An Australian technology that allows apartment residents to share rooftop solar has taken the top prize at the 2026 Australian Good Design Awards.
Melbourne-based Allume Energy’s SolShare was named the 2026 Australian Good Design Award of the Year and also received the Australian Good Design Award for Sustainability.
It also shared the Best in Discipline Award for Product Design with ICONS, designed by Industrial By Nature.
SolShare dynamically directs solar energy to apartments according to their instantaneous energy needs, making shared rooftop solar practical for multi-residential buildings.
It already connects more than 10,000 apartments across three continents, has delivered 23GWh of solar energy globally and has helped residents save an average of 30 to 40 per cent on their electricity bills.
Good Design Australia Chair Dr Brandon Gien said the technology showed the practical impact of good design.
“Great design starts with deeply understanding a problem and finding a better way to solve it. SolShare does exactly that,” said Dr Gien.
The winners will be presented at a ceremony at the Grand Ballroom, ICC Sydney, on Friday 9 October in front of more than 1000 industry guests.
Established in 1958, the program is Australia’s longest-running international design awards.
The 2026 Awards span 13 design disciplines and more than 30 categories.
In Communication Design, Frost*collective won Best in Discipline for its Sydney Children’s Hospital Placemaking & Environmental Graphics project.
The system combines wayfinding, information and storytelling to make the Randwick Hospital easier and more reassuring to navigate for children, families, carers and staff.
Flow Hive won the Engineering Design award for the Flow Super Lifter, which lets beekeepers open and inspect hives with minimal effort and less disturbance to bees.
In Built Environment, the City Square Ceremonial Gathering Space in Melbourne took the honour.
Greenshoot Consulting designed it in collaboration with Wurundjeri Elders to welcome visitors to Country, sustain cultural practices, make Woi-wurrung language visible and acknowledge First Peoples as Traditional Custodians.
Xavier Earls won the Next Gen (Under 30s) award for Bush Cradle, a modular habitat system made from organic hempcrete.
Its four tiles can be arranged in different configurations to provide refuge for vulnerable native animals.
The Municipal Association of Victoria’s MAVlab won the Policy Design award for Advancing Responsible AI Innovation in Local Government.
The project produced an adaptive framework that includes a procurement coaching guide, a procurement panel, a use-case library and a cross-sector AI Taskforce.
Karla Straker won the Design Strategy award for a project for the Australian Defence College that brings together pedagogy, technology and learning environments.
ThirdStory won Design Research for work commissioned by the Paul Ramsay Foundation that united 31 specialist domestic and family violence services.
Seabin Pty Ltd took the Service Design award for Making Nature Count.
Taiwanese designer Liu Chia-Yi won the Concept Design award for SoilRevive, an AI-powered bioremediation station that treats farmland contaminated by heavy metals.
Inspired by plant root mechanisms and mycorrhizal networks, it autonomously releases targeted microbial strains into polluted soil.
The Vanuatu National Warning System, designed in Australia by What Works and commissioned by SPREP, won the Social Impact award.
The climate resilience system protects about 314,000 people across 83 islands and combines modern meteorology with Indigenous knowledge.
In Digital Design, New Zealand’s Te Matapihi ki te Ao Nui, Wellington Central Library, created by Journey Digital for Wellington City Council, was recognised for its bilingual and accessible digital entry point to the reimagined library.
Finnish company FabPatch won the Fashion and Textiles award for a rub-on textile repair system that extends the life of garments and reduces material going to landfill.
Good Design Australia Managing Director Rachel Wye said the range of winning projects reflected the role design now plays across the economy and community, from energy costs and healthcare to disaster preparedness and accessibility.