St Kilda pier wins top Victorian architecture awards

The reimagined St Kilda pier swept major prizes at the 2026 Australian Institute of Architects’ Victorian awards. The $53m Victorian government project, redesigned by Jackson Clements Burrows Architects with Site Office Landscape Architecture and AW Maritime, won the Victorian architecture medal, the Dimity Reed Melbourne prize and the Joseph Reed award for urban design.

In March it was co-winner in the built outcomes category at the national Urban Design awards. Judges praised the redevelopment for balancing the demands of tourists, locals, fishers, ferries, marina users — and even the penguins. The project has weathered controversy, including an aborted attempt by Parks Victoria to introduce pay-per-view access to the pier’s resident penguin colony.

“The project demonstrates how complex infrastructure can also become playful, social and deeply civic,” the jury said. Sustainability, resource efficiency and community-minded public design featured strongly across the awards.

Australia, St Kilda, Victoria

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