History of the Awards

In 1982, as the property industry gathered to present its first annual awards for excellence and innovation, many of the buildings that now shape our skylines, bring life to our cities and energy to local economies were still distant dreams or sketches on the drawing board.

Since then, the Property Council of Australia (originally the Builders Owners and Managers Association) has been recognising and rewarding excellence. And Rider Levett Bucknall has been the proud sponsor and supporter of the awards program for each of these 40 years. In 1991, the Property Council’s state-based award programs were amalgamated into a national program to recognise excellence across the country. From 1991, the Rider Levett Bucknall Australian Development of the Year has been presented to some of the nation’s most iconic buildings: 1991 Advance Bank Centre, ACT 1992 1 O’Connell Street, Sydney 1993 Carindale Shopping Centre, Brisbane and 120 Collins Street, Melbourne 1994 Pacific Fair Shopping Centre, Gold Coast 1995 Governor Phillip Tower, Sydney 1996 Whitford City Shopping Centre, Perth 1997 St Patrick’s Estate, Manly 1998 Network 10 Headquarters, Sydney 1999 Admiralty Quays, Brisbane 2000 Riverside Corporate Park, North Ryde 2001 Martin Place, Sydney 2002 Aurora Place, Sydney 2003 120 Edward Street, Brisbane 2004 University Square, Melbourne University 2005 30 The Bond, Sydney 2006 Lyell McEwin Hospital Redevelopment, Adelaide 2007 Deutsche Bank Place, Sydney 2008 Riparian Plaza, Brisbane 2009 Rouse Hill Town Centre, NSW 2010 One Shelley Street, Sydney 2011 ANZ Centre, Melbourne 2012 Fairfax Media House, Melbourne 2013 Darling Quarter and Commonwealth Bank Place, Sydney 2014 Brookfield Place, Perth 2015 8 Chifley, Sydney 2016 50 Martin Place, Sydney 2017 5 Martin Place, Sydney 2018 Barangaroo South, Barangaroo 2019 International House Sydney, Barangaroo 2020 Investa’s Barrack Place, Sydney 2021 Burwood Brickworks Shopping Centre, Victoria In 2006 our awards program evolved once more, rebranded as the Innovation & Excellence Awards to celebrate leading-edge practice and inspire innovation within our industry.

Excellence was recognised across 12 categories:

• Office Developments • Shopping Centre Developments • Emerging Assets • Tourism and Leisure Developments • Business or Industrial Parks • Residential Development • Government Leadership • Heritage & Adaptive Reuse • Master Planned Communities • Mixed Use Development • Public Buildings • Sustainable Developments As Australian cities continue to expand, our industry responds to myriad challengers — from delivering affordable housing to supporting Australians as they age, and from improving the environmental sustainability or buildings or creating a rich and diverse workforce.

As a result, a number of new categories have been introduced. In 2007, we began to recognise our next generation of talent through Future Leader of the Year Award. In 2010, the Retirement Living and office Workplace categories were introduced, and the following year the Sustainable Development category was expanded to recognise the different approaches taken on new and existing buildings. In 2012, the Award for Innovation first gained its moment in the spotlight and has since transformed into two awards: one for Project Innovation and another for Development Innovation. The Award for Best affordable Housing Development was presented in 2015, while the Award for Diversity, introduced in 2016, has been split into two categories in 2017 in response to the number of entries.

In 2022, the Award for Best Public Art Project was revived to commemorate the 40-year celebration of the awards and the longstanding partnership with Rider Levett Bucknall and the Property Council.

While the categories and number of entrants have grown, and the quality and sophistication of the entries have increased, the underlying aim of the awards remains the same: to support and showcase the developments creating brilliant places for all Australians.