The Australian Institute of Architects’ 2026 NSW architecture awards have recognised a range of projects, from the sweeping renewal of Sydney’s Central Station to a garden oasis hidden within a city terrace. The awards, announced on Thursday, celebrated works of ‘civic generosity’ across the state.
Central Station Wins Top Honours
The revamp of Sydney’s Central Station, a collaboration between Woods Bagot and John McAslan + Partners, took out the NSW architecture medallion as well as the Sulman medal for public architecture. Judges praised the project for its ‘calm logic, abundant natural light, and a rich sense of material quality’. The renewal seamlessly integrates the metro into the broader rail network.
Sydney Fish Market and Western Sydney Airport
The new Sydney Fish Market, designed by 3XN, BVN, and ASPECT Studios, won the premier’s prize, the Sir Arthur G Stephenson award for commercial architecture, and one of three awards for public architecture. Judges described it as ‘a work of civic generosity as much as architectural ambition’. The Western Sydney International Airport, named after Nancy-Bird Walton, was another winner in the public architecture category. Designed by Woods Bagot in collaboration with COX Architecture and Zaha Hadid Architects, the airport offers ‘a stress-free and human-centric journey with civic generosity and a design connected to place’.
Other Award Winners
Campbelltown Station commuter car park, by Hill Thalis Architecture + Urban Projects, won the award for sustainable architecture for its ‘simplicity, clarity, and holistic integration of sustainability initiatives’. The Lands by Capella, a conversion of the historic sandstone Lands Department building into a function and retail space, won the Greenway award for heritage, a commercial architecture award, and the award for interior architecture. Hassell and Purcell Architecture achieved ‘a generous and accomplished act of architectural resurrection’, according to judges.
Green Square Public School
The lord mayor’s prize went to BVN for Green Square public school, which also won the William E Kemp award for educational architecture. Judges noted that ‘the design team and client agencies demonstrated ingenuity, vision and commitment to design excellence. It sets a new benchmark for how dense urban communities can be supported through thoughtful, integrated design.’
Residential and Small Projects
EA House in Mittagong, by Bokey Grant, won the Blacket prize and one of four awards for residential architecture in the new housing category. The house is embedded in a rocky escarpment, and judges said ‘where others saw only difficulty, the architects identified an opportunity to create a carefully crafted sanctuary for a young family’. Broken Workshop, a farm shed in rural Byron Bay by Atelier Luke, was recognised in the small project architecture category, described as ‘a joy to inhabit’. Darlinghurst House, by Anthony Gill Architects, won the Hugh and Eva Buhrich award for residential architecture in the alterations and additions category. Judges called it a ‘layered city within the city’ that favours a garden oasis over maximising floor space.
Heritage and Urban Design
33 Alfred Street, the old AMP tower, received a heritage award for adaptive reuse after a renewal by JPW, praised for its ‘refined, calm and assured’ result – ‘a dignified act of architectural conservation’. The Sydney Harbour Bridge cycleway, redesigned by a team led by Collins and Turner with Design 5 – Architects, Aspect Studios, and Eckersley O’Callaghan, won a heritage award for adaptive reuse and an urban design award. Judges said ‘rather than compete with the Bridge, the cycleway sits alongside it as a finely calibrated contemporary addition’.
