Meet the judges

Every year, the Grand Designs Australia Magazine: House of the Year Awards is professionally judged, scored and awarded based on design context, client brief, process and delivery. The Awards focus on good client outcomes as a point of difference among Architecture Awards and pride themselves on this. 

Our judging panel is comprised of four distinguished professionals each year, and will often change with each Awards season to introduce fresh perspectives and provide a diversity of input from industry. This year's judging panel is outlined below.

Anthony Burke (Grand Designs Australia TV Host and Editor At Large)

Anthony Burke is a professor of architecture and television presenter, who is best known for being the host of Grand Designs Australia since 2024. He is also currently a professor at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS). 

A graduate of Columbia University in New York (GSAPP), and UNSW, he was an Assistant Professor at the University of California Berkeley from 2002-2007 before returning to Australia as an Associate Professor and subsequently held the position of Head of Architecture, and Associate Dean International in the faculty of Design, Architecture and Building at UTS from 2010-2020. Having lived in Stockholm, Hong Kong, New York and San Francisco, Anthony is based in his home town of Sydney.  

Annie Tennant (Director, Design and Place at NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment) 

Originally trained as an architect and holding a Masters of Urban Design from UC Berkeley, Annie Tennant is Director, Design and Place at Placemaking NSW within the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment. She brings deep expertise in large-scale precinct regeneration, sustainable design, and creating inclusive, high-quality built environments.

Tamara Veltre (co-founder, Breathe Architecture)

Tamara Veltre is the co-founder of Breathe Architecture, and for more than two decades, she has played a central role in shaping the practice, leading its business operations, strategy and culture while contributing her design sensibility to its projects. Tamara is driven by a belief that design should be meaningful, beautiful and accessible to all. In 2014, she co-founded the Nightingale Model, a housing model founded on the principles of community, affordability, sustainability and resident wellbeing. She managed the development of the first Nightingale project and continues to provide strategic and operational leadership at Nightingale Housing.

Her work is grounded in a simple conviction: that the built environment has a profound impact on people and the planet, and that architects and developers have a responsibility to question what is right, what is fair and what is possible.

 

Timothy Moore (Curator of Contemporary Design and Architecture at the National Gallery of Victoria) 

Timothy Moore is Curator of Contemporary Design and Architecture at the National Gallery of Victoria, and co-founder of Sibling Architecture. His work at Sibling focuses on civic architecture, housing and the ways design can shape how we live. Sibling’s Stable House in Forest Lodge, Sydney, won the prestigious Wilkinson Award at the AIA NSW Awards. Timothy has served on the juries of the World Architecture Festival: Completed Villa category and The Age: Melbourne’s Most Beautiful Homes. He is also Associate Dean (Engagement) in the Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture at Monash University.