Regional houses commended in 2024 Dulux Colour Awards

Selected from 83 finalists across Australia and New Zealand, Dulux states "the winners ... represent the pinnacle of design excellence and the most innovative, refined and transformative use of colour in our built environment".

Joining the victors are the commended, which include a delicious beauty on the coast of South Australia, and a charming retreat on the south coast of New South Wales.

Here's what the judges had to say:

With its gelato pink and fresh white exterior, this seaside home pays homage to both the classic Aussie beach shack and 1980s imagery of Vaporwave sunsets.

Nestled in a small surfing community in South Australia, the house is oriented with eastward views down the coast and the unusual benefit of the sun setting directly behind it.

The coast-loving young clients readily embraced the architect's proposed colour palette, which echoes the ombre effect of the setting sun in a graduated series of pastel-pink modular weatherboard cladding.

This palette of shades was derived from a study of hues that would render the house 'sunkissed', that is, blushed in the direct sun and bronzed as it sets.

This project on the south coast of NSW exemplifies the degree to which colour can impact a design.

Prompted by the clients' directive to make their holiday home a playful escape, the architects began their scheme with a study of Kassia St Clair's book, The Secret Lives of Colour, specifically examining the contextual impact of a singular colour and its ability to elevate a simple structure.

Certainly the original post-and-beam home, perched on stilts, was a basic beachcomber but it was also charming and site-appropriate. In its reimagination, the tones and shades of similar beach shacks and surrounding flora were also studied before landing on the muted grey-green that was then applied universally to the exterior, with the exception of the tonal shift on the new picket balustrade.

A statement from Dulux describes how the winning buildings set new benchmarks for innovation with colour in utterly surprising yet universally successful ways.

"It is fitting that this year's awards were presented at the Sydney Opera House, for it is the embodiment of exceptional design and precedent-setting architecture, qualities that the program epitomises," says Andrea Lucena-Orr, Dulux Colour and Communications Manager.

"We aim to identify the ultimate expressions of colour in the built environment and in doing so, to highlight the transformative potential of colour when combined with outstanding design."

Want to see more? Visit dulux.com.au/colourawards.