The 18th ArchiTeam Awards have been extended. Enteries now close at 5pm on Monday 7 September.

The Awards will bring together an Australia-wide judging panel to celebrate the depth, diversity and contribution of small and medium architecture practices.

Small practices are often where some of Australia’s most inventive architectural work takes place – and the ArchiTeam Awards are once again putting that work in the spotlight.

The judging panel for its 2026 Awards brings together architects from across the country alongside an independent media representative. Chaired by Western Australian architect Phillip Stejskal of Stejskal Architecture, the panel reflects the geographical and professional diversity of the practices the awards seek to recognise.

Joining Stejskal are Phillip Culpan of Jackson Clements Burrow (Qld), Chris Barnes of Field Office Architecture (Vic), Yvonne Meng of Circle Studio Architects (Vic), Anne Taylor of Taylor Buchtmann Architecture (SA), Stuart Tanner of Tanner Architects (Tas) and Catherine Downie of Downie North (NSW). Australian Design Review’s Madeleine Swain will join the panel as the independent media judge.

The breadth of the panel is deliberate. Now in their 18th year, the ArchiTeam Awards recognise the wide-ranging work undertaken by sole practitioners and small and medium-sized practices, from residential architecture through to commercial, community and other project types.

“The ArchiTeam Awards provide an important opportunity to celebrate the depth and diversity of work being produced by Australia’s small and medium architectural practices,” says Jean Graham, Awards Portfolio Director and director of Winter Architecture.

“We are thrilled to have such an accomplished and diverse group of judges from across Australia joining us this year. Their collective experience and perspectives will bring a considered and rigorous approach to the judging, and we look forward to seeing the exceptional work submitted by our members.”

The 2026 program also introduces a new Early Career category, acknowledging the next generation of architects and giving emerging practitioners a dedicated platform within the awards program.

The addition comes at a time when the contribution of smaller practices is increasingly significant to the architectural landscape. Freed from the scale and structures of larger offices, small practices can offer highly personal approaches to design, often working closely with clients and responding directly to local conditions, materials and communities.

For ArchiTeam, the awards provide an opportunity not only to recognise individual projects but to make that diversity visible to a wider audience.

The 2026 finalists will be announced in early October, when voting will also open for the People’s Choice Award. The public-voted category offers a different lens on the work, inviting the wider community to explore the projects entered and select the one they believe deserves recognition.

Winners will be announced at the 2026 ArchiTeam Awards Night on Wednesday 18 November at Collingwood Yards in Melbourne. The event will bring together ArchiTeam members, architects, industry supporters and guests to celebrate the achievements of Australia’s small-practice architecture community.

In a fitting gesture towards the broader community, ticket sales from the event will be donated to Foodbank.

With an Australia-wide judging panel, a new category for emerging talent and a public vote opening the awards to a broader audience, the 2026 ArchiTeam Awards promise to offer a snapshot of the ideas, ambitions and architectural diversity emerging from Australia’s smaller practices.

To find out more and enter visit the ArchiTeam website.

Top image: Jury Chair, Philip Stejskal, Philip Stejskal Architecture.

All images: Supplied.