In recent years, the state of Victoria has witnessed a particular and intense focus on education. In the wake of the Victorian government’s ‘Education State’ reforms, there has been a stronger push for the design of more new schools – as well as the rejuvenation of old ones – than has been seen over the past few decades.

With school construction comes school design. This year, the Victorian School Design Awards will now doubt benefit from the boon of recently completed education architecture projects.

The government-backed awards initiative was reinstated last year, after a five-year hiatus. At the 2016 ceremony, it was Melbourne-based practice ClarkeHopkinsClarke that took out two of the major prizes.

This year, submissions are open to education architecture projects that were completed between January 2015 and June 2017. Awards are spread out across seven categories of achievement: Best Primary School, Best Secondary School, Best Combined or Special (Development) School, Best School Project Below $1m, Best School Project Between $1m and $5m, Best School Project Above $5m, and Ministerial Award for Best Use of Inclusive Design.

Entries to the 2017 Victorian School Design Awards close Friday 28 July. More information and the submission portal can be found on the awards site.