Dulux Colour Awards 2026

What the judges said...

"Programmatically ambitious, this regenerative walking trail in Dunedin is a sophisticated project of considerable scope, underpinned by a balanced and highly intentional approach to colour. Its title draws on the children’s game of hide‑and‑seek, a reference grounded in its dramatic setting on the Otago Peninsula, a landform shaped by an extinct volcano - and expressed through a sequence of structures that deepen in tone as walkers move closer to the volcano’s core.

Conceived as a four‑day journey, the trail leads participants from beach to peninsula, across harbour and into hills, weaving environmental education into the experience. Along the way, walkers are invited to actively participate in the landscape’s regeneration through activities such as pest trapping, native planting and ecological restoration.

Colour is introduced in small built elements with the lightest of architectural footprints dispersed along the route - a vivid yellow boardwalk, burnt‑orange stripes within a rest platform, rust‑red on a viewing tower and warm beige interiors within accommodation huts. These moments form a considered, sequential language, with each hue carefully specified to respect both the sensitivity of the site and the intellectual rigour of the project. The result is a quietly powerful synthesis of landscape, colour and environmental stewardship."

Buster Caldwell, judge.