Dulux Colour Awards

Innovation challenges design norms in this year’s award-winning projects

New Zealand and Australian designers and architects have been honoured for their outstanding design and original use of colour on projects at the 38th Dulux Colour Awards.

Architects and designers who have transformed the built environment through their vision were honoured for 18 projects across eight categories in addition to the best-in-class Grand Prix awards at the Sydney Opera House on May 29.

As one of the region’s most prestigious awards programs, recognising the exceptional and innovative use of colour in the built environment, the Dulux Colour Awards attracts an array of extraordinary projects.

New Zealand Grand Prix winner, COMMON Architecture + Interiors, highlighted colour as a cost-effective and impactful design strategy for Seven Colour Little Houses, low-cost housing in Christchurch.

Australian Grand Prix winner, Lachlan Seegers Architect, was unanimously applauded for the deep, burnished red ceiling of its Alexandria House project in Sydney, revealing how the power of colour can transform our experience of architecture.

“If there is a dominant theme this year, it is the use of colour in all-encompassing ways, from coating every surface of a room in a single shade to painting an entire building in tonal graduations of one colour,” says Andrea Lucena-Orr, Dulux Colour and Communications Manager.

“In awarding this year’s winners, who designed an exemplary range of projects, each of which contributes positively to our built environment in a unique way, we also commend all the finalists for lifting the bar so high and demonstrating what it truly means to design with colour,” says Lucena-Orr. “It is an honour for us at Dulux to collaborate with such exceptional innovators.”

The winners, as judged by five design industry professionals from New Zealand and Australia, have been selected from 83 finalists and a record 527 entries.