Australian design has been recognised on the world stage, with a total of eight Australian projects among the prize winners at World Architecture Festival (WAF).

WAF is the largest global live-judged awards for architects and designers. This year’s three-day event started on Thursday 29 November and ends today at Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands.

Over the first two days of the festival, practices from around the world presented hundreds of shortlisted projects to probing judges, with winners announced at the end of each day. 

In the Completed Buildings – Health category, Conrad Gargett (now merged with Architectus) and Wardle took out the top prize for their collaboration on Victorian Heart Hospital. Meanwhile, TERROIR was recognised for Resource Recovery Learning Centre in the Future Projects – Education category.

The judges of the Completed Buildings categories reflected on the considered and beautiful articulation of this year’s projects. Overall, they were impressed with the timeless quality, spatial composition and technical resolutions.

Discussing the Future Projects, judges praised the experimental and holistic approach to tomorrow’s environment. Projects addressed urgent sustainability challenges and discussed becoming new ‘pedagogical instruments’ and sensitively embedding into the fabric of existing communities.

Inside World Festival of Interiors (Inside) also runs concurrently with WAF, and multidisciplinary practice SJB took out two awards in this program. The first award was for its project 19 Waterloo Street in the Residential (Single Dwelling) category. SJB was also named winner of the Temporary/Meanwhile Use category for Eucalyptusdom, a collaboration with Richard Leplastrier AO and Vania Contreras.

See the full list of Australian WAF winners below.

Category award winners – Completed Buildings

Health – Victorian Heart Hospital by Conrad Gargett (now merged with Architectus) and Wardle 

Higher Education and Research – Boola Katitjin by Lyons with Silver Thomas Hanley, Officer Woods, The Fulcrum Agency and Aspect Studios

Melbourne Holocaust Museum by Kerstin Thompson Architects was also highly commended in the Culture category, while Iron Creek Bay Farm Stay by Misho and Associates was highly commended in the Hotel and Leisure category.

Category award winners – Future Projects

Education – Resource Recovery Learning Centre by TERROIR

Health – Alexandria Health Centre by Warren and Mahoney 

Alexandria Health Centre also received a WAFX Prize – a special award that celebrates international proposals that embrace cutting-edge design to address major world issues – in the Ageing and Health category.

Category award winners: Inside – for best Interior 

Residential (Single Dwelling) – 19 Waterloo Street by SJB 

Temporary/Meanwhile Use – Eucalyptusdom by SJB in collaboration with Richard Leplastrier AO and Vania Contreras

Health and Fitness – Murrenda Residential Aged Care Home by STH

Workplace (Large) – M&C Saatchi by Woods Bagot

Overall winners still to come

Today, on the final day of the festival, the prize winners across all 44 categories will compete for the ultimate accolades of World Building of the Year, World Interior of the Year, Future Project of the Year and Landscape of the Year.

All the overall winners will be announced at a grand finale Gala Dinner at Marina Bay Sands along with a host of Special Prizes, including the International Building Beauty Prize.

Follow ADR on Instagram to find out who has taken out the top prizes.