Dulux Colour Awards 2025

"In a city rich with independent hotels and hospitality venues, Melbourne Place by Kennedy Nolan has muscled in with confidence and stamped its place firmly as a unique new (multi-faceted) proposition. Its fully integrated architecture and interiors, designed and executed by a single team, have consistently resolved the complex programmatic brief in masterful fashion. Traversing a basement bar/bistro, hotel rooms, event spaces, through to a rooftop restaurant, the overarching aesthetic is immersive and much of the drama, intimacy and downright sexiness of its multi-layered offerings are due to the superb use of colour. It is intriguing, unpredictable, theatrical but controlled. There is a pervasive earthiness to the palette of layered textures and hues, beautifully united as a whole, yet employed so distinctly to each entity that they bear their own unique identities. Only projects of such ambition can reach these heights of sophistication and mastery."

Rachel Luchetti, Luchetti Krelle, judge

"Burly Bar by Studio Plenty is as much a brand statement as a venue for imbibing artisanal spirits. Situated within the Currumbin industrial estate, it is the public face of the local distiller Burly Gin and draws upon the bougie boutique vibe of the brand’s product designs for its aesthetic blueprint. With opaque bottles of saturated colour, Burly’s graphic identity is translated into an immersive interior across two distinct spaces: a ground-floor bar and a mezzanine lounge. Within these, the diverse textural layers of polished plaster, painted trusses, fabrics and finishes are imbued with shades of red, brown and amber, strategically integrated so as to read as a cohesive whole. What stands out here is the fine manipulation of light to enhance the palette and create a seductive interplay of opacity and translucency. It demonstrates a deep understanding of the versatility of colour."

Rachel Luchetti, Luchetti Krelle, judge

“High schools were once bland, predictably grey buildings with dull interiors and very little to distinguish one from another, but those days are long gone, and Auburn High School’s Senior Centre by WOWOWA Architecture is the latest beneficiary of this aesthetic freedom. Drawing inspiration from its natural setting on Wurundjeri Woi-Wurrung Country, the design centres around the unabashed use of vibrant colour in shades from the warmer part of the spectrum. Rather than single colours assigned to specific spaces, however, here the palette is more fluidly integrated across classrooms, labs, communal areas and transition spaces, with devices such as striping, pixellation and zonal markings, and playful pops of colour used as punctuation points. Unpainted elements have been colour-matched to the paint finishes, and this holistic design strategy sees the interior seamlessly blend with the exterior. The result is ambient and uplifting – the antithesis of the typical high school of years gone by."

Rachel Luchetti, Luchetti Krelle, judge