The Annual Australian Timber Design Award winners for 2025 were announced last night at Rydges Hotel in Melbourne.
The MC for the evening was Rebecca Gilling, formerly a well-known actress who appeared in a number of popular TV shows including Glenview High, Return to Eden, and The Young Doctors, and now Co-CEO of Planet Ark. Archer Office with Partridge was the winner of the Grand Prix for their outstanding Boot Factory.
Located in the heart of Bondi Junction in NSW, the Boot Factory is a striking example of how timber can breathe new life into a heritage structure. Originally built in 1892 and condemned before works began, the building has been transformed into a civic innovation hub using an adaptive reuse methodology. The designers retained the original brick perimeter walls, and completely reconstructed the interior and roof with a new glue-laminated Australian hardwood structure.
The new columns and inverted floor system showcase the warmth and beauty of exposed Victorian Ash beams and planks, celebrating timber craftsmanship whilst also providing future flexibility. The roof was also entirely rebuilt, featuring an exposed solid timber structure of radial rafters that converge at a central skylight, drawing light deep into the space providing a direct visual connection to the sky.
As a community and innovation hub, the Boot Factory demonstrates that heritage buildings can be reimagined as future-focused, low-impact civic infrastructure, impressively merging materiality and ecology.
Award winners:
- Overall Winner – Boot Factory by Archer Office with Partridge
- People’s Choice – Tumbalong Green Sound Shell by Hassell
Excellence in Timber Applications:
- Residential Class 1 – New Building – Nebraska by Lara Maeseele
- Residential Class 1 – Alterations & Additions – Lower Line House by Incidental Architecture
- Fit Out – Residential – Echo House by PARABOLICA
- Fit Out – Commercial and Public – Consulate of Malaysia, Melbourne by Cheah Saw
Architecture
- Furniture & Joinery – Australian War Memorial Spiral Staircase by Details by Ned
- Commercial Building – Northern Memorial Park Depot by Searle x Waldron Architecture
- Public Building – Boot Factory by Archer Office with Partridge
Excellence in Timber Products:
- Sustainability – First Building – Bradfield by Hassell
- Australian Certified Timber – Nebraska by Lara Maeseele
- Recycled Timber – Cake House by Alexander Symes Architect
The Australian Timber Industry would like to extend gratitude to our panel of judges, sponsorsand those who entered projects.
Complete list of winners and finalists
