Introducing 2026 Interior Awards juror Koos de Keijzer

Melbourne-based Koos is a graduate of Eindhoven College of Know-how within the Netherlands, a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Architects and the founder and principal of DKO Structure. Throughout the previous 25 years, Koos has led the enlargement of DKO throughout seven studios in Australia, New Zealand, Vietnam and Indonesia, to a crew of greater than 300 workers. An award-winning architect and concrete designer, Koos is thought for his progressive design method and analysis into housing typologies. His work champions architectural integrity and the event of sustainable communities.

Do you could have a favorite inside?

Eileen Grey’s Villa E‑1027. It perches on the sting of the ocean and feels effortlessly related to the land. It jogs my memory of the houses that cling to the hills round Christchurch’s Port Hills like Mount Nice and Sumner. What I really like is how each house is curated with intent. I imagine Eileen Grey is among the most underrated designers of the twentieth century, and right here she has created a house the place type follows operate. It’s an extremely useful piece of design, but undeniably fairly. That readability, restraint and sense of function is inspiring. 

Is there a studio whose work you admire?

Herzog & de Meuron. I as soon as stayed on the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg and was struck by the sheer presence of the constructing. The way it sits on the harbour, how tactile its surfaces are, and the extent of element thought-about at each scale. Their structure manages to be monumental but delicate, and I discover that profoundly admirable.

What could be your dream inside mission?

It’s really one I’m dwelling in. My spouse and I’ve spent the final 5 years tinkering with the inside of our farmhouse in nation Victoria. The result’s a mid‑century, Italian‑impressed house overlooking the valley and ranges. I’m drawn to simplicity, authenticity and volumetric expression, and our house has develop into a canvas for exploring these concepts. I can think about persevering with to refine it (and revel in it) for a few years to come.

Is there any new considering you’re hoping to see within the future?

I’m more and more pushed by the chances throughout the reuse economic system. I’m notably keen on how materials circularity can develop into a artistic driver reasonably than a constraint. Recycled supplies carry tales, patina and texture that contribute to environment in a means new supplies typically can not. Our Arkadia mission in Sydney is Australia’s largest recycled‑brick constructing and it taught me that sustainability and wonder could be fully intertwined when materials reuse is intentional and celebrated. One other instance is certainly one of our main initiatives in New Zealand, which includes changing the previous council constructing in Hamilton right into a lodge whereas preserving the essence of its brutalist DNA. What excites me about this work is the chance to method the constructing not as a clean slate, however as a accomplice with its personal historical past, temperament and integrity. To me, this type of work represents the long run: designers performing as caretakers and interpreters, giving buildings the chance to evolve with out erasing their historical past.

What’s it you’re most wanting ahead to in judging the Inside Awards 2026?

What I really like about judging the Inside Awards is assembly a various group of proficient, usually youthful, practitioners working in contexts I haven’t labored in myself. Their ardour, curiosity, and talent to navigate the design course of to create real magnificence is extremely energising. It’s a privilege to interact with that stage of creativity.

Is there any recommendation you’d give to designers considering of getting into the awards?

One in every of my favorite phrases, and one I take advantage of usually, is ‘indefatigability’, which is actually the standard of being decided to do or obtain one thing; firmness on function. 

Click on right here for extra on the Inside Awards and right here to submit your initiatives to the 2026 Inside Awards earlier than Wednesday 29 April.