The judging panel for the 2014 Dulux Colour Awards has selected 76 finalists in this year’s search for the best use of Dulux paints to transform a space.

The awards, open to designers from Australia and New Zealand, recognise the imaginative use of colour by architects and interior designers to redefine a space.

The winners will be selected across nine categories: Commercial Interior, Commercial Exterior, Commercial Interior Refurbishment, Single Residential Interior, Single Residential Exterior, Single Residential Refurbishment, Multi Residential Interior, Multi Residential Exterior and Student. There will also be an overall Grand Prix award for the best among all the category winners.

As in previous years, the Commercial Interior category was the most popular category with 20 finalists selected. Single Residential Interior followed closely with 12; Commercial Exterior with 11; Commercial Interior Refurbishment and Student categories with eight each; Single Residential Exterior with five; and both the Multi Residential Exterior, Residential Interior Refurbishment and Multi Residential Interior categories named four finalists.

Dulux Colour Planning and Communication manager, Andrea Lucena-Orr, who was also part of the judging panel to select the finalists, says that 2013 was an inspirational year with submissions reflecting key commercial and residential trends.

“Volumes of bright yellow, orange, blue and greens dominated the Commercial Interior entries. Submissions strongly referenced the 80s with a fantastic mix of bold, clashing colours and geometric shapes, with entrants experimenting with use of colour for ceilings and door frames,” she says.

The finalists will be judged by a panel of leading designers and industry experts, including: Callum Fraser, architect and director of award-winning architecture firm, Elenberg Fraser; Geoffrey Carran, contemporary artist; Daimon Downey, musician, creative and entrepreneur; Daniel Dalla Riva, designer and director of 6 Hats and UNO; and Claire Sullivan, publisher and editor-in-chief of New Zealand publications, Denizen and Design.

Winners of the 2014 Dulux Colour Awards will be announced at a special event in Melbourne on Thursday 27 March.

www.dulux.com.au/colourawards