Fine food and cocktails. A live opera performance. Insights from renowned designers. Video messages from the jury. The 2024 Winnings x Habitus House of the Year Reveal Party was a night to remember, as hundreds from across the architecture and design community gathered at Winnings’ Richmond showroom. It was a celebration of Melbourne’s design community, but one with a distinctly national and indeed international atmosphere. Visitors for the event included representatives of shortlisted practices from India as well as Australian states including WA and NSW. The 2024 shortlist of 20 projects covered a wide range of design work across the Asia-Pacific region, including two from New Zealand and one from Singapore. Winnings hosted as Major Partner while Rogerseller featured as Silver Partner.
So, to the big announcement – the winners of the 2024 Winnings x Habitus House of the Year contest! This year, there are in fact two winners in the main category. As Mim Fanning of Mim Design explained in her speech, any initial idea of having one winner defined by architecture and another by interior design soon became null and void as the jury deliberated some months ago. Instead, the standout projects are held up for the indistinguishability of their architecture and interiors – these are a pair of homes that truly span the mastery of structure, spatial planning, materiality, colour, furniture, light and more. Put simply, the 2024 jury – comprising Greg Natale, Charlotte Wilson, Sarah-Jane Pyke, Genevieve Hromas, Polly Harbison, Jet Geaghan, Andy Carson, David Flack, Timothy Alouani-Roby and Gillian Serisier – couldn’t split two projects that stood out above the rest.
The Winnings x Habitus House of the Year winners for 2024 are Burnt Earth Beach House by Wardle and Proclamation House by State of Kin!
Meanwhile, the winner of Winnings Emerging Talent Award is MEGA for Little More House!
Finally, the winner of the People’s Choice Award – as voted for by thousands of our readers – is Speargrass by Arent&Pyke!
Juror Jet Geaghan from Woods Bagot commented on Burnt Earth Beach House by Wardle: “It really struck me, having looked at it more closely in detail, as an incredible example of how constraint around materials and experimentation can still lead to a space and a building that is still so comfortable; to see how the designers have continually pushed the boundaries of materiality, tone and mood to deliver something that a family or a group of people could come together in is just incredible.”
On Proclamation House by State of Kin, SJB’s Charlotte Wilson said: “I think what stood out was the seamless nature of the connection between the external and the internal – it read all as one address. There was no delineation between architecture and interior; it was all one. As well as that, the juxtaposition of materials, sharpness against texture and the volumes – the compression of smaller space into larger space – it was all really successful.”
Andy Carson added that Proclamation House stood out for its “use of materiality, the bold sculptural shapes and the rigour brought to the project – it was pretty impressive and memorable.”
Congratulations to our winners, and to all shortlisted projects – what an honour to be selected among just 20 projects across the whole region. What makes Habitus House of the Year so unique is its process of editorial selection, with our editorial team hand-picking the shortlisted projects based on their experience and knowledge across the Asia-Pacific. Habitus extends our sincere thanks to Winnings and Rogerseller, to the jury, and of course to our readers who voted in the People’s Choice Award. We look forward to celebrating more outstanding residential design next year.
