| Robin Boyd Award | |
|---|---|
 Robin Boyd Medal | |
| Awarded for | Highest Australian award for Residential Architecture, New Houses |
| Country | Australia |
| Presented by | Australian Institute of Architects |
| First award | 1981 |
| Currently held by | Studio Bright for Hedge and Arbour House, 2025 |
| Website | www |
The Robin Boyd Award for Residential Architecture, Houses (New) is an Australian national architecture prize presented annually by the Australian Institute of Architects since 1981.
The award is for achievement in residential architecture, and specifically new houses. Alongside the named award, secondary awards are given including a 'National Award' and 'National Commendation' to highly regarded entries. Projects in this category must be residential in nature, generally falling within BCA Class 1a and must be new buildings. Projects with up to two self-contained dwellings may be entered in this category.
The award is presented in memory of the Australian architect Robin Boyd CBE (1919—1971), and is awarded to residential architecture that sets benchmarks for meeting client's needs, responding to the site and providing shelter that is at the leading edge of house design.
Sydney based architect Peter Stutchbury has been awarded the Robin Boyd Award on four occasions; 2003, 2005, 2020 and 2021.
The office of Durbach Block Jaggers based in Kings Cross, Sydney has won the award three times; in 1998 and 2004 (as Durbach Block) and 2017.
Two time winners include Glenn Murcutt, Lindsay Clare, John Wardle, Timothy Hill, Sean Godsell, Alexander Tzannes, Kerstin Thompson, Troppo Architects and Denton Corker Marshall.
| Year | Winner | Project | Location | State | Other RAIA/AIA Awards |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | Glenn Murcutt | Two Houses (Nicholas and Carruthers Houses) | Mount Irvine | NSW |
|
| 1982 | No Award | ||||
| 1983 | McIntyre Partnership | Sea House | Caraar Creek Lane, Beleura Hill, Mornington | Victoria | |
| 1984 | Louise St John Kennedy | Downes–Stoney Residence | East Perth | WA | |
| 1985 | Glenn Murcutt | Magney House | Bingie Bingie Point, New South Wales | NSW | |
| 1986 | Geoffrey Pie Architects/Planners | Pie Residence | Peregian Beach | Queensland |
|
| 1987 | Ken Woolley (Ancher Mortlock Woolley) | Palm Beach House | 21 Florida Road, Palm Beach | NSW |
|
| 1988 | Alexander Tzannes | Henwood House | 159 Windsor Street, Paddington | NSW |
|
| 1989 | Don Watson | Campbell House/Graceville House | 35 Molonga Terrace, Graceville | Queensland | |
| 1990 | Alex Popov Architects | Griffin House | 8a Rockley Street, Castlecrag | NSW |
|
| 1991 | Gabriel Poole (Joint Winner) | Tent House | Eumundi | Queensland | |
| Dale Jones–Evans (Joint Winner) | Gallery House | 23 Morang Road, Hawthorn | Victoria | ||
| 1992 | Lindsay Clare Architects | Clare House | Buderim | Queensland | |
| 1993 | Gordon & Valich (Joint Winner) | Palm Beach House | 7 Northview Road, Palm Beach | NSW |
|
| Hamish Lyon and Astrid Jenkin with Charles Salter (Joint Winner) | Lyon/Jenkin House | Carlton | Victoria | ||
| Troppo Architects (Joint Winner) | Commonwealth Defence Housing Authority, Larrakeyah Housing Precinct 2 | Larrakeyah, Darwin | Northern Territory |
| |
| 1994 | Bud Brannigan | Brannigan Residence | St Lucia | Queensland | |
| 1995 | Clare Design (Joint Winner) | Hammond Residence | Cooran | Queensland | |
| Craig A Rossetti (Joint Winner) | 106–112 Cremorne Street (Six Terraces) | Richmond | Victoria | ||
| 1996 | Ken Latona (Joint Winner) | Alterations to a cottage (Additions to a front verandah) | 29 Spicer Street, Woollahra | NSW | |
| John Mainwaring & Associates (Joint Winner) | Chapman House | Noosa Heads | Queensland | ||
| 1997 | Alexander Tzannes Associates | Snelling House Perpetua | 9 Coorabin Road, Northbridge | NSW |
|
| 1998 | Durbach Block Architects | Droga Apartment | Foster Street, Surry Hills | NSW |
|
| 1999 | Denton Corker Marshall (Joint Winner) | Sheep Farm House | Kyneton | Victoria | |
| Graham Jahn Associates (Joint Winner) | Grant House | 1 Esther Street, Surry Hills | NSW | ||
| 2000 | Denton Corker Marshall | Emery Residence | Cape Schanck | Victoria | |
| 2001 | Donovan Hill | D House | Harcourt Street, New Farm | Queensland |
|
| 2002 | Bligh Voller Nield & Troppo Architects | Lavarack Barracks Redevelopment Stage 2 | Townsville | Queensland | |
| 2003 | Stutchbury and Pape (Joint Winner) | Bay House | Watsons Bay | NSW |
|
| Kerry Hill Architects (Joint Winner) | Ogilvie House | 68 Seaview Terrace, Sunshine Beach | Queensland | ||
| 2004 | Durbach Block Architects | House Spry | Point Piper | NSW |
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| 2005 | Stutchbury and Pape | Springwater | Seaforth | NSW |
|
| 2006 | Sean Godsell Architects | St Andrews Beach House | St Andrews Beach | Victoria |
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| 2007 | Paul Morgan Architects | Cape Schanck House | Bass Vista Boulevard, Cape Schanck | Victoria |
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| 2008 | McBride Charles Ryan | Klein Bottle House | 166 Avon Road, Rye | Victoria |
|
| 2009 | Chenchow Little Architects | Freshwater House | Freshwater | NSW |
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| 2010 | HBV Architects (James Jones) | House at Trial Bay | 3101 Channel Highway, Kettering | Tasmania |
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| 2011 | Neeson Murcutt Architects | Castlecrag House | 325 Edinburgh Road, Castlecrag | NSW |
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| 2012 | John Wardle Architects | Shearer's Quarters | North Bruny Island | Tasmania |
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| 2013 | John Wardle Architects | Fairhaven Beach House | Fairhaven Beach, Fairhaven | Victoria |
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| 2014 | Kerstin Thompson Architects | House at Hanging Rock | Hanging Rock | Victoria |
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| 2015 | Jesse Bennett Architect | Planchonella House | Cairns | Queenslamd |
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| 2016 | Smart Design Studio | Indigo Slam | 63 O'Connor Street, Chippendale | NSW |
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| 2017 | Durbach Block Jaggers | Tamarama House | 23 Kenneth Street, Tamarama | NSW |
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| 2018 | Sean Godsell Architects | House on the Coast | Mornington Peninsula | Victoria |
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| 2019 | Partners Hill (Timothy Hill) | Daylesford Longhouse | 178 Mannings Road, Elevated Plains, Daylesford | Victoria |
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| 2020 | Peter Stutchbury Architecture (Joint Winner) | Basin Beach House | Basin Beach, Mona Vale | NSW |
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| Kerstin Thompson Architects (Joint Winner) | East Street | 350 East Street, East Albury | NSW |
| |
| 2021 | Peter Stutchbury Architecture | Night Sky | Blackheath | NSW |
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| 2022 | No Award | ||||
| 2023 | SJB (Adam Haddow) | 19 Waterloo Street | 19 Waterloo Street, Surry Hills | NSW |
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| 2024 | Edition Office | Naples Street House | 17 Naples Street, Box Hill South, Victoria | Victoria |
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| 2025 | Studio Bright | Hedge and Arbour House | Ivanhoe, Victoria | Victoria |
|
In 2022 the following projects were shortlisted for the award:
For only the second time, and the first time in forty years, no named award was given by the jury; Tony Giannone (Chair), Caroline Pidcock, Adrian Iredale, Poppy Taylor and Tim Ross.
The following projects were shortlisted for the 2023 Robin Boyd Award by the AIA:
The 2023 jury members were Shannon Battisson (Chair), Shaneen Fantin, William Smart, Stephanie Kitingan and Scott Burchell.
The Robin Boyd Award was presented to Adam Haddow and Stewart Cowan from SJB for 19 Waterloo Street, at the National Awards held in Canberra on 31 October 2023. National Awards were also presented to Merricks Farmhouse by Michael Lumby with Nielsen Jenkins and Spring Creek Road Farm House by Architect Brew Koch. Mossy Point House by Edition office was presented a National Commendation.
"19 Waterloo Street is a spectacular example of a new approach to urban infill. Constructed on the 30 square metres left between a new mixed-use building (a studio apartment and commercial tenancy) and an existing factory, the home shows how hard architecture can work, even on a small footprint. From the moment it comes into view, the home announces itself as something different. Full of colour, the facade disguises the program within, allowing an element of privacy balanced by a sense of generosity to the public street. All the required elements of home are present, with each opening off the central stair. Entry, workspace, kitchen, living and bedroom all have their own character and charm. Each is also light and radiates an overwhelming impression of space and connection to greenery that is not easily achieved within such a hard, industrial fabric. The culmination of the upwards journey is a rooftop garden that provides that final, much-loved element of the Australian home. No function was jettisoned in the small footprint, and the space is successful as a home for two, or as a space to welcome gatherings."
— 2023 National Awards Jury Citation extract
The following projects were shortlisted for the 2024 Robin Boyd Award by the AIA:
The Award was presented to Edition Office at the National Awards held in Adelaide on 7 November 2024. National Awards were also presented to Burnt Earth Beach House by Wardle and Six Ways House by Kennedy Nolan. Maitland Bay House by Studio Bright was presented a National Commendation.
"Naples Street House represents a brave departure from suburban conventions, offering a considered rethinking of a family home. A deliberately understated facade prioritises the interior through animation of the inhabitants’ daily lives, creating a quiet address to the under-pedestrianised streetscape that finds belonging through form and scale. The low-peaked brick-slip roof references the brick bungalows of the neighbourhood’s past while rejecting contemporary adaptations of the style. The central courtyard becomes the orienting focus of the home. The symmetrical plan, coupled with the varied section, introduces unexpected interplays of light and space. Public programmed rooms converse with one another through the careful placement of apertures, while bedrooms are discreetly tucked away to the landscaped side of the house."
— 2024 National Awards Jury Citation extract
The following projects were shortlisted for the 2025 Robin Boyd Award by the AIA:
The following projects were shortlisted on 22 July 2026 for the 2026 Robin Boyd Award by the AIA:
To 2025 a total of 51 Robin Boyd Awards had been given in the 43 years of the award, with no award given in only two years (1982 and 2022). On seven occasions joint winners have been awarded; 1991, 1993 (three winners), 1995, 1996, 1999, 2003 and 2020.
A total of 80% of the Awards have been given to freestanding houses (41 of 51), and almost half of those to beach houses or holiday houses (19 total). Houses located in remote areas accounts for 35% of the awards, while just 18% of winning projects would be considered inner urban. A total of 18 suburban projects have won the award, around 35% of all Award winners.
Around 47% of awards have been won by projects in metropolitan urban areas, and 53% in non–metropolitan locations. Ten awards have been won in regional Victoria compared with only four awards in regional New South Wales – two of those by Glenn Murcutt — and seven awards in regional Queensland.
To 2025 more than two-thirds of all awards have been won by houses located in New South Wales or Victoria, and 92% of all awards won on the mainland eastern seaboard states of New South Wales (41%), Victoria (29%) and Queensland (22%). No architects or projects from South Australia or ACT have been awarded since the award began in 1981.
The most common site locations for awards have been Sydney beachside or harbourside suburbs (10 awards or 20%), Queensland coastal areas (7 awards) or on the Mornington Peninsula, Victoria (6 awards). A total of 24 projects or 50% would be considered coastal, with the remainder divided 18% inner city, 12% rural and 35% suburban.
In April 2025 a 408 page compendium of all 50 projects awarded since 1981 was published by Thames & Hudson, titled Australian House: The Robin Boyd Award for Residential Architecture Since 1981.
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