The future of architecture is doing more with less, as winners of Western Australia’s 2026 Architecture Awards find innovative solutions to address affordability concerns and industry constraints.
A peer-reviewed jury assembled by the Australian Institute of Architects selected 35 projects likely to pioneer the future of the built environment through dematerialisation, adaptive reuse, and minimising footprints.
Jury chair Peter Hobbs said the primary commonalities across all categories were sustainable building and new solutions for developing comfortable homes on tight budgets with minimal resources. The focus primarily stems from current cost-of-living pressures and post-COVID cost increases.
In 2025, the same themes were present; however, the focus then was on civil infrastructure projects, including a multi-billion-dollar state transport project, while 2026 focused more on urban, commercial, and educational buildings over broad civil hubs. This year’s winners also placed greater emphasis on building “just enough” as a core strategy for sustainability and affordability.
The highest architectural honour in WA, the George Temple Poole Award, was bestowed on ECU City by Lyons with Silver Thomas Hanley and Haworth Tompkins, for reimagining the contemporary university as an interconnected urban environment. The project prioritises sustainability through energy efficient climate control, adaptive natural ventilation, and active transport, which encourages lifestyle habits to reduce carbon emissions.
The target for the urban design was to deliver benefits to the students and city while achieving a 5 Star Green Star rating for greater energy efficiency without compromising the building’s technical needs.
This balance between consumer comfort and environmental concerns was reflected throughout the architecture awards, particularly in the residential sector, which featured modest floor plans, low embodied carbon materials, and the use of local or recycled materials.
The doing more with less concept this year also aligns with current housing initiatives being debated, including passive homes, which are hyper insulated and smaller homes that use 90 per cent less energy than standard buildings. Eric Street by Officer Woods Architects modelled a home using passive design concepts to demonstrate the benefits and cost-effectiveness of sustainable living.
The studio’s dual award winning design reveals that compact homes can still feel spacious with two dwellings within one home. It utilises limited low maintenance building materials and features a passive solar design that efficiently heats, cools, and illuminates the living spaces.
View the full list for the 2026 National Architecture Awards here.
