This year, in the boardroom of Stylecraft Sydney on level 24 of 100 William Street, Woolloomooloo, the hand-selected jury of the inaugural Habitus House of the Year initiative (Howard Tanner, Karen McCartney, Narelle Yabuka, Neil Burley and Raj Nandan) gathered for the first time in person.

Joined by myself, editor of Habitus, and founding editor Paul McGillick, and a spokesperson from each of the Major Sponsors – StylecraftHOME, Sub Zero Wolf, and Zip Water – the team was tasked with finalising their judging duties in identifying their overall Habitus House of Year, and two projects that exhibited Outstanding Integration of Environment, and Outstanding Interior Architecture respectively.

Amongst beautifully designed, innovative furniture and uninterrupted views north and west of Sydney, the inaugural selection of residential projects across the Indo-Pacfic was in highly designed good company.

Following a unanimous conclusion to the judging and the finalisation of the jury’s comments, the Habitus House of the Year collective was invited to reconvene on the ground floor on 100 William Street at the StylecraftHOME showroom for a well-deserved long lunch hosted by the StylecraftHOME team, catered by Cook & Waiter, and joined by selected members of the local architecture and design community.

Habitus couldn’t be prouder to have StylecraftHOME as a Major Sponsor for Habitus House of the Year. Furthermore, we’d like to sincerely thank the team for hosting us for the Habitus House of the Year Judging Day.

Photography by Derek Bogart.