Awards, News — November 2, 2026
Community and Experience at the Heart of Project Award Wins
With shared goals to bring people together, both Green Square Public School and Community Spaces and Sydney Fish Market have been recognised at the Australian Institute of Architects’ 2026 National Awards.
Green Square Public School and Community Spaces received the 2026 Daryl Jackson Award for Educational Architecture, while Sydney Fish Market won the National Award for Commercial Architecture.
The educational award jury noted that Green Square Public School was an exemplary piece of social infrastructure and a generous civic addition to the community. Sydney Fish Market’s overarching purpose was seen by the commercial architecture jury to provide the people of Sydney with a place to “engage with the very essence of what it means to live on the harbour.”
Safe, welcoming and flexible, Green Square Public School is for the whole community's use. The unique brief merged municipal functions that would meet the city's needs with school functions that were necessary to meet the school's needs.From the basketball court on the ground level to co-located council assets, the design serves its primary school cohort as well as the all-ages population who share the facility around school days and weekends. It was designed by BVN, constructed by Hutchinson Builders and delivered in partnership with the City of Sydney and School Infrastructure NSW.
Fusing civic openness, First Nations co-design and child-centred learning, Green Square Public School stands as a brilliant and compelling model for how schools can operate as shared public assets in our densifying cities.
2026 National Architecture Awards Jury Citation.
This public school genuinely rethinks its potential role and influence in the city context and that deserves recognition. That recognition affirms the influence a school can have on kids and their learning, as well as a sense of belonging within the broader community.
Ali Bounds, BVN co-CEO.
The Sydney Fish Market is designed by 3XN Architects in association with BVN and Aspect Studios. Under its striking roof, the market bustles 24/7 with workers, locals and visitors coming together to experience the rewards ofSydney’s fishing industry.It’s an integral component of the urban renewal of Blackwattle Bay (Tjerruing).
I'm proud that we've created something that belongs to the city. It's really a unique and quite extraordinary public building, but its success is ultimately a measure of the life it enables
Asher Galvin, Senior Practice Director, BVN
A project of significant scale and complexity, the New Sydney Fish Market has provided a place for everyone – balancing intense commercial operations and a lazy wander through the stalls – concurrently and with ease.
2026 National Architecture Awards Jury Citation.
