EF Auckland Wins Double Silver at New Zealand Design Awards

EF Auckland has been recognised at Designers Institute of New Zealand Best Design Awards, receiving Silver awards in two categories:

• Private, Public & Institutional Spaces

• Colour Award – Spatial

The awards celebrate the design of EF Auckland’s language campus, recognising an approach that goes beyond aesthetics to support learning, wellbeing, and community. Designed by EF’s in-house Architecture & Design team, the campus reflects EF’s global brand while drawing inspiration from Auckland’s local character and culture.

“Every EF school starts with context,” says Fiona Kennedy, Global Head of Architecture & Design at EF Education First. “We don’t believe in importing a single design template around the world. Instead, we design campuses that feel unmistakably EF, while being deeply rooted in the city they belong to. When students walk through the door on their first day, the space should help them feel inspired, comfortable, and connected.”

Located in central Auckland, the campus was conceived as more than a place to attend classes. The spatial layout encourages interaction and movement, while colour, materials, and light were carefully used to create a warm, inclusive atmosphere. Social spaces and classrooms are designed to work together, supporting both focused learning and informal connection between students from around the world.

EF’s design philosophy centres on contextual design—ensuring that each campus reflects its local environment while maintaining a consistent global identity. This approach is applied across all of EF’s International Language Campuses, many of which are housed in distinctive existing buildings that are adapted to serve modern educational needs.

“The challenge is to balance functionality with emotion,” Kennedy added. “These are working learning environments first and foremost, but when design is done thoughtfully, it can genuinely enhance how people learn, interact, and feel in a space.”

The Silver awards reinforce EF’s long-term investment in high-quality learning environments and its belief that design plays a meaningful role in education—helping students feel at home from day one, wherever in the world they choose to study.