With 26 shortlisted homes, a 13-member jury and four standout winners, the 2025 Habitus House of the Year program wrapped up last night in Sydney with Winnings.

The 2025 Habitus House of the Year program reached its highest peak yet, with 26 shortlisted homes representing Australia, Aotearoa / New Zealand, India, Indonesia and Japan. A 13-person jury convened at Winnings Richmond for a full day of judging, before the design community gathered last night at Winnings Redfern for an evening that balanced celebration with recognition.

Habitus House of the Year x Winnings 2025

Clifton House – Anthony Gill Architects
Clifton House brings a quiet, assured refinement to a densely built part of North Bondi. Working with a 415-square-metre site overlooked on all sides, Anthony Gill Architects shaped a home defined by privacy, restraint and garden immersion. Pocket plantings by Dangar Barin Smith frame every window, creating a series of green rooms that soften the pared-back material palette and give the family a sense of calm enclosure within the suburb’s lively streetscape.

Editor’s Choice Award

Amongst the Eucalypts – Jason Gibney Design Workshop (JGDW)
Located near Seal Rocks, Amongst the Eucalypts is a bushfire-resilient home set lightly within its coastal–forest landscape. JGDW balanced robustness with sensitivity through careful siting, elevated forms and durable materials. The result is a house that feels suspended within the canopy, offering shifting views, deep connection to nature and a sense of refuge that responds directly to the realities of living in bushfire-prone environments.

Winnings Award for Emerging Talent

Architect George
House in Erskineville is a three-and-a-half-metre-wide Victorian terrace that reimagines family living through minimal intervention and maximum adaptability. Only six square metres were added; instead, internal walls were removed and a translucent polycarbonate volume introduced at the rear. Spanning twelve metres with the support of existing brickwork, the insertion bathes the kitchen and living areas in diffused light, creating a surprisingly generous, flexible space within a compact inner-city footprint. The young practice was also nominated in 2024 with Apartment in Double Bay II.

People’s Choice Award

Soft Serve – MuseLAB
MuseLAB’s Soft Serve transforms a high-rise apartment in Thane, India into a calm, pastel-toned retreat. Drawing on the Japanese concept of Seijaku, the interiors use a disciplined palette of ecru, sage, taupe and blush layered with stone, concrete and timber veneer. The muted colour language creates a sense of quiet luxury, pairing serenity with playful material expression.

Habitus extends sincere thanks to readers, shortlisters, jurors and event guests – and to partners Winnings, Rogerseller and Billi.

Listen to Anthony Gill and Jason Gibney discuss their winning projects in this joint podcast interview!

Habitus House of the Year x Winnings
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