Best House Design in Australia 2023: Design Institute of Australia

The winners of the annual Australian Interior Design Awards were crowned on June 2, and they provide endless home interiors inspiration.

Run by the Design Institute of Australia and Architecture Media’s Artichoke magazine, the awards celebrate Australian properties across residential, commercial and public sectors, the result of work by leading design experts.

“Following the challenges of recent years, the Australian design and architecture industry has evolved and responded to its changing landscape to deliver innovation, beautiful and inspired projects across all sectors, reshaping the parameters of design and creativity for the 2023 Australian Design Awards program,” reads a press release on the awards.

This year, the judging panel included principal architects and directors of interior design firms. The jury presented the top Award for Residential Design to Madeleine Blanchfield Architects for Nine-Square Bondi, saying “it has a soul and a real sense of home”.

Piccolo Palazzo from JC HQ was presented the Award for Residential Decoration, with the jury impressed by its carefully curated balance of contemporary and vintage style as well as its reflection of the clients’ individuality.

Other notable accolades include Breathe’s Nightingale Skye House receiving a Commendation for the Sustainability Advancement Award, a Commendation for Residential Design and Best of State for Residential Design (VIC).

Brisbane-based J.AR Office was presented the Emerging Interior Designer Award for its work in the residential and retail space, with its Oxlade project taking home the Residential Best of State (QLD) and a Commendation for Residential Design.

Ahead, peek inside some of the winning design homes.

Category: Residential Decoration

Winner: Piccolo Palazzo (JC HQ)

“The jury unanimously agreed that Piccolo Palazzo displays innovation and a strong sense of emotion. There’s a distinct narrative reflective of the client and rigor in terms of its Venetian theme, which balances the ideas of contemporary and vintage very well,” the jury wrote.

“The scheme’s resilient design solution and the complexity of solving the challenges that come with such a tiny space feels quite compelling. It is a smaller-scale project that packs a real punch, reveals the individuality of the client and outshines the constraints of its plan.”

Category: Residential Design

Winner: Nine-Square Bondi (Madeleine Blanchfield Architects)

“Nine-Square Bondi embodies a local Australian architectural and interior vernacular of a very high caliber. The jury was impressed by its resolution of a complex collection of spatial issues through a great degree of integration, from the decorative elements, interiors and architecture, through to its urban response.

“It displays an elegant spatial resolution, clarity in its expression and sophisticated curation of objects and furnishings that take the home to another level, all the while displaying a very strong relationship to its exterior. One jury member noted that it has soul and a real sense of home, which comes from the intimate and relaxed connection between all the elements in the space.”