NZ Interior Awards
The NZ Interior Awards recognise the best in New Zealand interior design across 10 categories. Meet the 2026 jury – and enter before 27 May.
New Zealand’s design community has no shortage of awards, but what sets a program apart is the rigour behind it. The NZ Interior Awards, part of the NZ Design Week ecosystem and presented by Winnings, deliver a process serious enough to mean something and a platform expansive enough to matter long after the night itself. The independent, industry-led program celebrates innovation across 10 categories – from Retail and Hospitality to Residential, Education, Workplace, Emerging Designer and more – and is aimed at design practices ready to stand behind their work and be tested on it.
The 2026 jury is as strong a signal of intent as any, bringing a rare combination of editorial independence and deep sector knowledge. It’s convened by Amanda Harkness, eight years embedded in New Zealand’s interior and architectural publishing landscape and more than five years convening industry award programs. “For me, a great awards program isn’t just about recognising excellence,” she says. “It’s about connecting people, discovering the stories behind their journey, and sharing and celebrating their creativity and innovation.”
Joining her is Koos de Keijzer, who trained at Eindhoven University of Technology and has spent more than two decades building DKO Architecture into a practice of more than 300 people across seven studios in Australia, New Zealand, Vietnam and Indonesia. A Fellow of the Australian Institute of Architects, he’s looking for work with ‘indefatigability’ – a firmness of purpose that outlasts first impressions. “The entries that will stay with me long after judging are the ones that embody this,” he says.
Annabel Smart, who leads the Auckland studio of Studio 11:11, brings a quieter, deeply material sensibility to the bench. For her, the standout entries move beyond resolution, and “hold a sense of feeling, revealing more over time and carrying an emotional depth that lingers beyond the immediate impression”.
Jade Kake is an architect, writer and housing advocate of Ngāpuhi, Te Whakatōhea and Te Arawa descent, and the founder of Matakohe Architecture + Urbanism, a kaupapa Māori design practice based in Whangārei. Her work centres on partnering with Māori organisations on marae, papakāinga and civic projects, and on expressing the cultural values and narratives of mana whenua through built form. It’s a perspective the jury is richer for.
Sarosh Mulla, director at Pac Studio and senior lecturer at Waipapa Taumata Rau University of Auckland, rounds out the panel. His PhD-grounded practice sits at the intersection of technology, culture and place – and he’s not interested in budget size. “I’m looking for ingenuity above all else,” he says. “Novel approaches to achieving spaces that are inventive, unexpected and joyous.”
Entries for the NZ Interior Awards close on Wednesday 27 May 2026 at midnight (you can enter here) and are open to commercial and residential projects, and emerging designers working across interior and spatial design. The Awards Night takes place on Thursday 23 July at St Matthew-in-the-City, Auckland. Recognition through the NZ Interior Awards extends well beyond the night, with finalists and winners supported through a national platform of exhibition opportunities and conference access. The Premier Award winner receives a print feature with The Local Project, an opportunity for peer awareness and connection to the broader design community.
