Nominations for the 2026 UDIA WA Awards for Excellence program are now open, providing an opportunity for the property industry to celebrate the very best projects, teams and people from across the industry in Western Australia.
The 2026 State awards are a pathway to recognition on a national stage, with winners from the state awards eligible for the National Awards for Excellence.
Just last week, four WA state winners were awarded National Awards for Excellence across four diverse categories:
- Seniors Living: Piara Waters Lifestyle Village by Providence Lifestyle Group
- Sustainability: Brabham Estate by DevelopmentWA, Peet and Perron Group
- Affordable Housing: Karda Way, OneOneFive Hamilton Hill by DevelopmentWA
- Diversity in Development: Zenith Energy
WA awards legacy
Launched in 1995, the UDIA WA awards program has been running for over three decades, and over that time, several iconic projects have been recognised, including Ellenbrook which won an award at the very first Awards for Excellence and has since been awarded several times including most recently in 2025 in the Masterplanned Community category.
Ellenbrook is an iconic project, not just in Western Australia, but globally, and it has evolved over three decades into a vibrant, diverse community of over 35,000 residents and is testament to the legacy of community creation.
Another stalwart of the UDIA awards program is Nigel Satterley, with Satterley’s residential community, The Avenues, located in Canningvale, winning in the inaugural ‘Residential Development under 1000 lots’ category.
On reflecting on his 30-year involvement in the award program, Mr Satterley said “this industry is very important, and Western Australia can be proud of what we do in delivering enduring, vibrant and liveable communities that enable much needed housing for our population.”
The awards are not just about industry recognition, the award winners seal is also a great way for new home buyers to easily identify quality development projects, given the program is widely regarded as the pinnacle achievement in community creation, innovation and sustainability.
Delivering housing choice
The award winners and finalists are recognised for delivering outstanding and industry-leading projects and the program includes a range of categories that reflect the diverse range of housing choices that are available to buyers in a broad range of locations across Perth, Peel and the regions.
Categories include masterplanned and residential subdivisions in new areas, as well as medium density town homes and high-density apartment living, and features such as community facilities, social infrastructure and sustainability are also celebrated.
The highest honour is the Russel Perry Award for Urban Development Excellence, with the winner chosen from all category winners on the night.
Last year’s Russel Perry award went to Providence Lifestyle Group for their Piara Waters Lifestyle Resort, highlighting the growing appeal of dedicated senior’s living housing options in the WA market.
With an aging population and more people looking for secure, low maintenance lifestyle options, Piara Waters is an exemplar of outstanding quality in design and delivery and the sense of pride within the community made this project a clear stand out.
This was the second year running that a Senior’s Living category winner has gone on to win the ultimate award, with Curtin Heritage Living taking out the Russel Perry award last year and then also going on to win at the UDIA National awards.
While Piara Waters was the overall winner last year, the individual, team and other project winners for 2025 all reflect the quality, innovation and design excellence that the West Australian development industry is known for delivering across the state.
As I mentioned earlier in this article, Piara Waters and three other 2025 state winners went on to win on the national stage earlier this year.
WA has a fantastic track record at the national awards.
In 2025 Curtin Heritage Living took home top honours along with Director of the Department of Treasury’s Housing Supply Unit, Emma Colombera, who won the Women in Leadership Award.
The Construction Training Fund (CTF), led by CEO Tiffany Allen, was also recognised for their commitment to diversity in Western Australia, winning in the national Diversity Award category.
In previous years, WA projects including ONE Subiaco by Blackburne, Exchange at Curtin University and Witchcliffe Ecovillage have all won on the state and national stage, reflecting the high quality, innovative and diverse projects we are delivering here.
The people behind the projects
Beyond project awards, nominations are open to teams and individuals in categories including Team of the Year, Local Government Authority of the Year, Diversity in Development, Women in Leadership and Young Leaders.
Recognising the people that drive this industry, our Women in Leadership (WIL) and Young Leaders awards continue to attract a high calibre of nominees.
Previous winners of the WIL award include IWA Chair Nicole Lockwood, Development Director Tanya Trevisan, Planner Tamara Vreeken and Construction Training Fund CEO Tiffany Allen.
Our Team of the Year category is relatively new, and was won in 2025 by Cedar Woods, who have built a high performing team grounded in enduring values and a clear purpose to deliver better communities in Western Australia.
Don’t miss you or your organisation’s opportunity to receive well deserved recognition.
Nominations for the 2026 WA Awards for Excellence are open until the 19 June when we will release our Nominated Projects booklet that showcases all the incredible projects in the running this year, before we announce the winners at our 2026 UDIA WA Awards for Excellence Gala Dinner in September.
Visit our website for more information on award categories and how to enter here.
By Tanya Steinbeck
