Judith Neilson's Dangrove warehouse in Sydney won the country's top award for commercial architecture on Thursday for showing that well-designed buildings have the ability to change and play other roles beyond their original brief.

The Tzannes-designed, 10,000sq m warehouse was created as a storage space for Rich List philanthropist Ms Nielson's contemporary Chinese art collection, as well as a performance and gathering space, but had the ability to perform different functions in time, said Clare Cousins, chairwoman of the jury that assessed all the categories in the Australian Institute of Architects’ National Awards.