An urban, adaptive reuse social housing project, and a regional, First Peoples-led tertiary education facility have been named the joint winners of the 2025 ArchitectureAu Award for Social Impact – an accolade that honours projects, which are public-spirited, prioritise empathy over aesthetics and have made valuable societal contributions.
Jury chair Katelin Butler commented, “This year’s joint winners each respond to two major societal challenges of our time: chronic homelessness […] and the need to acknowledge the past injustices and ongoing inequalities faced by Indigenous Australians.”
“Both projects are equally impressive examples of the shifting mode of practice of architecture, where social value is considered at every stage – from designing from lived experience or via a genuine collaboration with community, to considering long-term outcomes and opportunities for those who use the buildings,” Butler said.
Collins and Turner’s design of Habilis was praised by the jury as “an exemplar of architectural excellence” that challenges traditional notions of social housing with a “deeply humane and sensitive architectural response to one of society’s most urgent challenges: chronic homelessness and mental illness.”
The jury likewise declared Munarra Centre for Regional Excellence by ARM Architecture “a landmark of architectural self-determination, created through a best-practice co-design process led by First Nations community members,” which “reminds us that the best spaces are created by those who will use them.”
Three projects received commendations in the award program, including a remote sanitation project in Nepal, an urban transformation in Sydney and an Indigenous student accommodation facility in Darwin. Butler noted that these projects, along with those shortlisted, continue to showcase “the diversity of ways that social and public value can be determined.”
Read the full jury overview.
The jury comprised Helen Barrie, senior research fellow, Centre for Markets, Values and Inclusion, University of South Australia; Amelia Borg, co-director, Sibling Architecture; Shaneen Fantin, architect and researcher; Rory Hyde (jury convenor), associate professor of architecture, University of Melbourne; Katelin Butler (jury chair), editorial director, Architecture Media; and Philip Thalis, principal, Hill Thalis Architecture and Urban Projects.
Joint winners
Habilis – Collins and Turner
Munarra Centre for Regional Excellence – ARM Architecture
Commendations
Bhattedanda Village Stupa Sanitation and Caretaker Project – Paul Pholeros Foundation in collaboration with Jasper Ludewig, Harry Catterns, David Donald and Shane Marshall
George Street Transformation – City of Sydney
Nungalinya – Incidental Architecture
The ArchitectureAu Award for Social Impact is organised by Architecture Media, and supported by presenting partner Melbourne School of Design and supporting partners Latitude Group and Pepto Lab.
Source: Architecture - architectureau
