Australian Interior Design Awards 2025
From colour-soaked apartments to richly layered family homes, this year’s Australian Interior Design Awards spotlight the most inspired residential spaces shaping how we live today.
Words HANDE RENSHAW Photos FELIX FOREST, SEAN FENNESSY, MARTINA GEMMOLA & SHANNON MCGRATH
Montage Apartment by Studio Prineas—winner of this year’s Residential Design award. Photo: Felix Forest
Montage Apartment by Studio Prineas. Photo: Felix Forest
The Panorama House by Sally Caroline won the Residential Decoration Award and Best of State Residential for Victoria. Photo: Sean Fennessy
Panorama House by Sally Caroline. Photo: Sean Fennessy
“The strongest projects place human experience at the forefront, creating immersive spatial environments that educate, bring joy, nurture and inspire.”
2025 Australian Interior Design Awards finalist: Erskine Residence by B.E Architecture. Photo:Martina Gemmola
2025 Australian Interior Design Awards finalist: Erskine Residence by B.E Architecture. Photo:Martina Gemmola
Commendations finalist: Byron Bay Residence by Hecker Guthrie. Photo: Shannon McGrath
Byron Bay Residence by Hecker Guthrie. Photo: Shannon McGrath
The Australian Interior Design Awards have unveiled this year’s finest achievements in design, marking the 22nd year of the program’s celebration of interior excellence.
At the heart of this year’s awards was a renewed focus on human experience—immersive, joyful spaces that combine thoughtful storytelling with tactile sophistication.
Among the most compelling outcomes of the night were the projects recognised in the Residential Design category, where homes were not only elevated through form and materiality but made memorable by colour, texture, form and detail.
Taking out the Residential Design Award and Best of State Residential for New South Wales, Studio Prineas impressed the jury with Montage Apartment, a refined and expressive home that balances architectural clarity with playful energy. ‘Its strong and nuanced colour palette and detailing, including the curvature of the door frames, island pillar and orange grouting, all make the interior design unique,’ the jury noted. This layered execution presents a home that feels both intentional and intimate.
In Victoria, Sally Caroline’s Panorama House was awarded Best of State Residential and the Residential Decoration Award, praised for its expressive use of coloured joinery to define zones within the home. The result is an interior rich in narrative and movement, where every space tells its own story while contributing to a cohesive visual rhythm.
The residential category also included Commendations for a selection of New South Wales-based practices that continue to shape Australia’s design language. Anthony Gill Architects was commended for Clifton House, alongside Hecker Guthrie for Byron Bay Residence, Kennedy Nolan for Rosherville House, Madeleine Blanchfield Architects for Lillelund, and Youssofzay Hart for Onslow Gardens Apartment. These projects share an emphasis on light, comfort, and compositional confidence—each speaking to the diversity of Australian living today.
Across the program, the jury observed that ‘the strongest projects place human experience at the forefront,’ celebrating how design can nurture and inspire. In a residential context, this has translated to homes that are both visually magnetic and deeply personal, with design elements that reflect lifestyle, legacy, and creativity.
