Melbourne Designer Ash Allen Wins 2025 Clarence Prize
The City of Clarence is proud to announce Melbourne-based designer Ash Allen as the winner of the prestigious 2025 Clarence Prize for Excellence in Furniture Design for his striking work Beanless.
Now in its 10th edition, the biennial Clarence Prize has cemented its place as one of Australia’s most significant awards for contemporary furniture design. With a $20,000 acquisitive prize, it is also the nation’s richest award of its kind, with winning works becoming part of the City of Clarence Art Collection.
In addition to Allen’s win, the judging panel awarded two further prizes:
Highly Commended Prize – Kindling by Adam Markowitz and Ruth Allen
Emerging Designer Prize – Ballast by Jess Humpston
A Celebration of Innovation and Craft
Mayor of Clarence, Brendan Blomeley, said the Clarence Prize continues to shine a national spotlight on the ambition and creativity of Australian designers.
“The Clarence Prize is recognised across the country for its prestige and influence, and proves that world-class design isn’t just found in global capitals—it’s being fostered and celebrated right here in Clarence. Hosting a design event of this calibre creates extraordinary opportunities for aspiring designers, students, and the wider community to engage with innovative design in their own backyard.”
This year’s winners were chosen from a shortlist of fifteen finalists selected from across Australia, including three Tasmanian designers. Each finalist presented their realised designs for exhibition and judging at Rosny Farm Arts Centre, further strengthening Clarence’s reputation as a cultural destination.
About the Winning Work
Allen’s Beanless reimagines the familiar beanbag as a refined, heirloom-quality object. Crafted from Australian-made steel mesh and flocked in deep red, the piece embodies both strength and elegance. Using a unique process of wrapping and welding steel mesh around timber moulds, Allen has created translucent structures that play with light and shadow, shifting in opacity as the viewer moves around the work.
The City of Clarence will now acquire Beanless into its permanent collection, preserving this innovative work for future generations.