We’re just two weeks away from our early bird deadline (and a month until your do-or-die one!), so there’s no better time to get organized and ready to enter our 2026 Western Living Designers of the Year awards.

Each entry comes with a ticket to our big awards party in September at Inform Interiors. New this year: we’ll be live-announcing the finalists at Thermador on June 17!

Have any questions? Drop us a line at [email protected], and we’re happy to help you through the process.

In the meantime, we’re thrilled to announce the first of our Western Living Designers of the Year judging panels. First up is our esteemed architecture panel—entering our Western Living Designers of the Year offers a rare opportunity to have your work assessed by these world-renowned architects.

Enter now!

The 2026 Western Living Designers of the Year Architecture Judges

Alfred Waugh, Formline Architecture + Urbanism

Alfred V. Waugh emerges as a trailblazing Indigenous architect in Canada, renowned for innovative designs that honor cultural and environmental values. Born in Yellowknife to an English-heritage prospector father and a Fond du Lac Denesuline mother, he cherished summers on Great Slave Lake, fostering his independent creativity.

Graduating with a Urban and Regional Analysis degree from Lethbridge (1989) and honours in architecture from UBC (1993)—as its first full-status Indigenous alumnus—Waugh designed the award-winning Nicola Valley Institute of Technology at Busby Perkins + Will, securing a 2004 Governor-General’s Medal.

Through Formline Architecture + Urbanism, founded in 2005, he defines contemporary Indigenous architecture. Highlights include the Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre (2009), First Peoples House at UVic (2010) and the UBC Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre (2022 Governor-General’s Medal winner), lauded for material symbolism and inclusivity.

In 2025, his firm advances the Indigenous House at UTSC—under construction, shaping architecture trends—and Saskatoon’s New Central Library, with mass timber progress underscoring sustainable innovation and the award of the commission to redesign the Vancouver Art Gallery with KPMB.  Waugh’s work inspires diverse communities, bridging Indigenous ways of knowing and western knowledge.

Fernanda Marques, Fernanda Marques Arquitetura 

A graduate of the prestigious Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism of São Paulo, FAU USP, Fernanda Marques’ career follows the same conceptual line that characterized her formative years: the integrated exercise of the various disciplines.

Architecture, interior and product design are the focus of activity at the office of São Paulo architect Fernanda Marques, located in Vila Olímpia, in São Paulo. In all these segments, the maintenance of a unique style: refined and contemporary, in perfect harmony with the best of national and international art and design.

A reality attested in residence Malibu and Barbizon, São Paulo, New York, Miami, London, and Lisbon. From idyllic beachfront homes to large real estate developments. From showrooms for renowned brands – such as Ermenegildo Zegna, John John and L’Occitane – to successful participation in the main Brazilian interior design shows.

It is this multidisciplinary attitude, combined with a renewed appetite for the new, that makes her one of the main names operating in the national and, more recently, international scene. Reality, incidentally, attested by important international awards recently awarded to the architect.

With a remarkable performance, as was well bought by the numerous international awards won by her office, design is now a growing area in the architect’s portfolio. Initially motivated to create furniture to compose her interior projects, Fernanda today prints her signature on a vast category of products: from furniture to cement coatings, from jewelry to ceramic pieces.

Collector and promoter of contemporary art, she was a member of the Acquisitions Committee of the Tate Modern gallery, in London, for Latin America.

Kelly Buffey OAA, FRAIC, Akb Architects

Kelly Buffey is an internationally recognized Canadian architect known for the experiential depth and quiet artistry of her work. As founder and creative director of Toronto-based Akb Architects, she is acclaimed for her conceptual rigour and refined, sensory approach to design. Grounded in a profound respect for people and place, her architecture transcends typology, giving form to the ephemeral and intangible qualities of light, space and time.

Since founding Akb in 2004 with her partner Robert Kastelic, the bespoke studio has been recognized for its thoughtful residential projects in both urban and rural settings, garnering numerous awards and features in national and international publications.

Kelly holds a Master of Architecture degree from the University of Toronto, a Bachelor of Applied Arts in Interior Design from Toronto Metropolitan University and a Baccalaureate from Queen’s University. In 2017, Kelly was bestowed a Fellowship from the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada.