From Island Prefabs to Tiny Treehouses: The Best Australian Homes of 2025.

The 2025 Houses Awards have just dropped, and this year’s winning projects are delivering impressive insights into the future of Australian residential architecture. From a prefabricated trio of modular units claiming the top prize to a tiny treehouse suspended among gum trees, these homes are redefining contemporary Australian homes.

Blok Three Sisters by Blok Modular with Vokes and Peters has made history as the first prefabricated project to take the top prize as the Australian House of the Year. We love how a trio of prefab modular units challenges preconceptions about modular homes. Forget everything you think you know about prefab housing looking like shipping containers plonked in paddocks. It may not be the most spectacular project you’ve ever seen, but awards like this are critical in recognising work that breaks the mould.

But that’s just the beginning. This year’s winners collectively focus on quality over quantity, adaptive reuse over demolition, and clever strategies for creating more homes without compromising neighbourhood character.

The themes emerging from this year’s crop are clear: architects are embracing “stealth density,” championing retention and adaptation of existing buildings, and deliberately building small. These projects are showing us a different way forward, acting as future blueprints for responsible residential design that could be replicated across Australian suburbs”—more homes that fit so naturally into their surroundings, instead of the usual sprawl-and-demolish approach.

Let’s dive in.

Australia's Most Exceptional Homes Revealed at Houses Awards 2024.

Australian architects are proving that good design isn't just about aesthetics—it's about creating spaces that enhance our lives, connect us to our communities, and tread lightly on the planet.

Blok Three Sisters by Blok Modular with Vokes and Peters. Photography: Christopher Frederick Jones.

Blok Three Sisters by Blok Modular with Vokes and Peters. Photography: Christopher Frederick Jones.

Blok Three Sisters by Blok Modular with Vokes and Peters (QLD)

This one’s special, and not just because it nabbed both Australian House of the Year and the Apartment or Unit category. Three sisters wanted to rebuild on the same Minjerribah/ North Stradbroke Island site where they’d spent childhood holidays—but instead of one house, they created three terraces that look like they’ve always belonged.

The whole thing was built in a Brisbane factory, then shipped and assembled on the island. Smart move when you’re dealing with remote locations and tricky access. But what really gets me is how naturally these homes sit in their beachside street. You’d never guess they were prefab. Vokes and Peters managed to triple the housing on the site while keeping the neighbourhood vibe completely intact.

Teneriffe House in Brisbane by Vokes and Peters.

Teneriffe House has a storied history. Originally designed by prominent local architect in 1909, it was later converted into an adult mental health hostel that disfigured the original plan.

Hedge and Arbour House by Studio Bright. Photography: Rory Gardiner.

Hedge and Arbour House by Studio Bright. Photography: Rory Gardiner.

Hedge and Arbour House by Studio Bright (VIC)

Winner of New House Over 200 Square Metres, this Ivanhoe home is basically wrapped in a living green veil. Studio Bright has created something that feels more like a garden pavilion than a suburban house—and that’s exactly the point.

The architecture literally dissolves into the landscape, creating this beautiful conversation between suburban order and wild bushland. It’s landscape-first design that makes you rethink what a suburban home can be. So good!

Autumn House in Melbourne by Studio Bright.

This extension to a Victorian terrace with a 1980’s renovation by architect Mick Jörgensen adds a careful new layer stitched into and around existing constraints.

Sawmill Treehouse by Robbie Walker. Photography: Tasha Tylee.

Sawmill Treehouse by Robbie Walker. Photography: Tasha Tylee.

Sawmill Treehouse by Robbie Walker (VIC)

Sometimes the best homes are the ones that know when to whisper instead of shout. This tiny cabin in the Mansfield wilderness claimed the New House Under 200 Square Metres award, and honestly, it’s a bit of poetry suspended among gum trees.

Robbie Walker has shown serious restraint here—the cabin is deliberately small and sits so lightly in the landscape, it feels like it grew there naturally. It’s another much-needed proof that building bigger isn’t always building better. This little beauty delivers maximum serenity with minimal footprint.

Carlton Cottage by Lovell Burton Architecture. Photography: Rory Gardiner.

Carlton Cottage by Lovell Burton Architecture. Photography: Rory Gardiner.

Carlton Cottage by Lovell Burton Architecture (VIC)

This 1870s workers’ cottage won House Alteration and Addition Under 200 Square Metres, and the approach is brilliant in its simplicity. Instead of dictating how each room should be used, Lovell Burton created what they call a “loose fit” design.

The genius is in the flexibility—big pivot doors and a sliding fence panel let life spill from inside to garden to laneway. It’s like the house grows and shrinks depending on what you need. Perfect for how we actually live. Btw, this happens to be our favourite project, in case you’re wondering.

Cloaked House by Trias. Photography: Clinton Weaver.

Cloaked House by Trias. Photography: Clinton Weaver.

Cloaked House by Trias (NSW)

In Sydney’s affluent Mosman, where bulldozing and rebuilding is the default setting, Trias took a different path with this House Alteration and Addition Over 200 Square Metres winner. Instead of demolishing a perfectly good mid-century home, they gave it a thoughtful makeover.

The architects call it “sophisticated sustainability,” and I’m here for it. They kept the bones, reworked the layout, and reskinned the building—proving that adaptation can be way more interesting than starting from scratch.

Three Piece House in Newcastle, Australia by TRIAS.

Modesty and sustainability are at the fore of Three Piece House, with Sydney-based architecture studio Trias arranging two main living ‘pavilions’ and a studio around two courtyards.

Window, Window, Window by Panov Scott. Photography: Hamish Mcintosh.

Window, Window, Window by Panov Scott. Photography: Hamish McIntosh.

Window, Window, Window by Panov Scott (NSW)

The newly-created Small Project category has its inaugural winner, and it’s a cracker. Panov Scott has tucked a granny flat into the undercroft of an existing house so seamlessly, you’d think it was always meant to be there.

It’s such a fine example in making dead space work hard. Instead of an empty void under the house, there’s now a fully functional second dwelling. Smart, simple, and completely doable in suburbs across Australia.

Interview with Sydney-based Architects Anita Panov & Andrew Scott of panovscott.

As someone lucky to call the same person her life and business partner, I feel an instant sense of camaraderie with those who are in the same boat. And although I haven't yet had the pleasure of meeting Anita and Andrew in real life, I think of them as kindred spirits. Am I weird? Let me answer my own rhetorical question here (I know, like,WTF) by saying—no, I don't think so, dude.

Mess Hall by Architecture Architecture. Photography: Tom Ross.

Mess Hall by Architecture Architecture. Photography: Tom Ross.

Mess Hall by Architecture Architecture (VIC)

This Victorian terrace renovation nabbed House in a Heritage Context, and it’s all about working with what you’ve got rather than fighting against it. Architecture Architecture has shown how you can give heritage buildings a contemporary life without losing their character.

The spatial transformations are clever without being showy—exactly what heritage projects need.

Park Life House in Melbourne by Architecture Architecture.

The moment of junction between the old house and the new extension at Park Life House is quiet. A clear line marks the invasion of a shinier, more modern creature nowhere to be found.

Cake House by Alexander Symes Architect. Photography: Barton Taylor.

Cake House by Alexander Symes Architect. Photography: Barton Taylor.

Cake House by Alexander Symes Architect (NSW)

The Sustainability winner is this wild beach house in Mollymook that somehow sleeps 17 people while achieving impressive environmental performance. Alexander Symes has merged passive house principles with clever design to create what locals apparently call a “curiosity.”

It’s proof that you can have your environmental cake and eat it too—high occupancy doesn’t have to mean high impact. A model of what could be adapted for other coastal locations across Australia.

Bluestone House by Ellul Architecture. Photography: Hamish McIntosh.

Bluestone House by Ellul Architecture. Photography: Hamish McIntosh.

A Flat for an Artist by Ellul Architecture. Photography: Hamish McIntosh.

A Flat for an Artist by Ellul Architecture. Photography: Hamish McIntosh.

Emerging Architecture Practice — Ellul Architecture

Here’s a practice to watch. Ellul Architecture claimed the Emerging Architecture Practice award for consistently thoughtful work across three different shortlisted homes. They’ve tackled each project with fresh eyes while maintaining a clear design philosophy.

Proof that the next generation of Australian architects is in good hands.

[Images courtesy of Houses Awards.]