Home Design Magazine Announces Renovation of the Year 2025 Winners

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – Home Design magazine has officially revealed the winners of its Renovation of the Year awards 2025, celebrating the most impressive residential transformations across the country. This year’s entries highlighted a strong shift toward sustainable living, heritage preservation, and clever urban space management.

Overall winner: The Corner Shop

The top honour was awarded to “The Corner Shop” a project by Kister Architects. This project saw a derelict shopfront reimagined as a three-level urban sanctuary. The design uses glass blocks to provide privacy while flooding the interior with natural light through lightwells and internal courtyards.

The renovation is a transformation of a derelict corner shop into a three-level home that integrates urban living with nature. The home preserves its historical character while creating a sanctuary of greenery.

Runner-up: The Nest

Taking the runner-up position was “The Nest” by Cecilia Mazadiego. Originally a run-down poultry shed, the structure was rebuilt using recycled materials and concrete to create a modern cabin that blends country and modern aesthetics.

Category award winners

The 2025 awards also recognized excellence in specific design disciplines:

• Energy efficiency prize: Awarded to Heather Schwarz for the Bayside accessible bathroom. The project prioritized smart technology and improved airflow to create a functional, high-performance family space.
• Outdoors prize: Won by Missy and Matt Emery for the Emery cabin. The couple restored a storm-damaged Gold Coast cabin on a tight budget, integrating a new pool and rainforest-style landscaping.
• People’s choice award: Voted for by the public, this award went to David and Adele Burke for Peppercorn Residences. The renovation added luxurious finishes and subtle Celtic influences to a contemporary family home.

The volume and quality of home submissions this year was impressive. The judges had a difficult time picking the finalists and winner among such a high standard of entries.

Standout finalists

The 2025 shortlist included several projects that pushed the boundaries of residential design, including the Johnston home in North Narrabeen, the Allibone bathroom, and the heritage-focused Auburn Parade Residence in Hawthorn East.

The full list of winners and finalists is featured in the special flipbook issue of Home Design magazine.

About Home Design magazine

Home Design is a leading Australian publication dedicated to showcasing the latest trends in architecture, interior design, and home renovation. Home Design is unique in that both its content and distribution strategies target people with projects. Other home publications use recipes and celebrity to target a specific lifestyle, Home Design rather focuses exclusively on serving people with projects.

Home Design is not a lifestyle publication, but rather a pre-purchase research tool, packed with guidelines, stylish imagery and ideas. The magazine is also unique in that it reaches consumers via both traditional means as well as an extensive opt-in data network, ensuring that it reaches its target market at the time they have entered the market to undertake an interior or renovation project.

Home Design magazine is available through traditional retailers, plus on a controlled circulation basis to interior designers, architects and specifiers of residential projects.

Part of the Home Group, Home Design sits alongside Grand Designs Australia magazine, Kitchens & Bathrooms Quarterly, CompleteHome.com.au, magazine digital editions, plus numerous inbox and social media assets.

For more information or for an interview with Home Design Publisher Janice Williams, please contact Georgina Antoun on (02) 9805 0399