A giant eel-pot installation, a beautifully restored opera house and a bold future-proof secondary school are among the winners at the 2016 Resene Total Colour Awards, announced at a gala evening in Wellington on Thursday 8 September.

This year, the Nightingale Colour Master winner is Tarawera High School in Kawerau by Richard Naish of RTA Studio. Colours in the new school buildings bring together four key elements of the area’s history, culture and natural environment: the mountain and forest, the river, the coast and the land.

Wellington architect John Mills, whose career has embraced colour in his architecture for many decades, won the 2016 Lifetime Achievement Award. 

Nick Nightingale, Resene managing director, says: “It’s always a privilege to see how architecture and design professionals create new combinations of Resene colours each year, bringing out the best in their projects. With clever and adventurous use of colour in so many projects, the judges had a difficult task narrowing down the entries to just a few winners.”

Full list of winners and runners-up, including videos with judges citations, below:

Nightingale Colour Master Award:

Tarawera High School, Kawerau by RTA Studio
Richard Naish

Nightingale Colour Master Maestro Award:

Daughter of the Swamp, Snells Beach, Northland
Alexander Sacha Milojevic, Raphaela Rose, Ryan Mahon and Edward Roberts

Residential Exterior Award:

Seafield Apartments Exterior Refurbishment, Milford, Auckland by XSite Architects
Malcolm Taylor

Residential Interior Award:

Saddle Hill House, Tawa by Aonui Architecture

Residential Interior Colour Maestro Award:

Huntly Road House, Campbells Bay, Auckland by Masonry Design Solutions
Mark Wilson

Installation–Experiential–Product Award:

Daughter of the Swamp, Snells Beach, Northland
Alexander Sacha Milojevic, Raphaela Rose, Ryan Mahon and Edward Roberts

Rising Star – Student Award:

Don’t Play with your Food! exhibit for the Sydney Design Festival by Harry + Matt
Harriet Beex and Matthew Torr

Landscape Award:

Learn to Ride – Avondale Racecourse, Auckland by Studio106 Architect

Landscape Colour Maestro Award:

Meet the Locals – He Tuku Aroha, Wellington Zoo by Isthmus Group

and

Porirua CBD, Wellington by Isthmus Group

Heritage Award:

The Opera House Wellington, Centenary upgrade by Shand Shelton
Mitchell Burrows

Heritage Colour Maestro Award:

Sir Geoffrey Peren building, Palmerston North by Studio Pacific Architecture

Neutrals Award:

Riverview House, Sydney by Nobbs Radford Architects

Neutrals Colour Maestro Award:

Paddington Corner Terrace, Sydney by hungerford+edmunds architects

Commercial Exterior Award:

The Wedge, Rawene, Northland by David Truscott and Gaynor Revill

Commercial Exterior Maestro Award:

Oceans Resort, Tutukaka, Northland by On the Edge Design
Richard Cranenburgh

Commercial Interior Office Award:

Plant & Food Research, Sandringham, Auckland by Creative Spaces Limited
Charnay Mouldey

Commercial Interior Public + Retail Award:

Hindu Temple Building project, Brisbane by AKVA Chem Consultant
N. Ketheeswaran

Commercial Interior Public + Retail Colour Maestro Award:

Bar Machiavelli, Sydney by Jason Mowen

Education Award:

Tarawera High School, Kawerau by RTA Studio
Richard Naish

Education Colour Maestro Award:

Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Ngāti Kahungunu o Te Wairoa by RTA Studio
Richard Naish

Lifetime Achievement Award:

John Mills