Winner: Housing project of the year 2023. Six leading Australian architecture firms have collaborated to create Nightingale Village in Melbourne, Australia.

This project is a zero-gas residential precinct located five kilometres from the Melbourne central business district (CBD).

Comprising 203 homes across six buildings with eight commercial tenancies at street level, Nightingale Village sets a new standard for sustainable, community-centred design in a high-density context.

Each building was designed according to the social, environmental and financial sustainability principles of Nightingale Housing.

The Melbourne-based organisation aims to reorient the broken Australian housing market away from real estate as an investor commodity – and towards providing quality homes that support sustainable living and community connection.

Judges comments: "This project exemplifies a new approach to housing, with a focus on society, community and wellbeing. With an emphasis on cooperative design to address the challenges of housing in our cities, the project presents different typologies for different types of people and families living together. The collaboration of the six architects on the project has added richness to the variety of materials and spaces, which are both generous and humane."

Studio: Architecture Architecture, Austin Maynard Architects, Breathe, Clare Cousins Architects, Hayball and Kennedy Nolan
Project: Nightingale Village