Robin Boyd Award

The award is for achievement in residential architecture, and specifically new houses. Alongside the named award, secondary awards are given including a 'National Award' and 'National Commendation' to highly regarded entries. Projects in this category must be residential in nature, generally falling within BCA Class 1a and must be new buildings. Projects with up to two self-contained dwellings may be entered in this category.^[1]

Sydney based architect Peter Stutchbury has been awarded the Robin Boyd Award on four occasions; 2003, 2005, 2020 and 2021.

The office of Durbach Block Jaggers based in Kings Cross, Sydney has won the award three times; in 1998 and 2004 (as Durbach Block) and 2017.

Two time winners include Glenn Murcutt, Lindsay Clare, John Wardle, Timothy Hill, Sean Godsell, Alexander Tzannes, Kerstin Thompson, Troppo Architects and Denton Corker Marshall.

In 2022 the following projects were shortlisted for the award:^[68]

• Mays Point House, Mays Point, Tasmania^[69] — Tanner Architects
• LiveWorkShare House, Samford Village, Queensland^[70] — Bligh Graham Architects
• Curl Curl House, Curl Curl, New South Wales^[71] — TRIAS (2022 National Award)
• Stable House, Forest Lodge, New South Wales^[72] — Sibling Architecture
• Corner House, Flinders, Victoria^[73] — Archier (2022 National Commendation)
• Jimmy's House, Goonderup, North Perth, Western Australia^[74] — MJA Studio with Studio Roam and IOTA (2022 National Award)

For only the second time, and the first time in forty years, no named award was given by the jury; Tony Giannone (Chair), Caroline Pidcock, Adrian Iredale, Poppy Taylor and Tim Ross.

The following projects were shortlisted for the 2023 Robin Boyd Award by the AIA:^[75]

• 19 Waterloo Street, Surry Hills, Sydney, New South Wales^[76] – SJB (2023 Robin Boyd Award)
• Blok Stafford Heights, Stafford Heights, Brisbane, Queensland^[77] – Blok Modular with Vokes and Peters
• Celilo Springs, Mount Lawley, Perth, Western Australia^[78] – Western Architecture Studio
• Merricks Farmhouse, Mornington Peninsula, Victoria^[79] – Michael Lumby with Nielsen Jenkins (2023 National Award)
• Mossy Point House, South Coast, New South Wales^[80] – Edition Office (2023 National Commendation)
• Spring Creek Road Farm House, Bannockburn, Victoria^[81][82] – Architect Brew Koch (2023 National Award)
• Triptych, Rural Tasmania^[83] – Room 11 Architects

The 2023 jury members were Shannon Battisson (Chair), Shaneen Fantin, William Smart, Stephanie Kitingan and Scott Burchell.^[84]

The Robin Boyd Award was presented to Adam Haddow and Stewart Cowan from SJB for 19 Waterloo Street, at the National Awards^[85] held in Canberra on 31 October 2023. National Awards were also presented to Merricks Farmhouse by Michael Lumby with Nielsen Jenkins and Spring Creek Road Farm House by Architect Brew Koch. Mossy Point House by Edition office was presented a National Commendation.

"19 Waterloo Street is a spectacular example of a new approach to urban infill. Constructed on the 30 square metres left between a new mixed-use building (a studio apartment and commercial tenancy) and an existing factory, the home shows how hard architecture can work, even on a small footprint. From the moment it comes into view, the home announces itself as something different. Full of colour, the facade disguises the program within, allowing an element of privacy balanced by a sense of generosity to the public street. All the required elements of home are present, with each opening off the central stair. Entry, workspace, kitchen, living and bedroom all have their own character and charm. Each is also light and radiates an overwhelming impression of space and connection to greenery that is not easily achieved within such a hard, industrial fabric. The culmination of the upwards journey is a rooftop garden that provides that final, much-loved element of the Australian home. No function was jettisoned in the small footprint, and the space is successful as a home for two, or as a space to welcome gatherings."

The following projects were shortlisted for the 2024 Robin Boyd Award by the AIA:^[87]

• 27 Rule Street, North Fremantle, Western Australian — Officer Woods
• Burnt Earth Beach House, Anglesea, Victoria — Wardle (2024 National Award)
• Courtyard House, Albert Park, Melbourne, Victoria — Clare Cousins Architects
• James Street, Launceston, Tasmania — Taylor and Hinds Architects
• Kidman Lane, Paddington, Sydney, New South Wales — Plus Minus Design
• Maitland Bay House, Killcare Heights, New South Wales — Studio Bright (2024 National Commendation)
• Naples Street House,^[88] Box Hill South, Melbourne, Victoria — Edition Office (2024 Robin Boyd Award)
• Six Ways House,^[89] North Fitzroy, Melbourne, Victoria — Kennedy Nolan (2024 National Award)
• Three Gardens House,^[90] Adelaide Hills, South Australia — Parabolica

The Award was presented to Edition Office at the National Awards held in Adelaide on 7 November 2024. National Awards were also presented to Burnt Earth Beach House by Wardle and Six Ways House by Kennedy Nolan. Maitland Bay House by Studio Bright was presented a National Commendation.

"Naples Street House represents a brave departure from suburban conventions, offering a considered rethinking of a family home. A deliberately understated facade prioritises the interior through animation of the inhabitants’ daily lives, creating a quiet address to the under-pedestrianised streetscape that finds belonging through form and scale. The low-peaked brick-slip roof references the brick bungalows of the neighbourhood’s past while rejecting contemporary adaptations of the style. The central courtyard becomes the orienting focus of the home. The symmetrical plan, coupled with the varied section, introduces unexpected interplays of light and space. Public programmed rooms converse with one another through the careful placement of apertures, while bedrooms are discreetly tucked away to the landscaped side of the house."

The following projects were shortlisted for the 2025 Robin Boyd Award by the AIA:^[92]

• Ochre House, Canberra, ACT — MYMYMY Architecture
• Lagoon House, Curl Curl, New South Wales — Peter Stutchbury Architecture (2025 National Award)
• Morning Bay House, Morning Bay, Pittwater, New South Wales — Casey Brown Architecture^[93]
• New Castle, Merewether, Newcastle, New South Wales — Anthony St John Parsons (2025 National Award)
• Mapleton House, Blackall Range, Sunshine Coast, Queensland — Atelier Chen Hung^[94] (2025 National Award)
• Nebraska, Bruny Island, Tasmania — Lara Maeseele
• Hedge and Arbour House, Ivanhoe, Melbourne, Victoria — Studio Bright (2025 Robin Boyd Award)
• Henville Street House, Fremantle, Western Australia — Philip Stejskal Architecture (2025 National Commendation)^[95]

To 2025 a total of 51 Robin Boyd Awards had been given in the 43 years of the award, with no award given in only two years (1982 and 2022). On seven occasions joint winners have been awarded; 1991, 1993 (three winners), 1995, 1996, 1999, 2003 and 2020.

A total of 80% of the Awards have been given to freestanding houses (41 of 51), and almost half of those to beach houses or holiday houses (19 total). Houses located in remote areas accounts for 35% of the awards, while just 18% of winning projects would be considered inner urban. A total of 18 suburban projects have won the award, around 35% of all Award winners.

Around 47% of awards have been won by projects in metropolitan urban areas, and 53% in non–metropolitan locations. Ten awards have been won in regional Victoria compared with only four awards in regional New South Wales – two of those by Glenn Murcutt — and seven awards in regional Queensland.

To 2025 more than two-thirds of all awards have been won by houses located in New South Wales or Victoria, and 92% of all awards won on the mainland eastern seaboard states of New South Wales (41%), Victoria (29%) and Queensland (22%). No architects or projects from South Australia or ACT have been awarded since the award began in 1981.

The most common site locations for awards have been Sydney beachside or harbourside suburbs (10 awards or 20%), Queensland coastal areas (7 awards) or on the Mornington Peninsula, Victoria (6 awards). A total of 24 projects or 50% would be considered coastal, with the remainder divided 18% inner city, 12% rural and 35% suburban.

In April 2025 a 408 page compendium of all 50 projects awarded since 1981 was published by Thames & Hudson, titled Australian House: The Robin Boyd Award for Residential Architecture Since 1981.^[96]

• Australian Institute of Architects, Australian House: The Robin Boyd Award for Residential Architecture Since 1981, Thames & Hudson, ISBN 9781760764562 (2025)

• Australian Institute of Architects
• Australian Institute of Architects Awards and Prizes
• Robin Boyd
• Victorian Architecture Medal
• Wilkinson Award