The Australian Institute of Architects has named 46 winners in its annual awards, ranging from a brightly coloured hospital to a house split up into a "village" of blocks and a new home for the Melbourne School of Design (+ slideshow).

Australia's National Awards for architecture recognise the best examples of contemporary architecture across 14 categories, including one for international projects. This year the awards, which have been running since 1981, received more than 860 entries.

The jury was chaired by the Institute's last president David Karotkin and selected the projects from a shortlist of 185 regional AIA Chapter Architecture Awards winners that were announced earlier this year.

Winners include a rememberance monument in Melbourne, which has taken 15 years to deliver, and a "very small, neglected barn" in Hobart that was converted into a family home. Called #thebarnTAS, the renovation won both the main prize for a small project and a heritage award.

"The historic structure has been lovingly retained – even its original shingles have been scrupulously cleaned and now form a ceiling to the upper mezzanine bedroom," said a statement from the jury. "This is an excellent example of how the limits and challenges of heritage and conservation can encourage inventive solutions."

A rammed-earth equestrian centre was among the commended projects, as was Medibank, an office building conceived to be the healthiest workplace in the world, which also named office interior of the year at the Inside Festival this week.

The winners were announced on November 5 at a ceremony at the University of Queensland Advanced Engineering Building in Brisbane, which won three AIA awards last year.

In March, the AIA named "lyrical technologist" Peter Stutchbury as the 2015 recipient of its gold medal, the country's most prestigious architecture award.

The full list of winners from the AIA National Awards:

Commercial architecture

» Harry Seidler Award – 50 Martin Place by JPW
» National Award – The GPT Group's Wollongong Central by HDR Rice Daubney
» National Commendation - Equestrian Centre, Merricks, by Seth Stein Architects (London) in association with Watson Architecture + Design (Melbourne)

Educational architecture

» Daryl Jackson Award – Melbourne School of Design, The University of Melbourne by John Wardle Architects & NADAAA in collaboration
» National Award – UTS Science Faculty, Building 7 by Durbach Block Jaggers Architects & BVN
» National Commendation – Camperdown Childcare by CO-AP
» National Commendation – Jeffrey Smart Building, University of South Australia by John Wardle Architects in association with Phillips/Pilkington Architects

Enduring architecture

» National Enduring Architecture Award – Council House by Howlett & Bailey
Architects

Heritage

» Lachlan Macquarie Award – Irving Street Brewery by Tzannes Associates
» National Award – The Abbey, Johnston Street, Annandale by Design 5
» National Award – Coriyule by Bryce Raworth & Trethowan Architecture
» National Award – #thebarnTAS by workbylizandalex

Interior architecture

» Emil Sodersten Award – Bankstown Library and Knowledge Centre by Francis-Jones Morehen Thorp
» National Award – The University of Queensland Global Change Institute by Hassell
» National Commendation – Medibank by Hassell

International Architecture

» Jørn Utzon Award – Pico Branch Library, USA, by Koning Eizenberg Architecture Inc.
» Australian Award – Aman, Tokyo, by Kerry Hill Architects
» Australian Award - Gloucestershire Garden Room, UK, by Robert Grace Architecture

Public architecture

» Sir Zelman Cowen Award – Shrine of Remembrance – Galleries of Remembrance by ARM Architecture
» National Award – Adelaide Oval Redevelopment by Cox Architecture, Walter Brooke and Hames Sharley
» National Commendation – Lady Cilento Children's Hospital by Conrad Gargett Lyons
» National Commendation – Fiona Stanley Hospital – Main Hospital Building by The Fiona Stanley Hospital Design Collaboration (comprising Hassell, Hames Sharley and Silver Thomas Hanley)
» National Commendation - Margaret Court Arena by NH Architecture + Populous

Residential architecture – houses (alterations and additions)

» Eleanor Cullis-Hill Award – Tower House by Andrew Maynard Architects
» National Award – Local House by MAKE Architecture
» National Award – Orama by Smart Design Studio
» National Commendation – Walter Street Terrace by David Boyle Architect

Residential architecture – houses (new)

» Robin Boyd Award – Planchonella House by Jesse Bennett Architect Builder
» National Award – Light House by Peter Stutchbury Architecture
» National Award – Sawmill House by Archier
» National Award – Villa Marittima, St Andrews Beach, by Robin Williams Architect
» National Award – Balmoral House by Clinton Murray + Polly Harbison

Residential architecture – multiple housing

» Frederick Romberg Award – Upper House by Jackson Clements Burrows Architects
» National Award – Studios 54 by Hill Thalis Architecture + Urban Projects

Small Project Architecture

» Nicholas Murcutt Award – #thebarnTAS by workbylizandalex
» National Commendation – LOVESTORY shop by MORQ
» National Commendation - Moonlight Cabin by Jackson Clements Burrows Architects

Sustainable Architecture

» David Oppenheim Award – The University of Queensland Global Change Institute by Hassell
» National Award – Bethanga House by tUG workshop
» National Award – Library at The Dock by Clare Design + Hayball
» National Commendation – Sustainable Buildings Research Centre (SBRC) – University of Wollongong by COX Richardson
» National Commendation – Cameraygal (formerly Dunbar building) by NSW Government Architect's Office

Urban Design

» Walter Burley Griffin Award – NewActon Precinct by Fender Katsalidis Architects
» National Award - Monash University North West Precinct by Jackson Clements Burrows Architects in collaboration with MGS Architects (masterplan)