They say that architecture shapes a nation and Australia is no different. From 19th-century heritage sites and shiny skyscrapers to captivating new homes, we certainly aren't short of stunning structures.

Click or scroll on to discover our favourite buildings that have put Australia's skylines on the map...

This amazing home is set in 74 aces (30ha) of unspoilt 180 million-year-old rainforest in Far North Queensland. Built in 2013, Alkira's achingly contemporary design was inspired by – of all things – an Australian stamp from the 1950s.

Its six cantilevered wings are made from prefab concrete, steel and glass – timber and steel would decay in the 80% humidity. They seem to emerge like a star-ship from the man-made lake and float upon its surface. Alkira's architect Charles Wright describes it as “an enigmatic bunker, both brutal and elegant” and we couldn't agree more.

Inside, nothing as mundane as walls exist to carve up the living spaces. Instead, the open-plan ground floor is truly open, without interior or exterior walls to disrupt the cooling natural airflow – after all, temperatures can hit almost 37°C (98°F).

The self-sufficient home uses a cantilevered roof to channel rainwater into a tank, solar panels generate electricity and there's an on-site sewage treatment system. Meanwhile, the concrete shell helps keep the structure cool. 

A stone's throw from the Great Barrier Reef, the six-bedroom home is available to rent for a truly memorable holiday. 

Parliament House serves as the meeting place of the Australian government in the country's capital of Canberra. The building was completed in 1988 and cost an eye-watering AU$1.1 billion to build – that's about AU$3 billion ($1.9bn/£1.5bn) today!

The design by Mitchell / Giurgola & Thorp Architects, which was picked from 329 concepts, is based on the shape of two boomerangs topped with a 266-foot (81m) high flagpole. Interestingly, the majority of the building is buried under Capital Hill. 

The ceiling of this marble foyer is held up by 48 columns in soft pinks and greens that reflect the Australian landscape. 

The floor is adorned with circles, semi-circles and triangles made from Paradise White marble and black Granitello Nero limestone from Belgium. The limestone contains fossilised sea life of ancient corals, sponges and sea lilies that existed 345 million years ago.

The brainchild of French architect Jean Nouvel and botanist Patrick Blanc, One Central Park is a pair of plant-clad towers, along with a five-storey central shopping centre and a 328-foot (100m) high sky garden.

The extraordinary cantilever at the top of the 34-storey residential apartment tower supports an arresting light-reflecting heliostat that reflects light into the centre of the building and onto overshadowed parklands. It's lit at night by a display created by lighting artist Yann Kersale, turning the building into a landmark.

Built in 2013, it boasts one of the tallest green walls in the world, which totals some 11,000 square feet (1,000sqm) and features 35,000 plants across 350 different species. It’s scooped numerous awards, including Overall Winner of the LEAF Awards.

Thanks to a combination of sustainable architectural approaches, the project was the first residential tower in Sydney to be Green Star 6 certified. Even the interior of the shopping centre (pictured) is full of greenery.

Upper House is an extraordinary 33-storey apartment building inspired by the Daintree Rainforest. Long timber ribbons representing the roots of the native Moreton Bay Fig tree reach up from the ground and visually connect each floor before coming together to envelop the rooftop pool and wellness club in a protective basket. 

“High rise lifestyle has become so detached and disconnected – from the community, from nature, from one another", says architect Koichi Takada. "With Upper House we are looking to challenge that and establish a new model for vertical living that is, at its foundation about connection."

Residents of the 188 apartments have access to this stunning rooftop complex. The infinity pool, spa, saunas, fitness club and yoga studio are all set among tropical landscaping. In fact, more than 3,500 trees were planted on site to “allow the building to breathe”.

Lower down, a five-storey artwork made from perforated back-lit metal covers the facade and aims to pay tribute to the indigenous history of the Turrbal Tribe, upon whose ancestral land Upper House was built.

Mori House is a concrete interpretation of a classic Aussie beach shack. Designed by Portuguese architect Manuel Aires Mateus and turned into a reality by MAArchitects, the home is heavily influenced by the multigenerational and multicultural family who commissioned it. 

This olive grove entrance is one of four separate outside spaces. The others hold a pool, a garden and a chicken run.

As a family holiday home, it had to be a flexible space – cosy and welcoming for just two people, but also able to hold a gaggle of family and friends when needed.

Three of the four bedrooms are built in pods, which sit slightly apart from the main building and can simply be shut up when not in use. However, there's also a bunk room and a tatami room to put people up in when the whole family is in town.

Located in the centre of Melbourne's CBD, the historic Coop's Shot Tower was built in 1889.

In its heyday, the nine-storey stone bullet factory produced six tonnes of lead shot every week but faced an uncertain future when demand for it dwindled in the 1960s in the face of firearm regulations.

Threatened with demolition in the 1970s, it was saved and in 1991 it was incorporated into the Melbourne Central Shopping Centre, where it stands beneath a 276-foot (84m) high conical glass roof.

Today the site is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register and it operates a small museum. 

Completed in 2023, Powerhouse Castle Hill has to be one of the world's most beautiful storage units. It's six buildings cover 96,900 square feet (9,000sqm) and provide space to keep, conserve and display items from Sydney's Powerhouse Museum. 

The reflective aluminium cladding has an almost otherworldly sheen, yet it hides supremely practical spaces inside for research, digitization and object preparation, packing and quarantine, as well as laboratories and workspace for 50 staff. 

The AU$30 million ($18.8m/£14.9m) buildings are used by staff, volunteers, researchers, artists, scientists and the general public alike, which must have posed quite a challenge for Lahznimmo Architects. The building also has to maintain constant temperature and humidity levels to protect the artefacts, something Lahznimmo achieved by layering aluminum over thermal insulation and concrete wall panels.

A 11-foot (3.5m) high, 30-foot (9m) window gives the public a glimpse into the Very Large Object storage area, which holds carriages, planes and boats.

Powerhouse won the prestigious Australian Institute of Architects Sir Zelman Cowen Award for public architecture in 2024.

This sculptural structure looks more like an ancient arrowhead emerging from the land than a five-bedroom home.

Clad in charred timber and blocks of compacted earth, Peninsula House is an "artistic architectural response to Australia’s coastline and the contours of the rural landscape", according to Wood Marsh Architecture.

The home lies on a ribbon of rammed earth, which wends its way across the landscape, rising and falling like the hills and fields that surround it.

Inside, a monochrome palette of black mosaics, timber battens and terrazzo flooring sets off the sweeping views of Flinders and Bass Strait beyond. 

The double-height living room features an acoustic-enhancing parabolic ceiling and houses the owner's grand piano and collection of musical instruments. Elsewhere in the enigmatic home, a purpose-built recording studio lies at the end of a hallway punctuated by slot windows.

Known the world over, this Australian masterpiece is considered one of the 20th century's most iconic buildings.

It was designed by Danish architect Jørn Utzon, who won the Opera House international design competition in 1957 and the work was headed up by an Australian architectural team.

The UNESCO World Heritage-listed building came in over budget, costing AU$102 million, about AU$1.2 billion ($755m/£605m) today. It was also 10 years behind schedule, but since its royal opening in 1973 it's delighted design fans around the world. 

While the sight of its concert halls are familiar to many of us, its corridors, staircases and corners were designed with equal care and are full of visual surprises.

Described by Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove as "the most beautiful squashed brown paper bag", this remarkable-looking research and teaching facility opened in 2015 at Sydney's University of Technology (UTS).

The building is the first designed by the controversial 'starchitect' Frank Gehry to make it to Australia. Is undulating facade features some 320,000 custom-designed bricks to give it a distinctive bag-like appearance. The bold build has won numerous awards and divided the critics.

Elizabeth Farrelly of the Sydney Morning Herald said: "Frank Gehry is the Kim Kardashian of contemporary architecture: all curves, no content." Ouch!

However, inside it's a different story, with angled blocks piled high to form walls. Gehry aims for his designs to “emulate the world of movement” and – love it or loathe it – the Dr Chau Chak Wing does it in spades.

The quaint village of Federal feels much more remote than its proximity to the bustling beaches of Byron Bay suggests – which makes it a pretty perfect place to have a holiday retreat, as the owners of this beautiful home know.

At first glance, Federal House looks less like a dwelling and more like a horizontal slice taken from the landscape. Beautifully designed by Edition Office, the home is made from black-pigmented concrete and black timber battens, and extends from the hillside thanks to a subtle cantilever.

Despite its contemporary form, the intriguing home captures several periods all at once. The ancient landscape is captured through tightly structured views, while the building's shallow roofline and verandah recall Australia's early settler homesteads. At the same time, the home's serene, stark form feels like a slice of spaceship, resting on the hillside – benign, yet alien.

Almost every element of the three-bedroom home enhances its serene atmosphere, but none beats this subterranean lap pool. Built into the hillside below the house, it gives the sensation of being submerged before you even enter the water. 

Federal House won the 2021 AIA NSW Architecture Award for New Residential Houses.

Designed by COX Architecture in 2010, the AAMI Park is notoriously home to the rugby and soccer teams of the city including the NRL team Melbourne Storm, the Melbourne Rebels Super Rugby squad and A-League teams Melbourne Victory FC and Melbourne City FC.

The architects opted for a geodesic dome roof, which ingeniously allows most of the seating to be covered while allowing plenty of light on to the pitch. Plus, the exterior is covered with LED lights, which can be used to stunning effect at important sporting events.

The ingenious 'bio-frame' roof is made from a series of interlocking domes with a surface of triangular glass and metal facets. The design cut the amount of steel needed by 50%.

Thanks to the lack of supports like pillars and walls, the stadium has excellent sightlines for each of the 30,050 fans it can hold.

Built in 2015, this family home was designed by Moloney Architects to make the most of the dramatic landscape surrounding it. The cantilevered structure was built on an east-west axis, washing every room with northern light and providing stunning views over Ballarat. 

Living areas on the ground floor engage directly with the outdoor and landscape spaces, while the upstairs bedrooms have views into the surrounding tree canopies. 

The 3,700 square feet (344sqm) home juts from the hillside like a fallen monolith, divided inside into a series of sleek open spaces. Upstairs, the bedrooms look directly into the tree canopy, which surrounds the contemporary structure in a nest of greenery.

The house stands in a high-risk bushfire zone, but the threat has been lessened thanks to the use of concrete and naturally fire-resistant spotted gumwood cladding.

It's easy to see how this home won the 2015 Australian Timber Design Award.

The RMIT Swanston Academic Building rears above the old colonial buildings on Melbourne's Swanston Street in a powerful clash of old and new. The sprawling 376,700-square-foot (35,000sqm) campus building was apparently inspired by the city centre's energy and diversity – and it shows. Its colourful facade appears to move, like strings of constantly changing numbers or a shape in the process of morphing.

Designed by Lyons Architects and completed in 2012, the arresting building won the Australian Institute of Architects National Design Award for new public architecture in 2013. 

As an institute of technology and design, the building had impress its forward-thinking students and – more importantly – give them space to thrive. As a result, the interior is influenced by new ways of learning, according to Lynos, and encourage collaboration between students and "the cross-pollination of ideas". 

High-speed wireless throughout certainly facilitates this, meaning students can open their laptops on the fly and work just about anywhere. 

This extraordinary building is an addition to – of all things – an 1881 limestone cottage. Work began in 2020 to remove incoherent 20th century additions and Carter Williamson Architects designed this eye-catching harbour-facing extension to replace them.

The foundations are cut deep into the sandstone bedrock, yet its curved wings look like a butterfly about to take off, fusing earth and air.

The new structure is linked to the cottage by a light-filled cylindrical staircase, swathed in tessellated white brick. The interior is made up of flowing forms and neutral natural materials that showcase the homeowner's extensive art and sculpture collection. 

Surprise spaces include a tiny rooftop terrace and a Juliette balcony overlooking the stairwell from a guest bedroom.

Sydney's Queen Victoria building was completed in 1898 by Scottish architect George McRae. He produced four designs for the council to choose from and out of his proposed styles they plumped for Victorian Romanesque.

The building is particularly noted for its central dome, comprised of an interior glass dome and a copper-covered exterior topped with a decorative cupola. 

Notable features include stained-glass windows, skylights and galleries, as well as intricate colonnades, arches and balustrades.

In 1901, the council moved into the building and did their best to erase the opulent interior, even concreting over the original tiles. Thankfully, the city eventually saw sense and restored the building in two waves, first in 1980 and again in 2008, when it underwent an AU$48 million ($30.5m/£23.5) facelift.

It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register in 1989.

The Victorian Pride Centre (VPC) was the first centre built for Australia's LGBTIQ+ community. It's a landmark, a monument, a campaign workshop and a theatre all rolled into one, which is reflected in its playful, joyful architecture. 

The exterior appears deliberately unfinished, a symbol of its evolving nature – it will be whatever its community needs it to be.

Inside, the 66,700 square feet (6,200sqm) space is dominated by tunnels and cut-outs. The open spaces serve to reflect the VPC's welcoming, open approach. They also emphasise the feeling of connection and coalition within the building, creating an almost hive-like structure in which everyone works together.

It's practical too – no single organisation commands the space. Instead, several groups share the building, including the Victorian Pride Lobby, the Better Health Network and JOY Media, an LGBTQIA+ radio station. 

This intriguing home was designed by State of Kin for an intergenerational family, who wanted a light-filled space to come together in while also maintaining their independence.

Although the home is a contemporary addition to Subiaco's traditional character cottages, it complements rather than fights with its surroundings. The warm tones of its hemp render blends with the two native Peppermint trees outside, for example, while crisp aluminium awnings represent the suburb's customary bull­nose verandahs.

The olive-hued render continues inside, blurring the boundaries between the interior, exterior and the landscape beyond. Natural stone, brushed stainless steel and warm walnut timbers add to the minimal, tertiary palette. 

Despite the compact plot size – the home has just 2.5 bedrooms – the owners wanted lots of outdoor living space. As a result, as you navigate the ingenious property, you discover terraces, balconies, courtyards and a pool all tucked away among its curves.

It won the 2024 AIA's Marshall Clifton Award for Residential Architecture.

Completed in 2023, SubStation No. 164 was once a warehouse and a substation. The two heritage buildings stood abandoned and degraded before fjcstudio transformed them into something altogether more eye-catching.

The seemingly air-filled "anti-extension" appears to float like a glass balloon above the weighty 19th century buildings, both contrasting and complementing them. 

It's no surprise this innovative building won the 2023 NSW Architecture Award for Commercial Architecture. 

Inside, the old spaces and the new host shops, events space and offices – including those of Built, the construction company that owns the site.

Not only have the original buildings been respectfully and thoughtfully interwoven with the recent additions, but they've been upgraded in terms of sustainability too. The building is completely powered by green energy and it's studded with features to aid sustainability, such as LED lighting, touchless bathrooms and bike-racks. Built also recycled 90% of its construction waste during the substation's transformation.

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