Dulux Colour Awards 2026

Layered with family history and enriched by a remarkable collection of artworks and artefacts, this villa renovation on Auckland’s harbourside made a compelling impression from its earliest stages. The completed home is an immediate standout creating a moment of genuine awe. Colour is deployed with confidence and precision, working in careful support of exceptional craftsmanship to create a richly resolved outcome across detail, materiality and finish.

The ambitious palette is expressed through intricate applications, considered colour‑blocking and unexpected tonal juxtapositions, that highlight both the close collaboration with the clients and the architects’ nuanced decision‑making, creative clarity and technical expertise. In the kitchen, walls and vaulted ceiling are drenched in soft pinks that sit comfortably alongside warm brass surfaces, while the hallway, a connective spine through the home, becomes a luminous yellow backdrop for even more art.

The project demonstrates how colour, when handled with restraint and intent, can bring together diverse elements with confidence and sensitivity. Within a New Zealand context, this work stands as a rare and highly advanced example of colour performing alongside architecture as an equal contributor to the quality of the living environment. Strikingly contemporary, yet deeply rooted in memory and meaning, the home is quietly joyful, expressive and enduring.

Sarah-Jane Pyke, Judge