Dulux Colour Awards 2026 finalists announced

2026 marks the 40th anniversary of the Dulux Colour Awards, the premier programme celebrating innovative, original, and ambitious use of colour in the built environment across Australia and New Zealand.

Over four decades, the awards have played a defining role in championing colour’s transformative power, elevating its importance in design practice and professional discourse. This year, the programme achieved a new milestone with a record more than 540 entries from both countries. From these, a panel of five leading design and architecture professionals selected 94 finalists across eight categories.

The high volume of entries led to extensive deliberation by the judges. In the Residential Interior category alone, shortlisted projects made up nearly one third of all finalists. Judge Sarah-Jane Pyke (Principal of Arent&Pyke) noted the challenge of narrowing the field, observing that while warm whites remain popular, exquisite deeply hued treatments — particularly dark-toned ceilings, painted stairs, and nuanced details on architraves and skirtings — stood out.

A highlight this year has been the Residential Exterior category, where palettes show a strong sense of context: reddish autumnal tones in rural New Zealand and grey-greens with cool blues in coastal Australia.

Davina Harper, Dulux Colour & Design Specialist, highlighted the growing confidence in New Zealand entries, where colour is used thoughtfully alongside natural materials, landscapes, timber, stone, and texture. She emphasised colour applied with real intention, working in harmony with the environment.

Judge Buster Caldwell (Director of Wonder Group) added: “Colour has the ability to completely shift how a space is experienced, especially when used with intent… The deeper reds we’re seeing — iron-rich, earthy tones — carry a sense of weight and grounding, bringing warmth and intimacy to interiors or connecting projects back to their surroundings.”

Harper reflected on the programme’s evolution, noting the exponential increase in the calibre of colour use over 40 years. Architects, designers, students, and specifiers are now confidently manipulating colour to enhance perspective, form, spatial understanding, and user experience.

The Commercial Interior categories showcase sophisticated, highly considered colour application across hospitality, wellness, education, and retail. The Temporary or Installation Design and Student categories feature refined exhibitions and masterful proposals.

Winners will be announced at Dulux Colour Awards Gala 27th May 2026 and published on 28th May 2026