A colonial rural hospital was almost completely destroyed by a fire more than two decades ago, winning the top prize of the Australian National Trust (NSW) Heritage Award.

Recognition of heritage building and conservation projects in architectural and natural environments is conducted annually in each state. NSW staged the awards on Friday, announcing 20 winners in 10 categories.

The judge described the revival of the Old Baiga Hospital as a “project that was sensitive, gracefully resolved and laid the standard for heritage preservation.”

The judge said the Judge Choice Award was designed to recognize the design of five architects, which used archival drawings and historical photographs in the design because it could "balance the subtle questions of when to be preserved and when to be replaced."

From 1889 to 1956, buildings in the suburbs of Bega were collected from local hospitals. By the 1980s, the building had been disrepaired and extensive restoration was restored in 1988 for the Centennial of the Hospital and the Centennial of Australia.

The buildings and grounds were then used by the community as art gallery, cafe, market and local radio station headquarters, but the May 2004 fire tore the main building apart and had no insurance, it was owned by the champion. The second repair will take nine years to begin.

The project consists of $1.5 million in Commonwealth Black Summer Bush Restoration Grants and fundraising efforts by Friends of the Old Baiga Hospital community group. The recovery is completed in December.

The Heritage Award also recognized architect Neeson Murcutt Neille as they restored workers’ residence on Lower Fort Street in Sydney’s historic Dawes Point.

The judge said the architects carefully and cleverly solved the "architectural tricky" challenge and preserved the original historic street landscape while transforming the NSW government into 27 lightweight apartments in 2017.

The Aboriginal Heritage Award won the 2024 Memorial Project Dhuluny: Resistance in Wiradyuri in Bathurst for 200 years.

Led by Wiradyuri traditional owners Midwest Indigenous Company in collaboration with the Bathurst Council, Dhuluny was a series of events held in August to mark the 200th anniversary of the Martial Law declaration and temporary violence was carried out in the Wiradyuri country. To celebrate the survival and resilience of the people of Wiradyuri, the series includes several local Indigenous culture seminars, conferences at Charles Sturt University, community film festivals and an exhibition called Dhuluny: Dhuluny: The War Never End.

Kathryn Pitkin, president of the National Trust Australia (NSW), awarded the presidential award to the NSW National Plant Specimen Room for its massive digitization of more than one million plant specimens and 250 years of botanical research – a project she described as a “awesome”.

Port Macquarie Society Inc.

National Trust (NSW) CEO Debbie Mills talked about the impressive geographical spread of the winners: so far with Broken Hill, where Aust Group, Architecture and Heritage Consultant Elizabeth Vines won the revival of the shabby Pirie Chambers that won the Argent Street dilapidated Pirie Chambers. The program received an education and interpretation award for its professional restoration skills training in local workers.

Richard Morecroft held a Friday ceremony with speakers including former Prime Minister of Bob Carr, Legacy Penny Sharpe and Jury Chair Matthew Devine, the ruling.

Elizabeth Owers, acting executive director of NSW Heritage, praised the state's "deep talent". “From the metropolitan center to the regional area, communities across the state are the beneficiaries of these outstanding contributions,” she said.