Wood Marsh Architecture Prize winner announced

Inspiring emerging architects and guiding the next generation, this year’s recipient, Annabelle Shaw, will explore urgent housing challenges and how architecture can empower communities.

Renowned Australian architecture practice Wood Marsh and The Department of Architecture at Monash University are proud to announce Bachelor of Architectural Design student Annabelle Shaw as the recipient of the 2025 Wood Marsh Architecture Prize, an annual award recognising outstanding emerging undergraduate talent in architecture and supporting early-career experiences through travel and mentorship.

Now in its fourth year, the Wood Marsh Architecture Prize reflects the values of the acclaimed practice founded by Roger Wood and Randal Marsh. Awarded annually at the MADA Now Graduate exhibition launch event and valued at $25,000, it is one of Australia’s most significant architecture prizes. Since its inception, the Prize has provided a total of $100,000 in funding to Monash Bachelor of Architectural Design students, supporting the next generation of architects and encouraging bold, critical, and creative thinking. This year, Shaw’s research proposal addresses urgent housing challenges in Melbourne and Australia, exploring how architecture can empower residents and strengthen community resilience.

—“We have always drawn inspiration from our travels, and the Wood Marsh Architecture Prize was established to allow emerging architects to explore and learn beyond the studio and to see the world, challenge convention, and be guided by those with experience,” said Roger Wood and Randal Marsh, Founders of Wood Marsh. “The recipient, Annabelle Shaw, will pursue her interests in investigating global models of successful housing projects that prioritise care, diversity, and collective agency, and how these ideas can influence and translate into the Australian context. We are proud to partner with the Department of Architecture at Monash Art, Design and Architecture (MADA) to help cultivate the next generation of architectural thinkers and designers.”

—Professor Erik L’Heureux, Head of the Department of Architecture, MADA adds:

“This partnership with Wood Marsh is an extraordinary opportunity for our students. The prize not only recognises design excellence, it meaningfully expands our students’ professional and cultural horizons through travel-based research. It is an inspiring initiative—one that reflects the generosity, ambition, and vision of Wood Marsh, and the kind of outward-looking architectural education we aspire to cultivate at Monash.”

—Annabelle Shaw, recipient of the Prize commented: “Receiving the Wood Marsh Architecture Prize is an incredible privilege. I’m excited to learn from international models of housing that prioritise community and wellbeing, and to translate those insights into meaningful architectural practice at home. My sincere thanks to Wood Marsh and Monash University for enabling this journey.”

This year’s judging

The 2025 Wood Marsh Architecture Prize awarded to Annabelle Shaw was commended by the jury for her exceptional and clearly articulated research proposal, which demonstrates a deep commitment to community-centred, socially driven housing design. Her work shows a mature alignment between research question, portfolio, and a rigorously planned European itinerary that examines leading models of social, cooperative, and community-governed housing.

Shaw’s targeted visits to projects in Barcelona, Nantes, Bordeaux, Berlin, Hamburg, and Vienna reflect a focused and methodologically robust approach to understanding how international exemplars can inform more equitable and resilient housing in Australia.

As well as selecting this year’s prize winner, the judging panel also commended two outstanding submissions: Adrianna Kure, for a proposal distinguished by its deeply sensitive and personal engagement with mental health as a lens for architectural inquiry; and Lachlan McDonald, whose ambitious travel proposal charts a compelling journey through Eastern Bloc countries to investigate Soviet mid-20th-century modernism.

The judging panel comprised

  • Chair, Professor Erik L’Heureux, Head of Department, Architecture, MADA
  • Lachlan Anderson, Director, Wood Marsh
  • Matthew Bird, Associate Professor, Department of Architecture, MADA
  • Danielle Peck, Practice-Focused Lecturer, and Founding Director, Architecture Associates, and Industry Fellow, Department of Architecture, MADA
  • Jhana Pfeiffer-Hunt, Education Focused, Senior Lecturer, Department of Architecture, MADA

Since its commencement in 2022, the Wood Marsh Architecture Prize has reflected the shared commitment of Wood Marsh and Monash University’s Department of Architecture to cultivate creativity, innovation, and leadership within Australia’s architectural community. Previous winners include Mitchell Grant (2022), Gabriel-Ange Irenge Bachiyunve (2023), and Ashley Jayne Chee (2024), each recognised for their holistic excellence across outstanding creativity and critical engagement with contemporary architectural practice.

This article was originally published on Wood Marsh Architecture.