards Stanisich, which takes a striking green and juxtaposes it with reflective surfaces within faceted spaces.
Across the categories, Dulux noted that "rule-breaking and genre-defying colour usage is evident," including the unconventional application of contemporary colour on heritage projects, or to soften traditionally 'hard' building typologies. The multi-tone green facade of Commercial and Multi-residential Exterior winner, Northern Park Memorial Depot by Searle x Waldron Architecture, is an example of the latter. "This treatment represents a design decision to approach an industrial program with sensitivity, and to achieve that through specific colour choices appropriate to the context and natural surrounds," said Lucena-Orr.
The most hotly contested category this year, that of residential interiors, drew intense dialogue among the judges as they weighed up the finalists. The winning project, Elonera House by Studio Doherty, and the three commendation award winners present vastly different colour strategies and schemes.
The 2025 jury comprised director of SJB Andrew Parr; co-founder of At.Space Alex McLeod; co-founder of Luchetti Krelle Rachel Luchetti; co-founder and director of Edition Office Kim Bridgland; principal at Kerstin Thompson Architects and adjunct professor at RMIT and Monash Universities Kerstin Thompson, and Lucena-Orr.
Lucena-Orr reflected, "We are consistently astounded by the calibre of paradigm-shifting projects, and the architects and designers behind them who break boundaries, challenge conventions and defy expectations with their profound appreciation of the potential of colour."
The winning projects are:
Sarah and Sebastian Armadale - Richards Stanisich
Lava Flow - Pac Studio
Melbourne Place - Kennedy Nolan
Auburn High School Senior Centre - Wowowa Architecture
Burly Bar - Studio Plenty
Sarah and Sebastian Armadale - Richards Stanisich
Buon Gusto - Studio Shand
Comma - Byron Bay - Duet
Northern Memorial Park Depot - Searle x Waldron Architecture
Windale Hub - Adriano Pupilli Architects
Elonera House - Studio Doherty
Lava Flow - Pac Studio
Rosherville House - Kennedy Nolan
Wharf House - Arent and Pyke
Dunstan - SSdH
Carol Jerrems: Portraits - Youssofzay Hart
Landscape of Co-existence - Angela Xu and Georgia Reader, the University of Sydney
Pātaka Kōrero Fale o Tala: A Storehouse of Narratives in Samoa - Will Chomchoei, the University of Auckland
