2026 NSW Regional Architecture Awards– Winners unveiled

The very best in regional architecture have been named in the Australian Institute of Architects’ 2026 Regional Architecture Awards. Revealed in a gala celebration last Friday, the award winners offer a compelling snapshot of the ever-evolving built environment across regional New South Wales. 

This year’s awarded projects reflect a profession championing work that is innovative, contextually grounded, and deeply connected to place. A rigorous judging process was undertaken by three Juries composed of esteemed peers. Winners demonstrated thoughtful responses to the unique opportunities and challenges of regional communities, from climate resilience and sustainable growth to heritage stewardship and cultural recognition. 

Jury Chair of Chairs, Bill Tsakalos LFRAIA reflected on the breadth of this year’s awards program: 

“I have been amazed at the quality of submissions presented in 2026. The new regional submission structure showcases the strength and depth of architectural skills and the valuable contribution our profession makes to improving the built environment beyond the Sydney metropolitan area. 

Those entering the pool for state awards should be strong contenders.” 

NSW Chapter President, Elizabeth Carpenter FRAIA, stated that: 

“All of the selected projects this year demonstrate a remarkable clarity of intent, a commitment to simplicity in detailing, a deep care for their environment, and a profound respect for context. Their material palettes are restrained yet inventive, proving that richness in architecture can be achieved through precision and purpose. 

“Design Excellence demands rigor at every scale. This is evident in the considered siting of a building within its landscape and equally in the resolution of a single junction detail. Nothing is incidental. Across every project, there is a powerful and deliberate connection to the landscape—so strong, in fact, that it emerges as a defining theme in this year’s Regional Awards. 

“This year saw a record number of entries. While not all received awards, every submission deserves recognition for its contribution to strengthening and enriching the built environment of the communities in which these projects stand.” 

The 2026 NSW Regional Architecture Awards were announced on Friday 13 February at Yarrila Place in Coffs Harbour in a fantastic night bringing together peers, clients, and collaborators to celebrate the projects shaping our future.

The event and program were proudly supported by: Lysaght, Partridge, AWS, and Krause Bricks. 

For all media inquiries, please contact: Bella Walker, Marketing Manager by emailing bella.walker@architecture.com.au 

Find more info on each project below via our Awards Project Gallery available here.

NSW Regional Architecture Awards Event Wrap-Up

My first memories of Coffs Harbour involve road trip pitstops at the McDonalds playground off the Pacific Highway below the old dutch windmill. A classic highway town split down the middle, with roadside kitsch that would make Venturi’s mouth water. These days I live and work on Gumbaynggirr country in the Nambucca Valley, 30 minutes south of Coffs, which is geographically stunning, refreshingly unpretentious, and still a bit rough around the edges (to put it gently). The community and urban condition has resisted the pressures of coastal gentrification quite unlike its neighbouring centres north and south. And for that, I am grateful.

Though the town is far from static. The construction of the M1 Motorway bypass is sure to reverberate through the town’s development in the decades and generations to come and is already leaving its mark. Enter BVNs Yarilla Place, our host venue for the night.

Welcoming us to Country, Uncle Richard Widders shared his experience in the procurement of this landmark building and reminded all present how transformative and community strengthening regional architecture can and must be. Inadvertently setting the agenda for the projects which would rise to the top in 2026. 

These values were most clearly embodied by Austin McFarland’s First Steps Count, Child and Community Centre which balances the weight and responsibility of public architecture with a playful response nuanced by site and rigorous community consultation. From Bega to Byron, and as far west as Cobar, the celebrated works show us just how dramatically varied NSW’s regions and environments are, with houses by Anthrosite and Walknorth demonstrating diverging expressions of material robustness uniquely adapted to their climatic and seasonal conditions.

Accompanied by industry talks and building tours up and down the mid north coast, the weekend’s events felt special beyond the awards, like a surge of architectural enthusiasm that is rarely experienced outside of the capitals and university centres. A welcomed shot in the arm for architects practicing on and beyond the fringe.

Visiting Greybox in South West Rocks, with Chris, David and an intimate group of guests, the town’s laid back attitude permeates throughout the home. The house doesn’t raise its voice, but quietly offers an alternative to the steady marching tide of brick veneer. In a place distinctly absent of capital A architecture, its subtlety has not gone unnoticed, with a new project for Welsh + Major underway just up the road. 

While this knock on isn’t unusual, it confirms that projects like this, and many of those awarded and shortlisted, act as catalysts and firsts for their regions, mapping out new navigational routes for their communities to follow. In this way regional architects truly fulfill the old adage of architecture as acupuncture, with attentive, precise incisions, utilising minimal means for maximum relief, in isolated locations. As a body of work, these seemingly disparate projects raise community expectations right across regional NSW, even in places where that ‘first’ project has yet to be commissioned.

At the end of the awards night and under a gentle rain on the roof terrace, I was left contemplating the future of Coffs, and our role as architects in places like this. With Cold Chisel unapologetically whining through the speakers, I looked over to the aging local DJ, cap rotated 180 degrees, bourbon in hand, and thought, ‘we owe it to this guy not to mess it up’.

Thank you for coming to town RAIA NSW Regional Gala, who’s hosting next year?

Jono Ware

Ware Architects

NSW Regional Committee member