Entertainment · Books & Arts · 4 hrs ago
Alice Springs architect Susan Dugdale wins Australian architecture gold medal
Alice Springs architect Susan Dugdale has won the 2027 Australian Institute of Architects gold medal, the profession’s highest honour in Australia.
The award recognises her contribution to architecture over decades and places her among past winners including Jørn Utzon, who designed the Sydney Opera House.
Dugdale opened her own practice in 2000 and has focused on buildings shaped by regional places and cultures.
Her firm’s Congress Mparntwe Health Hub in Alice Springs won five Northern Territory awards earlier this year.
The hub brings together staff who had been working at different locations around town.
It is the first and only building in the Northern Territory with a six-star green rating, the top rating mentioned in the story.
Its design includes ways to reduce energy and water use, and it was built above the Todd River’s 100-year flood level after nearby buildings flooded earlier this year.
The sources do not say what happens next.
Alice Springs architect Susan Dugdale has won the Australian Institute of Architects’ gold medal for 2027, the profession’s highest honour.
The award recognises her contribution to Australian architecture after decades of work.
Dugdale opened her own practice, Susan Dugdale Architects, in 2000.
Her firm’s Congress Mparntwe Health Hub in Alice Springs won five Northern Territory awards earlier in the year.
The hub is the first and only building in the Northern Territory to receive a six-star green rating.
- Who
- Susan Dugdale, founder of Susan Dugdale Architects.
- What
- She won the Australian Institute of Architects’ gold medal for 2027.
- When
- The article was published on November 5, 2026. The medal is for 2027.
- Where
- Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Australia.
- Why
- The award recognises her outstanding contribution to Australian architecture.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Dugdale opened her own architecture practice.
Susan Dugdale Architects won five Northern Territory awards for the Congress Mparntwe Health Hub.
Dugdale spoke with ABC Radio Alice Springs about winning the gold medal.
The Australian Institute of Architects gold medal was awarded to Dugdale for this year.
- Medal
- Australian Institute of Architects gold medal for 2027
- Architect
- Susan Dugdale
- Practice opened
- 2000
- Project
- Congress Mparntwe Health Hub, Alice Springs
- Northern Territory awards
- Five wins earlier in 2026
- Green rating
- Six stars
What people are saying
I must say, I was pretty gobsmacked and surprised to win this award
To achieve the certification for once it's constructed is a whole next level, so it means everyone was on-board … and we had to really work hard to achieve that
Her work has been dedicated to crafting regional built form, woven across dry desert plains to wet tropics and extreme heat