New South Wales 

The Australian Institute of Architects has revealed the shortlist for the 2026 New South Wales Architecture Awards, with more than 120 entrants named across 13 categories.
 
Australian Institute of Architects 2026 NSW Architecture Awards Jury Chair, Bill Tsakalos says, “The awards are a vital glimpse into the future of our profession. They reveal how shifts in thinking, approach, and values are continually reshaping architecture, acting as a barometer for emerging priorities and recalibrating expectations of what design can achieve.” 
 
Woods Bagot Principal and Global Hospitality Lead Tracey Wiles is sitting on the Interior Architecture Jury and Woods Bagot Principal Jason Fraser is acting as Jury Chair for the Residential Architecture – Multiple Housing category.  
 
The 2026 NSW Architecture Award-winners will be announced at an awards night dinner on 2 July. State winners will be entered into the National Architecture Awards, to be announced in November 2026.

Four Woods Bagot projects have been shortlisted across four categories. Winners of the NSW Awards will be announced at a presentation evening on 2 July. 

Central Station 

Central Station by Woods Bagot (in collaboration with John McAslan + Partners) has been shortlisted for the Public Architecture category. 

Servicing 96% of Sydney’s train services, Central Station forms the backbone of the entire network. The new metro interchange required spatially and structurally efficient design, with sophisticated multilevel passenger flow strategies.

A dramatic new main entrance for the imposing early 20th-century edifice incorporates a distinctive 50-metre-span vaulted roof.

The Clock Tower, the original canopied concourse and Edwardian architecture remain iconic, while contemporary interventions elevate its historic status.

In addition, the bold architecture of the original structure dovetails with equally bold 21st-century interventions, accommodating up to 450,000 daily passengers.

Designed with the future in mind, the redevelopment serves additional urban regeneration outcomes.

Crows Nest Metro Station

Crows Nest Metro Station has been shortlisted for the Public Architecture category. 

With a focus on human-scale design elements and simple external architecture, the new metro station weaves large-scale infrastructure into the nearby Crows Nest Village and St Leonards community fabric.

A masterclass in delivering major infrastructure into village-scaled urban environments, the Sydney Metro Crows Nest Station seamlessly blends traditional masonry with innovative construction techniques. Located on Sydney’s lower north shore, the site is surrounded by low-rise, detached and semi-detached housing with a distinctly village atmosphere revered by residents. 

Western Sydney International

Western Sydney International Airport (Reference Design by Cox Architecture and Zaha Hadid Architects) has also been shortlisted for Public Architecture. 

As the first major airport built in Australia in over 50 years, WSI signals a generational shift that will transform Western Sydney. Located in Badgerys Creek, the terminal is a catalyst for long-term economic, social and cultural opportunity.

Inspired by Country, the design team’s focus  encapsulates the true of essence of Western Sydney as distinct from anywhere else in the world. 

The design incorporates textures and colours of the landscape – from the Cumberland Plains to the Blue Mountains, and down to the granular detail of local materials – through powerful, horizontal layers throughout the design. 

Macquarie University 

Macquarie University’s new Engineering Innovation Building has been shortlisted for the Educational Architecture category. 

The facility merges the technical demands of engineering and astrophysics with a distinctly human-centred approach to learning. The result is both robust and generous, technically sophisticated yet unexpectedly soft. It’s a building that puts engineering on display, drawing students and inviting the broader community inside. 

Designed by Woods Bagot, with Strategic Briefing by ERA-co, the project team developed experiential principles that would ground the project’s design approach.  

Victoria 

The shortlist for the 2026 Victorian Architecture Awards features more than 120 entrants named across 15 categories. Woods Bagot Design Director Peter Miglis says this year’s shortlist features a strong emphasis on sustainability, whether it be sustainable construction methods and materials reuse or supporting community resilience through social infrastructure and shared amenities.

“Juries this year have placed a strong emphasis on the social and environmental impacts of architecture, with projects selected for their contributions beyond aesthetics to carbon reduction, heritage retention, and community character,” says Miglis.

“After being involved with the project since 2016, we’re thrilled to see Younghusband considered in four distinct categories, while our recently-completed Gore Street project models a new class of multi-residential living for downsizers that doesn’t compromise on character and connectivity.”

The 2026 Victorian Architecture Award winners will be announced at an awards night dinner on 19 June.

Gore Street 

Gore Street is a consciously designed multi-residential project shaped by the Fitzroy neighbourhood. The architecture aspires to create homes through carefully calibrated proportions, generous spatial organisation and authentic material expression. Drawing from the surrounding Victorian and Edwardian fabric, the building is composed of a robust redbrick podium with recessed glazed levels above, breaking down scale while grounding the development within the existing urban grain.

A north-south axial breezeway introduces natural light and cross-ventilation, softening mass and creating a breathable built form that balances solidity and permeability. Landscaped thresholds and green edges soften the robust architectural form, offering a sense of sanctuary and tranquillity. Architecture, interiors and landscape are tightly integrated, resulting in a bespoke, finely crafted development that reflects its neighbourhood with restraint, longevity and quiet generosity, setting a new benchmark for inner-city living.

Gore Street has been shortlisted for Multi-residential Architecture. 

Younghusband 

The Younghusband Woolstore Redevelopment is one of Australia’s most ambitious adaptive reuse projects, setting new benchmarks in sustainable development and decarbonisation. Using a “light touch” methodology, Woods Bagot has converted over 17,000 square metres of underutilised industrial landscape into a vibrant, mixed-use community precinct. Through a light-touch, circular design approach, most existing fabric was retained, achieving an 84 per cent reduction in embodied carbon and net-zero operational performance. Opened to the public through new connections, public spaces and a central town square, Younghusband reimagines industrial heritage as a contemporary civic asset.

Younghusband has been shortlisted for the following categories:

• Commercial Architecture
• Heritage Architecture
• Younghusband for Sustainable Architecture
• Younghusband for Melbourne Prize 

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Isla Sutherland
Content and Communications Manager (Australia & New Zealand)