Mausoleum and Meditation Retreat Win WA’s Top Design Awards – WA Architecture Award winners

The State’s Best New Architecture Unveiled

Western Australia’s most outstanding new architecture has been revealed in the Australian Institute of Architects’ 2026 Western Australian Architecture Awards. The awarded projects represent the cutting edge in architectural innovation from the state’s sharpest design minds.

The recipients for 2026 act as a roadmap to the new building projects that are shaping WA’s contemporary built environment. The Australian Institute of Architects is the country’s peak body for architecture, and the Western Australian Architecture Awards are the state’s premier design awards program.

Australian Institute of Architects 2026 Western Australian Architecture Awards Jury Chair, Peter Hobbs explained the commonalities in this year’s award winners.

“The jury identified a ‘More with Less’ theme, with architects responding to post-COVID cost increases and current cost of living pressures, managing to stretch budgets and wring every cent of value out of each design decision,” said Hobbs.

“A continued attention to sustainability amongst the winners this year was clear, with projects demonstrating a comprehensive range of sustainability strategies that included high-performance enclosures, low embodied carbon materiality and the adaptive re-use of existing structures.”

“In the residential sector, the biggest sustainability gains were from a ‘build just enough strategy’ – more modest but high performing buildings, providing enhanced amenity for users, using less material, designing for more with less. This aligns with the essential goal for decarbonisation of the built environment through dematerialisation. This trend to “just enough” was driven by a dual commitment to a sustainability agenda while meeting the current needs of the household within affordability constraints and planning for flexibility for future adaptability to future needs.”

“Another repeated theme amongst the winners was ‘acts of repair,’ where abandoned or underused sites are revitalised into vibrant social hubs for the local community, largely within the existing heritage fabric. Similarly, commercial projects had a strong sense of civic generosity through urban revitalisation; civic insertions that welcome the local community with dedicated public access.”

“In the shadow of the cost-of-living crisis, architects have had to work hard to deliver on client aspirations within some extreme budget challenges. Rather than being a negative, this has forced architects to innovate and create thoughtful, delightful outcomes. These award winners show us the intrinsic value architects bring to WA’s built environment.”

This year the George Temple Poole Award (the highest architectural honour bestowed in WA) was awarded to ECU City by Lyons with Silver Thomas Hanley and Haworth Tompkins.

Each year, the winning projects in the Western Australian Architecture Awards are selected by an esteemed panel of industry experts and leaders. A comprehensive in-person judging process by the jury determines the winners of the Awards, which was be announced on Friday, 12th June.

For more information and detail of all the Award Winners go to Architecture.com.au