Born in 1996 the Australian Urban Design Awards serve to showcase successful efforts in building and sustaining Australia’s urban communities, as well as an opportunity for sharing what constitutes good urban design and providing insights into intelligent innovations as widely as possible.

They are jointly convened by the Australian Institute of Architects (AIA), the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects (AILA) and the Planning Institute of Australia (PIA).

The winners for 2025 showed a prominence of Sydney-based projects and were announced during a celebration in Sydney on Wednesday 30 April 2025.

Two individuals were named as Urban Design Champions and seven projects across three categories received awards. The shortlist of 22 projects from across Australia had been revealed earlier in March.

It was noted at the time of the announcement that while many project submissions for the Built Outcomes category came from major capital cities, the jury was “particularly encouraged by the strength and diversity of approaches emerging from regional contexts.”

One small regional project, Mary’s Place in Dalby, Queensland, by Blight Rayner Architecture in association with Wild Studio, is one of three joint winners of this category. It was noted the project offers “a welcoming and high-quality public square on the site of Dalby’s former Commercial Hotel, which was destroyed by fire”.

Urban Design Champions

The two Urban Design Champions honoured for 2025 were Chris Thomas and Jeremy McLeod.

*Vale Chris Thomas. Supplied photo at left by Paul Patterson.*

Chris Thomas graduated from the University of NSW with an honours degree in Landscape Architecture in 1984 and later obtained an honours degree in Architecture in 1997. Following his passing on 20 March 2024 both the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects (AILA) and Australian Institute of Architects posthumously recognised Chris’s significant contribution to the public domain and architecture with their respective NSW President’s Prizes.

The AILA citation reads:  

Chris Thomas, design manager at the City of Sydney for more than 20 years, has been instrumental in delivering a formidable number and range of award-winning projects that have redefined what is possible for public open space and landscape architecture in an urban context. He has encouraged creativity and given space for its unfolding while challenging consultants to surprise him and provide greater project diversity and impact. Many of the great Sydney public domain projects would not have been possible without his support, briefing, critique, and enthusiasm. Chris’s contribution to elevating public spaces from leftover space around buildings to one of the main drivers for quality urban outcomes is substantial and seldom acknowledged. For his extraordinary contribution to the profession of Landscape Architecture and the public domain of Sydney, we award Chris Thomas the AILA NSW Presidents Award for 2024.

A LinkedIn post by the City of Sydney carried this tribute from team members: “Chris guided a complex portfolio of building and landscape projects, and oversaw large teams of designers. Chris was a collaborative, strategic thinker, with exceptional design skills coupled with technical flair. Chris’s strength was in his ability to create a space for designers to achieve their best work. He helped champion quality design across architecture, landscape architecture and public art. At the same time, he showed a deep understanding of the importance of building exceptional and site-responsive projects for our communities. Chris never sought the limelight. Sydney will continue to benefit from the expertise he passed onto our team and his commitment and focus on quality”.

Jeremy McLeod is the founding Director of Breathe Architecture. Breathe Architecture has been focusing on sustainable urbanisation and in particular have been investigating how to deliver more affordable urban housing to Melbournians. Breathe were the instigators of The Commons housing project in Brunswick from which Nightingale Housing was founded.

Project winners

The project winners, with some supplied photos below, were:

Built Outcomes

Turf Design Studio with Jeppe Aagaard Andersen for the Central Park Public Domain

Blight Rayner Architecture in association with Wild Studio for Mary’s Place, Dalby in the Western Downs Region of Queensland

Transport for NSW Urban Design for Rozelle Parklands

Strategic Design and Policy

Tyrrell Studio in collaboration with Mott McDonald, Klok Advisory, Bangawarra, Left Bank and The Sydney Harbour Federation Trust for the Cockatoo Island Waremah Masterplan

Tzannes for the Martin Place Metro Precinct Urban Design Framework

Transport for NSW for Beyond A to B