2025 Sustainability Awards winners trophies come out on top for circularity design

Autex Acoustics have long been pioneers in sustainable acoustic design, transforming waste into beauty – and this year, they’ve outdone themselves. Not only did they create the incredible ‘jungle tunnel’ entry installation and the awards’ presenters lectern, but for the very first time, they’ve also crafted the Sustainability Awards trophies.

According to Martina Kramer, Autex Australia National Marketing Manager, the 2025 Sustainability Awards Platinum Sponsor, and the company responsible for designing and manufacturing this year’s Sustainability Awards trophies, lectern and entrance tunnel, their certified and unique supply chain management “gives each trophy a genuinely sustainable foundation”.

Above: Clémence Carayol (left) & Branko Miletic, Digital Editor and Editor (respectively) of Architecture & Design announcing the Best of the Best winner at the 2025 Sustainability Awards (sponsored by Autex Acoustics ) at the lectern designed and manufactured by Autex Acoustics. Photo: Alec Bruce-Mason.

 

A&D: What renewable, recycled, or certified-sustainable materials will be used for the trophies, and how are these materials traced to ensure transparent, ethical sourcing?

Martina Kramer (MK): The trophies are made from Cube, our acoustic panels made from 100% PET, with a minimum of 80% recycled content sourced from plastic bottles diverted from landfill. Our supply chain is guided by strict environmental and social responsibility criteria, allowing us to verify the origin, quality, and circularity of all materials before they enter production. This gives each trophy a genuinely sustainable foundation.

A&D: How does the trophy’s design minimise material usage and waste while still creating a visually distinctive symbol of sustainability leadership?

MK: Our idea was to use our own sustainable acoustic panels, which have the highest possible recycled content (a minimum of 80%) and are carbon neutral. Manufactured in a carbon neutral operation, the trophies are truly carbon neutral as well.

 

A&D: What low-impact or carbon-reduced manufacturing processes (e.g., energy-efficient production, local fabrication, waste-minimising techniques) will be employed to create the trophies?

MK: Our trophies are designed in-house and manufactured locally. The shapes are created using digitally optimised nesting and cutting patterns, which minimise offcuts and material waste. All offcuts generated during fabrication are captured and recycled back into the manufacturing stream, giving the process a genuinely circular footprint.

 

A&D: How can the trophies be reused, recycled, or safely returned to the maker at end-of-life to support a circular materials lifecycle?

MK: Disassembly plays an important role in supporting circular design, and this principle has been incorporated into our trophy design. They can be easily disassembled and returned to us, where we feed the components back into our pelletising process to create new accessory pieces.

On the night, a total of 19 awards were given out, with the Best of the Best winner going to Breakout Creek, by TCL with Green Adelaide, city of Charles Sturt, and city of West Torrens, a category which was also sponsored by Autex Acoustics, and was selected from among all the categories based on both sustainable outcomes and aesthetics and/or innovative design principles.

Main Image: The SA2025 trophy. Source: Autex Australia.

Below: Original sketches of the SA2025 trophy design. Source: Autex Australia.