Design Speaks Weekly

Neil Durbach, Camilla Block and David Jaggers are the recipients of the Australian Institute of Architects 2026 Gold Medal – Australia’s highest architectural honour.

Their Sydney-based practice Durbach Block Jaggers Architects is defined by a collaborative, exploratory approach to design that embraces complexity, contradiction and exchange.

In celebration of their Gold Medal win, editorial director at Architecture Media Katelin Butler speaks with Neil Durbach, Camilla Block and David Jaggers about collaboration, creative process and the dynamics behind their practice.

Further reading:

National Prizes Gold Medal

https://architectureau.com/articles/2026-national-prizes-gold-medal/

Beyond the unexpected

https://architectureau.com/articles/beyond-the-unexpected/

Phoenix Central Park 

https://architectureau.com/articles/phoenix-central-park/

UTS Science and Health Building 

https://architectureau.com/articles/uts-science-and-health-building/

Newcastle East End Stage 1

https://architectureau.com/articles/newcastle_east_end_stage_one/

Durbach Block Jaggers' hourglass-shaped Omnia tower completed

https://architectureau.com/articles/durbach-block-jaggers-hourglass-shaped-omnia-tower-completed/

National Architecture Awards Robin Boyd Award for Residential Architecture (Houses New)

https://architectureau.com/articles/2017-national-architecture-awards-robin-boyd-award-for-residential-architecture-houses-new/

Heritage revitalisation of Sydney's Powerhouse Museum Ultimo granted approval

https://architectureau.com/articles/heritage-revitalisation-of-Sydneys-powerhouse-museum-ultimo-granted-approval/

Durbach Block Jaggers designs Sydney pencil tower

https://architectureau.com/articles/durbach-block-jaggers-designs-sydney-pencil-tower/

Alison Page is a Walbanga and Wadi Wadi woman and a leading design entrepreneur. Her portfolio spans collaborations with Indigenous designers Dillon Kombumerri and Kevin O’Brien from the Merrima Aboriginal Design Unit and eight years as a panellist on ABC’s The New Inventors. She is also the founder of the National Aboriginal Design Agency, and has helped bring First Nations knowledge and culture into contemporary Australian design.

Ahead of her upcoming exhibition at Melbourne School of Design, presented as part of Melbourne Design Week, Alison discusses the growing interest in Indigenous design – and the opportunities and complexities it brings.

 

Further Reading

Alison Page on artwashing in architecture
https://architectureau.com/articles/alison-page-on-artwashing-in-architecture/
Melbourne Design Week 2026 announced
https://architectureau.com/articles/melbourne-design-week-2026-announced/
Alison Page: Creative Shape Shifter
https://designweek.melbourne/event/alison-page-creative-shape-shifter/

Nigel Bertram believes all design projects are research projects. 

As director of Melbourne-based practice NMBW Architecture Studio and practice professor of architecture at Monash University, he has established a practice model that maximises the relationship between practice and academia, allowing research to inform and guide his studio’s projects.

In this episode, Nigel reflects on the opportunities for innovation through research-led design and speaks to the value of post-occupancy evaluations.

Further reading:

St Albans Housing by NMBW Architecture Studio and MADA

https://architectureau.com/articles/st-albans-housing/

Revisited: St Albans Housing

https://architectureau.com/articles/revisited-st-albans-housing/

Sanders Place by NMBW Architecture Studio, Openwork and Finding Infinity

https://architectureau.com/articles/sanders-place-by-nmbw-architecture-studio-openwork-and-finding-infinity/

University of Melbourne Student Precinct Project by Lyons et al

https://architectureau.com/articles/university-of-melbourne-student-precinct-project/

Ingrid Richards is a renowned Australian architect who co-founded Richards and Spence with Adrian Spence in 2008, and has since contributed significantly to the civic identity of Brisbane and beyond.

The practice is perhaps best known for its instrumental involvement in the development of the James Street Precinct in Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley through a series of independent projects – including the Calile Hotel and the Ada Lane Development.

In today’s episode, Katelin Butler, editorial director at Architecture Media, asks Ingrid to reflect on the considerations required when designing civic legacy from private commissions and what urban qualities evolve best over time.

 

Further Reading

Urbane luxury: The Calile Hotel
https://architectureau.com/articles/the-calile-hotel/

Incremental civic-ness: James Street Precinct
https://architectureau.com/articles/james-street-precinct/

2019 Eat Drink Design Awards: Best Hotel Design
https://architectureau.com/articles/2019-eat-drink-design-awards-best-hotel-design/

Nineteen James
https://architectureau.com/articles/block-works/

Tactical urbanism: Fish Lane
https://architectureau.com/articles/tactical-urbanism-fish-lane/

205 North Quay by Hassell, REX and Richards and Spence
https://architectureau.com/articles/205-north-quay-by-hassell-rex-and-richards-and-spence/

Richards and Spence’s seven favourite hotel designs
https://architectureau.com/articles/richards-and-spence-seven-favourite-hotel-designs/

Níall McLaughlin founded his London-based practice, Níall McLaughlin Architects, in 1990. Over three decades, the studio has developed a reputation for elegant detailing and thoughtful material exploration. This careful, consistent approach shapes a diverse body of work across a wide range of typologies. Underpinning it all is McLaughlin’s belief that building is “an act, not an object.”

Following the announcement that Níall McLaughlin Architects has been appointed to design a new Catholic cathedral in Sydney, ArchitectureAu editor Lucia Amies speaks with McLaughlin about his studio’s philosophy, process and evolving approach to architecture.

 

Further Reading

Australia’s first new cathedral in over a century planned for Sydney
https://architectureau.com/articles/australias-first-new-cathedral-in-over-a-century-planned-for-sydney/

2026 RIBA Gold Medal won by ‘humble visionary’
https://architectureau.com/articles/2026-riba-gold-medal-won-by-humble-visionary/