The Australian Institute of Architects, in partnership with Dulux, is delighted to announce the five recipients of the prestigious 2026 Australian Institute of Architects Dulux Study Tour.
The Dulux Study Tour is the Institute’s most sought-after award for emerging architects and Institute members, offering five individuals the opportunity to engage with global architecture, visit world-renowned practices in Singapore, Paris, and Vienna, and learn from leading industry pioneers.
The 2026 recipients are Jack Gillmer, Rachel Licht, Sharaan Muruvan, Callum Senjov, and Jasmine Placentino. They will be joined on the tour by Ksenia Totoeva, a 2020 recipient whose participation was previously deferred.
Maridza Riccioni, Commercial Partnerships and Program Manager at Dulux, said “Dulux is incredibly proud to continue our long‑standing partnership with the Australian Institute of Architects in delivering the Dulux Study Tour. This program plays a vital role in supporting Australia’s emerging architects. This year’s winners were selected from an exceptional shortlist of 30 practitioners, from this impressive cohort, the five chosen winners represent the top emerging architectural talent in Australia, reflecting the ambition, creativity and impact that define the profession’s future leaders. The Study Tour offers a rare and transformative opportunity to engage with globally recognised studios, experience innovative design cultures firsthand and bring new perspectives back to Australia’s architectural landscape.”
“On behalf of Dulux, I congratulate all the winners and wish them an inspiring and energising journey as they embark on this extraordinary experience.”
Cameron Bruhn, CEO of Australian Institute of Architects, said “The Dulux Study Tour is more than a recognition of excellence, it is a signal of trust in the future leadership of our profession. This year’s winners exemplify the calibre of thinking, curiosity and ambition that will shape Australian architecture in the decades ahead. Through this tour, we are not only celebrating outstanding work today, but investing in the people who will influence how our cities, communities and environments are designed tomorrow. We are proud to partner with Dulux on a program that consistently supports emerging architects at a defining moment in their career, as they begin to shape the profession and the built environment at scale.”
2026 Dulux Study Tour Shortlist
2026 Dulux Study Tour Winners Citations
Jack Gillmer, SJB | NSW
Jack Gillmer, a proud Worimi and Biripi guri, is an associate and First Nations lead at SJB, where he places Country at the centre of architectural practice and thinking. Based in Sydney and educated at the University of Newcastle, he advocates for cultural knowledge systems in contemporary architecture, re-imagining the built environment as a vessel for First Nations narrative, memory and shared belonging. His work demonstrates how space can hold story, stewardship and responsibility, exploring how architecture can evolve as a living expression of Country.
As a creative director of Home, the Australian for the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale, Gillmer co-designed a process and exhibition grounded in “living belonging,” collaborating with ten universities and a creative sphere of First Nations architects, practitioners and cultural leaders. His voice is increasingly present on the global stage, recently speaking at the University of Oxford, ETH Zurich, the Architectural Association and Carleton University.
At SJB, he has amplified Indigenous perspectives across several projects, including Newcastle East End and the Powerhouse’s Eucalyptusdom exhibition in collaboration with Richard Leplastrier AO. Gillmer is building a distinguished career defined by cultural leadership, intellectual generosity, and a continued contribution to design discourse in relation to Country.
Rachel Licht, Licht Architecture | TAS
Rachel Licht is a registered architect and co‑director of Licht Architecture in Hobart/Nipaluna, where she pairs design excellence with a generous, community‑minded practice ethos. Beginning her career at Preston Lane Architects, she contributed to award‑winning residential projects, building a reputation for rigour, client care and finely resolved detailing.
Since 2022, Licht has led sustainability initiatives in her studio – achieving Climate Active certification, embedding reconciliation and sustainability action plans, and steering work toward electrification, circularity and reduced embodied carbon. Her current portfolio spans significant community projects, notably the Boat Harbour Beach Surf Life Saving Club and the Warawyn Childcare Centre, where she coordinates complex stakeholder groups and delivers durable, place‑responsive architecture with social impact.
Beyond practice, Licht is a contributor to the Australian Institute of Architects’ Tasmanian chapter through EMAGN, awards and honours, and initiatives, such as Archibubs and Sketchy Business, that build collegiality and support for emerging practitioners. A four‑time shortlistee, Licht seeks the Dulux Study Tour to broaden a regional perspective with global insights on housing, reuse, city‑making and procurement, and to strengthen national networks. Her leadership, sustained community engagement and sustainability focus make her a deserving winner who will translate the tour’s learnings into tangible benefits for practice and the wider profession.
Sharaan Muruvan, MJA Studio | WA
Sharaan Muruvan is a highly engaged, organising, and culture-shaping architect from Western Australia, where he is embedded across a suite of industry boards, groups and taskforces. An empathetic, generous and welcoming advocate for the profession, he is deeply active in steering the Institute’s formal and ancillary representative activities.
He is a registered architect and early-career professional within large practice, contributing to the realisation of complex interdisciplinary projects with ambition, generosity and skill. He is also a sessional academic and unit coordinator at Curtin University, demonstrating his strong belief in education as a tool for positive social change.
Muruvan has been instrumental in driving change through EMAGN WA. Serving as co-chair from 2023 to 2024, alongside holding multiple prior and ongoing roles, he has been central to elevating EMAGN WA’s profile. Under his leadership, the cohort and its activities have become powerful, highly visible and of exceptional value to the profession.
Muruvan is an obvious future leader of architecture in Australia. An award such as this would act as a propulsive force, deepening his networks, validating his lines of enquiry, enabling learning through collegial exchange, and supporting his progression into positions of positive influence and transformative futures. We are excited to see this trajectory continue to unfold.
Callum Senjov, Architectus | QLD
Callum Senjov is currently an associate at Architectus. Senjov’s experience spans an impressive range of rail, public, commercial, sports, masterplanning and multi-residential projects. Recent highlights include the Misk Foundation centre, Roma Street Station Enhancement, Iona College Provence Centre, and Rendu Towers residential aged care. As an Architectus sustainability champion, a member of the Institute’s National Climate Action and Sustainability Committee, and a Green Star Associate, he is passionate about advancing sustainable design through big-picture, cross-disciplinary thinking.
Known for his thoughtful, innovative and practical approach, Senjov works closely with clients and communities to look beyond the brief, uncovering opportunities that deliver real value and meaningful outcomes. His approachable style creates a supportive, collaborative atmosphere where project teams feel empowered to explore fresh ideas and imaginative solutions.
Beyond practice, Senjov is an advocate for emerging architects. As immediate past national president of EMAGN, he focuses on high-impact, supportive initiatives that strengthen the profession while caring for volunteer wellbeing – continuing more than 15 years of contribution. Senjov mentors students as a sessional academic in design, technology and professional practice at universities in South East Queensland. He is also a proud contributor to Architecture with Pride Brisbane.
Jasmine Placentino, Parabolica | SA
Graduating in 2015 from Monash University, Jasmine Placentino worked for high-profile firms Kersten Thompson Architects and Fieldwork before commencing her own practice, Parabolica, with her partner, Benjamin Pitman. Parabolica has created some beautiful and much-awarded projects, including Echo House, shortlisted for the EMAGN Project Award at the 2025 Victorian Architecture Awards, and Three Garden House, which won the John S Chapel Award for Residential Architecture – Houses (New) at the 2024 South Australian Architecture Awards.
In the public campaign to retain Tadao Ando’s only Australian work, the 2023 MPavilion in Melbourne, Placentino conducted the Preserve the Pavilion campaign, contacting world-renowned architects and succeeding in garnering support from over 60 high-profile practitioners, including Jean Nouvel, Kengo Kuma, and Alvaro Siza, which contributed to extending the life of the pavilion until 2030.
Placentino has contributed to Institute committees, including as co-chair of the Gender, Equity, Diversity and Impact Committee (2025–), co-chair of the South Australia EMAGN Committee (2024–), and as a juror and mentor. She has spoken at numerous events, including Small Practice Forum, ArchitectureAu Asks, and Sustainability Snacks.
Placentino is a remarkable young architect who has combined practice, family (with two young children) and advocacy with aplomb, and will greatly benefit from the experience and learnings of the Dulux Study Tour.
2026 Jury: Jury David Wagner (chair), Australian Institute of Architects national president elect, Atelier Wagner; Tiffany Liew, Australian Institute of Architects board member; Christina Earls, Dulux; Peter Wood, Dulux; Nic Brunsdon, Brunsdon Studio; Jennifer Nichols, Tasmanian and International Chapters executive leader
Ksenia Totoeva, Tonkin Zulaikha Greer Architects | NSW (2020 Winner)
Originally from regional NSW, Ksenia graduated from the University of Newcastle with the University Medal. Here she developed an early engagement in the city through Renew Newcastle, an urban regeneration initiative designed to reinvigorate the failing downtown that seeded her interest in community activism and urban projects. From this beginning she went onto become involved in the Institute of Architects EmAGN committee where from a grassroots organiser, she emerged as a leader and role model, particularly for young women in the profession, as National President of EmaGN in 2016-18. Developing her professional career in parallel, at LahzNimmo and then Tonkin Zulahika Greer, where she is now an Associate Director. As a practitioner, she has worked across a range of project types and scales, as part of a team through and as a project architect contributing to a number of award-winning projects as well as to innovations in the practice paradigm. The jury believes with Ksenia’s dynamism she will benefit greatly from the opportunity of the Dulux Study Tour and the lessons that this immersion in a range of practices will provide her continuing professional development and leadership potential.
2020 Jury: Professor Helen Lochhead (jury chair) LFRAIA – President, Australian Institute of Architects | Dean, UNSW Sydney, Faculty of Built Environment, Julia Cambage, CEO, Australian Institute of Architects, Anurita Kapur – Trade Communications Manager, Dulux, Cameron O’Brien – National Specification Manager, Dulux, Mark Berlanghieri – Past Dulux Study Tour Winner | Associate Director, Walter Brooke, Thom McKenzie – Thom McKenzie RAIA – 2019 EmAGN President | Director, Winwood McKenzie