Double Gold for Architecture at Best Awards

Ākonga from the School of Architecture have claimed 5 medals at the 2025 Best Design Awards, including 2 gold awards.

Otago Polytechnic won an impressive 13 awards in total at the gala dinner in Auckland, across the Architecture, Product Design, and Communication Design programmes.

The annual showcase is run by The Designers Institute of New Zealand, and saw 18 projects from Otago Polytechnic sellected as national finalists.

Eden Rose-Yon’s winery project for Yealands Estate Cellar Door won her a gold award in the Student & Academic Spatial category.


Described as a sculpted landscape of salt, wind, and wine, Eden says Yealands Cellar Door "is a quiet architecture that listens to the land, honours the mountain, and speaks of the delicate tension between transience and permanence."

Judges praised the Master of Architecture (Professional) student’s project as “a masterful integration of architecture and environment, where every material and gesture feels deeply rooted in place and purpose.”

“Its quiet reverence for the land, expressed through sensory richness and poetic restraint, creates an experience that is both grounded and transcendent.”

Bachelor of Architecture student Rebecca Campbell won a gold medal in the same category for her project Tauraka, which imagined bridging the gap in the natural environment between the city of Ōtepoti, Dunedin and Ōtākou harbour.

Judges called it “an inspired piece of infrastructure design that seamlessly integrates cultural narrative, ecological restoration, and human connection.”

“It is poetic yet purposeful, showing how spatial interventions can act as a restorative and unifying force. A commendable example of design with depth and dignity.”

Associate Professor Tobias Danielmeier, Head of Otago Polytechnic - School of Architecture, says his team is incredibly proud of their students’ success at this year’s Best Design Awards.

“These results showcase not only the creativity and skill of our emerging architects, but also their commitment to addressing real-world challenges through thoughtful design.”

“Each project reflects the depth of learning, collaboration, and critical inquiry fostered in our School of Architecture. To see our students recognised at this national level is a true testament to their hard work and the dedication of our teaching community,” he says.

Meanwhile, Georgia Pope claimed a silver medal for her Master project, Te Nohoaka o Tukiauau: Where Identity Stands.

The location situated on the Taiari Plain south of Dunedin, is a remnant of one of New Zealand’s largest and most abundant wetland systems and sustained generations of iwi Māori through practices such as mahika kai (food gathering), rokoā (medicine), and the intergenerational transmission of mātauraka Māori (Māori knowledge).

Georgia says her project "responds to a pressing disconnection between people and whenua, and the cultural knowledge once tied to the wetland."

Omea Hall and Eden Rose-Yon worked together on their silver award-winning 4th year design project, The People's Pantry.

It's described as a pioneering sustainable food hub located on a reclaimed industrial brownfield in Dunedin, designed to combat food waste and food poverty through innovative, community focused architecture.

Their design uniquely combines a surplus food market, restaurant, and commercial kitchen producing daily school lunches for nearly 2,000 children, while serving the wider community including university students and families.

And Nicolas Sharp won a bronze award for his Master project, Blurring Boundaries.

It reimagines the Under Pikirakatahi Scout Camp (set within the remote environment of Paradise, New Zealand).

Nicolas says the camp’s design draws from the surrounding landscape and Scout values, organising spaces into three zones: Comfort, Growth, and Adventure. This masterplan guides the scouts on a physical and emotional journey, encouraging reflection, connection, and challenge through architecture.

His project was guided by the ethos of Scouts Aotearoa, whose values of adventure, community, and individual progression align with the intention to reconnect young people with the land.

The student successes at the Best Design Awards follow the recent formal accreditation by the New Zealand Registered Architects Board (NZRAB) of Otago Polytechnic’s School of Architecture, Master of Architecture (Professional) programme.


( * Product Design and Communication Design award winners to follow* )