Five projects have been recognised for using colour to shape identity, experience and place.
The world’s leading architects and interior designers increasingly recognise that colour is far more than a finishing touch. It is a design discipline that influences experience, supports function and brings ideas to life.
The Creative Colour Awards (CCA) celebrates projects that demonstrate exceptional mastery of colour in the built environment. Entries are evaluated not only on visual impact, but also on the strength of their colour narrative — how hue, tone and finish are used to support a design’s social, emotional and environmental objectives.
Now in its fourth edition, CCA 2026 was held in Bangkok, Thailand, alongside the AYDA International Awards 2025/2026 as part of Nippon Paint’s annual programme celebrating architecture, interior design and colour innovation.
The ceremony brought together leading figures from the architecture and design industry, including Christina Thean, principal partner at Park + Associates; Ekaphap Duangkaew, founder and director at EKAR Architects; Hideji Kanamori, CCD Tokyo representative and global managing partner at Cheng Chung Design (Tokyo); and returning jurors Lai Siew Hong, chief executive designer at Blu Water Studio, and Francesca Heathcote Sapey, partner and managing director at Teresa Sapey + Partners.
CCA 2026 received 257 submissions from 16 countries and territories, reflecting the growing recognition of colour as a core element of design thinking rather than a purely aesthetic consideration.
The calibre of entries led the jury not to award a Grand Prix winner in 2026, saying each shortlisted project demonstrated a distinct and equally compelling approach to the use of colour.
Instead, the awards recognised outstanding colour-led design across five specialist categories.
The winning projects
OWAA Architects from Singapore won the Architectural Best in Corporate and Commercial Exterior award for HHOM — Nurse Hostel, which transformed a former 10-storey school building into a 250-bed nurses’ hostel. The project uses colour to reflect the diversity of nurses’ uniforms in Singapore, creating a visual expression of unity among healthcare workers from different backgrounds.
Kontra of Turkey received the Interior Design Best in Corporate and Commercial Interior award for Epoca. Designed for a younger audience, the project draws inspiration from Latin American culture, colour and traditions of communal gathering, using a soft but distinctive palette to create a memorable identity.
Flo by Sansiri of Thailand won the Architectural Best in Residential Exterior category for a condominium development in Bangkok’s Khlong San district. The project references the area’s brick-making heritage through a signature brick-orange palette.
Kaizen Architecture from Singapore earned the Interior Design Best in Residential Interior award for Matou House, an additions-and-alterations project for a semi-detached residence. A terracotta-red stairwell forms the visual and emotional centre of the home, using colour to shape movement and spatial perception.
Murali Architects of India, the 2025 Grand Prix winner, received the Best in Public Spaces award for The Harvee School in Kuniyamuthur. Vibrant colours are used throughout the school to help children navigate and engage with the space, creating an environment designed to encourage curiosity and discovery.
The apex of artistry: Celebrating creative colour excellence
In its four years, the CCA has established itself as a benchmark for colour excellence in spatial design — a platform the architecture and interior design industry can look to for examples of how purposeful, innovative use of colour can shape the built environment.
While broader design competitions evaluate colour as one consideration among many, the CCA is built on the belief that colour, when deployed with intent, is a design discipline in its own right and deserves to be assessed as such.
Through its judging criteria, international jury and global diversity of entries, the awards have helped position Nippon Paint at the centre of an industry-wide conversation: that colour is fundamental to design and can shape how people experience and interpret space.
“The Creative Colour Awards celebrates those who understand the transformative power of colour,” said Jo-Lynn Yap, senior manager, group colour leadership at NIPSEA Group. “We believe colour is not merely seen; it is experienced, interpreted and strategically applied to shape the spaces and facades around us.”
“I am particularly pleased to see the Creative Colour Awards take place in Thailand this year,” said Duangkaew. “Thailand’s rich cultural heritage reflects the enduring power of colour, from its architecture and craftsmanship to its vibrant festivals and public spaces, making it a fitting backdrop for a platform dedicated to colour excellence.”
Sapey added: “Historically, colour has always shaped how civilisations express identity… The most compelling submissions this year were not those where colour was applied last. They were the ones where colour was part of the thinking from the very beginning.”
Thean said: “Good colour is not about making something look interesting. It is about creating a feeling, reinforcing an idea, or helping people connect with a place. Like materials, light and proportion, colour is part of the architectural language.”
Kanamori said: “As a juror, beautiful is never enough — colour must solve. When colour helps people intuitively understand a space and remember it meaningfully, it moves from surface to substance. That is what separates the outstanding submissions from the rest, and that is the standard CCA holds the industry to.”
Submissions for the CCA 2027 will open later this year.
All images courtesy of NIPSEA Group.
