The Sir John Sulman Medal for Public Architecture is an architectural award presented by the New South Wales chapter of the Australian Institute of Architects since 1932. The medal is sometimes referred to as the Sulman Award and now recognises excellence in public buildings in either New South Wales or in the Australian Capital Territory. Before the advent of the Wilkinson Award in 1961, it was on occasion presented to residential housing projects. The medal is presented in memory of the Australian architect Sir John Sulman (29 August 1849 – 18 August 1934). Sulman was born in Greenwich, England, and emigrated to Sydney in 1885. From 1921 to 1924 he was chairman of the Federal Capital Advisory Committee and influenced the development of Canberra. The medal was designed by George Rayner Hoff (1894—1937), sculptor and teacher, famed for his sculptures in Sydney's Anzac Memorial.

History of the Award

Sulman was an enthusiastic about town planning, and it was intended that the Medal was for "a building of exceptional merit that contributed to the streetscape". This interest in the greater urban environment and the relationship of the building to the public domain parallels the earlier Royal Institute of British Architects Street Architecture Medal instigated in 1923, and the RVIA Street Architecture Medal in Melbourne that began in 1929, later to be known as the Victorian Architecture Medal. In the 1950 Year Book of the Royal Australian Institute of Architects, the Sir John Sulman Medal and Diploma was defined as being "awarded annually for a building of exceptional merit in one of the following classes: (1) Public and Monumental, (2) Educational and Ecclesiastical, (3) Commercial and Industrial, (4) Recreational, (5) Domestic and Residential. The building must have been erected in New South Wales within the previous five years and must be readily accessible and visible. The Jury comprises four Architects, one Painter, one Art Critic, and the Director of the National Art Gallery."

List of Sulman Medal Winners