An initiative that was established to celebrate a decade of Habitus, Habitus House of the Year honours exceptional residential architecture and design completed across the Indo Pacific Region within the past 18 months.

Chair of the Jury, Paul McGillick, Founding Editor of Habitus, and Holly Cunneen, Habitus Editor, presided over an esteemed, hand-selected panel of architecture connoisseurs: Howard Tanner AM, Consultant Architect; Karen McCartney, Architecture Editor / Author / Curator; Narelle Yabuka, Editor Cubes, Indesignlive.sg, Indesignlive.hk and Asia Co-Editor of Habitus; Neil Burley, Founder of Burley Katon Halliday and Anibou; and Raj Nandan, founder, Publisher and CEO of Indesign Media Asia Pacific.

Paul best sums up the judging strategy by saying that the judges were “looking for character. Something special about the house and how it relates to where it is geographically. What is it doing that is really interesting? What is it doing that is really unique?”

Culminating with a cocktail event hosted by StylecraftHOME, Melbourne, on Friday the 16th of November, the program saw six outstanding homes – from a shortlist of just 25 – receive special commendation from the judges.

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House Of The Year Winner

Boneo House by John Wardle Architects
Mornington Peninsula, Victoria, Australia

Truly synonymous with the Habitus spirit, Boneo House “conveys such a strong character,” explain the judges. An addition to an existing 1980s house, the project presents a completely new, refreshingly and artfully connected home. Clad in copper and partly cantilevered, the structure of Boneo House (above) expertly reflects its surrounding landscape and topography.

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Interior And Exterior Connection
(Joint Winners)

Gibbons Street by Cavill Architects
Queensland, Australia

Artists’ Retreat by Palinda Kannangara Architects
Colombo, Sri Lanka

The esteemed panel of judges found it challenging to separate these two homes, which were equally “resolved and realised”. Profoundly connected with their physical and cultural contexts and taking full advantage of their climates, both residences have outdoor areas that inject life into the home. Further blurring the boundaries between interior and exterior, Gibbons Street House and Artists’ Retreat boast masterful techniques that achieve the ‘poetic of space’.

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Interiors Winner

St Vincents Place by B.E Architecture
Victoria, Australia

The interiors of St Vincents Place are subtly contemporary with references to the 19th century era, without being “pastiche,” explained the judges. A result of peerless attention to detail and forming a “world-within-a-world,” the rich material palette is accentuated by ample natural light from a light well and courtyard.

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Architecture And Landscape Winner

Rabbit Residence by Boondesign and Attaporn Kobkongsanti
Bangkok, Thailand

A true balancing act between programmatic demands and outer context, Rabbit Residence is an ensemble of spaces that forms a unified whole. The palette of the house functions as a canvas for the lush tropical garden, a peaceful contrast between the brilliant white scheme and greenery. The fluid floor plan extends to the outside, encouraging residents to not only partake in outdoor activities, but also to experience a “constant state of flux,” says architecture writer Tonkao Panin.

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People’s Choice Winner

D House by ARO Studio
Hoàng Mai, Vietnam

Designed and built as a result of the rapid urbanisation and lack of greenery in Vietnam, D House is a true representation of design’s role: to bring better quality of life to the urban population. Housing three generations of one family, the interior responds to different ways of living and different needs, but blends all these together in a natural manner.

Habitus readers who their votes for the People’s Choice went into the running to win the Ultimate Design Hunter Package, valued at $30,000.

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Habitus House Of The Year Cocktail Event

On Thursday 16th November, with a Cocktail Event hosted at the inimitable StylecraftHOME showroom in Melbourne (recently renovated by HASSELL), the inaugural Habitus House of the Year initiative drew to close.

In a room full of architects, designers, contributors, collaborators and friends, editor Holly Cunneen announced the independent jury’s selection of outstanding residential projects accompanied by founding editor Paul McGillick.

Habitus House of the Year was the result of many discussions centred around how to celebrate the milestone that is Habitus’ 10th anniversary. What better way than to pull together a new, annual undertaking?

This year, and each year that follows, Habitus hand-selects 25 recently completed residential projects that exemplify what it means to live through design in Australia, New Zealand and South-East Asia.

The 25 houses selected for the 2018 initiative are the Habitus team’s Habitus Houses of the Year. “You have all done an outstanding job. And according to Habitus, you have all won,” says Habitus Editor Holly Cunneen.

Habitus Editor, Holly Cunneen

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The Habitus team extends a special thanks to the Major Sponsors (StylecraftHOME, Sub Zero Wolf, and Zip), Design Hunter Partners (Ajar, Fanuli, Lump, StylecraftHOME, Sub Zero Wolf, The Hour Glass, Tide Design, Top 3, Totem Road, and Tsar Carpets), Trophy Partner (Axolotl) and Media Partners for their support in the inaugural Habitus House of the Year initiative.

View the cocktail event gallery: