Each year, the INDE.Awards presents the Indo-Pacific’s most outstanding projects and designers, a collection of innovative and progressive design that shifts and adapts our architectural vernacular for years to come. Of this group, one is awarded the esteemed “Best Of The Best”, a selection that commends a particular project for its truly outstanding contribution to the region’s design and architecture.

Past winners of this most prestigious award have included a variety of projects and also one design studio, as the Best Of The Best it is about being the best not only producing exceptional work. Looking back on the history of the award, we see a collection of winners that speak to the diversity of the Indo-Pacific as a region, where truly outstanding design can be found in every corner, every climate and every terrain.

School of Design and Environment 1, Special Projects, by NUS School of Design and Environment with CPG Consultants, photography by Ong Chan Hao, Erik L’Heureux.

In 2021 the School of Design and Environment 1 in Singapore, designed by Special Projects, NUS School of Design and Environment with CPG Consultants was afforded the ultimate accolade after taking out the Learning Space category. A striking Singaporean building with intersecting shapes and timber textures, School of Design and Environment 1 set itself apart with its hyper sustainable model and commitment to biophilic design.

In 2020, Sukasantai Farmstay by Goy Architects put local and community-led design front and centre. A family owned and run organic vegetable farm stay perched in the highlands of Gunung Gede, Sukabumi, Indonesia, the building is connected intimately to its name, with Sukasantai meaning “to enjoy relaxing, to take things slowly, and be in the moment”.

Providing a guide in creating buildings that work harmoniously with the landscape, Sukasantai Farmstay worked in with existing tree lines, orientating the space away from the road and instead framing views out into the surrounding bamboo valley.

Sukasantai Farmstay, by Goy Architects, photography by Fabian Ong.

Australian designers took home the accolade in 2018 and 2017, where Taylor & Hinds Architects and Smart Design Studio were recognised for projects that have now become iconic additions to Australian architecture.

Clad in charred Tasmanian timber with striking domed blackwood-lined interiors, krakani-lumi by Taylor and Hinds is a standing camp located in Tasmania’s North East National Park. Surrounded by dense wilderness and expansive skies, the camp fringes the Bay of Fires and is the first site of its kind to be entirely owned and operated by the Aboriginal Land Council.

Emerging out of the landscape, the darkened pavilions appear as shadows on the horizon and were designed to be resilient to the wild Tasmanian elements. Significantly, the proportion and materiality of the interiors of krakani-lumi are derived from the siting, form and qualities of traditional seasonal shelters of Tasmania’s first peoples, offering an important contribution to narratives of architecture that pays respect to their site and history.

krakani-lumi, by Taylor and Hinds Architects, photography by Adam Gibson.

Founding partner Zenith have supported the Best of the Best from the beginning, bringing a shared commitment to excellence and region-wide design solutions. As a company Zenith is unparalleled in providing architects and designers with products that enhance every project – from commercial to aged care through to education and hospitality.

Zenith’s unwavering commitment to being the best through great products, sustainable initiatives and an understanding of designers’ needs throughout the region makes its engagement with the Best Of The Best a perfect marriage.

Over the years, they have been front and centre as these awards were distributed, supporting not only the best of us, but those who they inspire.

“We are proud to be part of an awards program that brings the Indo-Pacific design industry together to celebrate as one,” says Zenith’s marketing and events manager, Ammie Marshall. “INDE is an awards program and platform that helps showcase the talent the industry and community has to offer to the rest of the world.

“As founding partner of the awards, we are proud to have been part of the INDE journey as we have witnessed so many outstanding projects, the best of which we have had the honour of presenting the annual Best Of The Best award.

“For the sixth annual INDE.Awards, we look forward to seeing how our most talented architects and designers are responding to an environment which is becoming increasingly challenging, where design continues to evolve as it surprises and amazes us.”

School of Design and Environment 1, Special Projects, by NUS School of Design and Environment with CPG Consultants, photography by Ong Chan Hao, Erik L’Heureux.

In 2022, the INDE.Awards looks to shine an even greater light on this accolade, with a shift in jury process and protocol to ensure our pinnacle of success is a true representation of the region’s own particularities.

While the pool of Best Of The Best nominees will still be comprised of winners from each of our categories, the process of selection will be done in a live jury day, where all jury members will be invited to openly discuss and select their chosen winner for 2022.

One of the 25-strong jury members in this year’s INDE.Awards, Sarah Bader, Ppincipal Gensler, Japan commented, “With companies ever more focused on environmental, social, and governance considerations, the value proposition of resilient design is undeniable.

“As governments at every level across the region continue to implement stricter regulations on emissions, designing for a more sustainable future protects the long-term viability of investments. I see design as a strategy in action and leveraging design’s power to generate innovative solutions that affect real transformation.”

This is achieved through great projects such as the Best Of The Best winners and our supporter Zenith.

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Entries to the 2022 INDE.Awards close on 10/03/2022 at 23:59 AEDT. Entries can be started, modified and submitted here and should be entered according to the Awards’ category criteria.