Australian Design Review and inside magazine have announced the winners of the 2023 Interior Design Excellence Awards (IDEA) at a gala event in Sydney on Thursday 23 November.

Launched by inside magazine in 2003, IDEA is Australia’s premier interior and product design awards program recognising the best projects and studios from around the nation.

For the first time, the IDEA 2023 jury included a chairperson in Rachel Nolan, founding director of Kennedy Nolan. She was joined by industry leaders Elvin Tan (ElvinTan Design), Jade Nottage (Tom Mark Henry), Megan Norgate (BRAVE NEW ECO), Danielle Brustman (Danielle Brustman), Byron George (Russell & George) and Sue Fenton (Woods Bagot).

The jury had the difficult task of narrowing down 450 entries to this year’s IDEA to award the top prizes across 15 categories. Five special awards also recognised excellence in sustainable design, as well as the Overall Project Winner, Designer of the Year, Emerging Designer of the Year and the IDEA Gold Medallist.

The highly regarded Overall Project Winner is awarded to the submission that the jury believes to be the most outstanding design among the individual category winners. This year, Kennedy Nolan took out the top prize for Somers house.

“Somers house by Kennedy Nolan is a standout project – reflecting both a beauty and skill for solving the complex problems of multi-family requirements with wheelchair access,” says Sue Fenton. 

One of the highest honours to be bestowed on an individual designer, the Gold Medal is given in recognition of those practitioners who have made an influential and enduring contribution to Australian design culture over the course of a career. Members of the IDEA jury individually nominate candidates for this award and this year named industrial designer Adam Goodrum as the Gold Medallist. 

Sydney-based practice Arent&Pyke took out the 2023 Designer of the Year award. Since the formation of the practice in 2007, Juliette Arent and Sarah-Jane Pyke have built an interior architecture and design practice with a unique focus on the decorative arts.

See the full list of winners and highly commended projects below.

The 2023 IDEA winners

HOSPITALITY

Winner

Project: Dolly 
Practice: Genesin Studio

Highly Commended

Project: Kiln, Ace Hotel Sydney
Practice: Fiona Lynch Interior Design 

Project: RaRa Ramen Bar – Burleigh Heads
Practice: Aphora Architecture

EVENT

Winner

Project: Barbara Hepworth: In Equilibrium
Practice: Studio Bright 

RESIDENTIAL SINGLE

Winner

Project: Somers house
Practice: Kennedy Nolan

Highly Commended

Project: Garden Tower house
Practice: Studio Bright

Project: Home and Away
Practice: YSG Studio

Project: Mori house
Practice: MAArchitects

INSTITUTIONAL

Winner

Project: Ocean Cosmetics
Practice: Nickolas Gurtler Office

COMMUNITY SERVICES

Winner

Project: Refugee Resource Hub powered by the ASRC
Practice: Bates Smart with Garner Davis Architects

Highly Commended

Project: Cobargo Santa Project
Practice: Breathe Architecture

RESIDENTIAL MULTI

Winner

Project: 835 High Street
Practice: Carr 

RESIDENTIAL INTERIOR CURATION

Winner

Project: Weeroona house
Practice: Simone Haag

Highly Commended

Project: Wurrungwuri house
Practice: Claire Delmar of Studio CD with Carter Williamson Architects

RETAIL

Winner

Project: The Gallery Shop
Practice: Akin Atelier

Highly Commended

Project: KODA
Practice: Arent&Pyke

Project: Up There Store
Practice: Kennedy Nolan

INTERNATIONAL

Winner

Project: Speargrass house 
Practice: Arent&Pyke

OBJECT, FURNITURE & LIGHTING – PROFESSIONAL

Winner

Project: Volant chandelier
Practice: Ross Gardam

Highly Commended

Project: Voom Collection
Practice: Tait with Adam Goodrum

COLOUR

Winner

Project: Black Diamond
Practice: YSG Studio

Highly Commended

Project: Hearth house
Practice: Arent&Pyke with Luigi Rosselli Architects

Project: Weeroona house
Practice: Neil Architecture and Simone Haag

WORKPLACE OVER 1000SQM

Winner

Project: The MECCA Support Centre
Practice: Studio Tate

Highly Commended

Project: M&C Saatchi
Practice: Woods Bagot

WORKPLACE UNDER 1000SQM

Winner

Project: Bridge 17
Practice: Smart Design Studio 

Highly Commended

Project: MBAD Studio
Practice: Melanie Beynon Architecture & Design

PUBLIC SPACE

Winner

Project: Warrnambool Library and Learning Centre
Practice: Kosloff Architecture 

Highly Commended

Project: Science Gallery Melbourne
Practice: Smart Design Studio

OBJECT, FURNITURE & LIGHTING – RISING

Winner

Project: Button stool
Designer: Locki Humphrey

Highly Commended

Project: Resonate side table
Practice: Nayme

SUSTAINABILITY

Winner

Project: Bendigo Law Courts 
Practice: Wardle

Highly Commended

Project: ARUP Workplace – Adelaide
Practice: Walter Brooke

Project: Lothian Street Lighting
Practice: Edward Linacre Studio for Kerstin Thompson Architects

Project:  Re-pete
Practice: Canberra Design Lab

Project: TERROIR Hobart Office
Practice: TERROIR

GOLD MEDAL

Winner: Adam Goodrum

EMERGING DESIGNER

Winner: LINTEL Studio for Architecture

DESIGNER OF THE YEAR

Winner: Arent&Pyke

OVERALL WINNER

Project: Somers house
Practice: Kennedy Nolan

Read more about the winners here.

Subscribe to inside magazine to get your copy of the IDEA 2023 Winner’s Edition, out 11 December.

IDEA 2023 is proudly brought to you by our sponsors Miele, Cult, Crafted Hardwoods, Neolith, Halliday + Baillie, Krost, MillerKnoll, Laufen, Tongue & Groove and Zenith and supported by our event partners Axolotl, Four Pillars Gin and Moo Brew Beer.