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31 Top Firms Pioneering a New Era of Architectural Design
Announced early in 2021, the Winners of the inaugural A+Firm Awards constituted an incredible range of architecture and consulting firms, and it’s no wonder: the competition was fierce. More than 400 firms — hailing from 50 countries across 6 continents — submitted their portfolio for consideration in the program. After a meticulous review by an influential jury of creative thought leaders, 31 firms came out on top, providing a diverse picture of the talented teams helping to conceptualize, design and deliver the world’s best architecture.
This season, the Best Firm Awards are an integral part of the iconic A+Awards, celebrating its 10th anniversary this year! The program is currently inviting submissions from innovative architecture and design studios from around the world. Get started on your entry here:
Start A+Awards Submission
This year, we’re making the A+Awards more accessible for small architecture firms! If your firm has 10 staff or less, enter APLUSSMALL at check out to get $50 off. Valid through October 29, 2021 for up to 3 entries.
Last season, the jurors expressed their admiration for the evolving work of firms working at the forefront of contemporary design. “The A+Firm Awards reveals that innovation and design forward thinking need not exclude thinking around sustainability, access and equity,” said juror Charles Renfro, Partner, Diller Scofidio + Renfro. “It was heartening, particularly in the small and medium size firm categories, that these issues are now seamlessly embedded in younger architect’s design approaches without sacrificing thrilling and elegant formal solutions.”
The biggest plaudits were saved for firms responding in dynamic ways to evolving global challenges, which continue to impact daily life of millions around the world. “It was heartening to find a large number of practices clearly passionate about some of the most pressing issues of our time: inclusion, economic resiliency, climate change and, most immediately, the pandemic,” said juror Kathryn Firth, Partner at FPdesign. “As an urban designer, I was especially encouraged by the number of projects that were not only responsive to their context, but committed to making a meaningful contribution to the wider social and physical setting.”
As you prepare your portfolio for submission, gain inspiration from every winning firm from last season, showcased in order of size, geography, typology and finally specialization. Each entry is accompanied by a Firm Description / Mission Statement, written by the firm itself and edited for length and clarity.
Shulin Architectural Design
Best of the Year Awards > Best Small Firm
Firm Location: Hangzhou, China
Firm Website: http://www.hzshulin.com/
Pictured Project: Mountain House in Mist, Jinhua, China (Mainland)
The renovation and renewal projects are the type of projects that Shulin Architectural Design is exposed to most, and most of them are in the countryside. Therefore, the village is a starting point for the firm and will continue to be their long-term focus point. Urban renewal creative projects and interior space creation are also research directions for the firm.
Shulin Architectural Design insists on starting from small projects, paying attention to rural tectonics and typology, respecting the authenticity of construction and the locality of materials, researching the relationship between nature and architecture, people and the environment, and blending new and old. The firm is continually exploring new fields of architecture in practice.
Koichi Takada Architects
Best of the Year Awards > Best Medium Firm
Photo by Tom Ferguson
Firm Location: Sydney, Australia
Firm Website: https://koichitakada.com/
Pictured Project: ARC – a future heritage, Sydney, Australia
Koichi Takada Architects is a design group that creates organically inspired places so the world can reconnect with a more natural, intuitive and conscious future. Founded in 2008, Koichi Takada Architects is based in Sydney with offices in Doha and Tokyo. The firm is currently working across residential, hotels, restaurants, commercial, and cultural projects in Australia and across the Middle East, Asia, North America and South America.
Principal Koichi Takada is based in Sydney, after living in cities of high urbanisation including Tokyo, New York and London. His experience in those metropolises, where he studied at the School of Architecture at City University of New York and the Architectural Association in London, led him to pledge to create a greener future through design.
neri&hu design and research office
Best of the Year Awards > Best Large Firm
Photo by Pedro Pegenaute
Firm Location: Shanghai, China
Firm Website: http://www.neriandhu.com/en
Pictured Project: The Brick Wall – Tsingpu Yangzhou Retreat, Yangzhou, China
Founded in 2004 by partners Lyndon Neri and Rossana Hu, Neri&Hu Design and Research Office is an inter-disciplinary architectural design practice based in Shanghai, China. Neri&Hu works internationally providing architecture, interior, master planning, graphic, and product design services.
Currently working on projects in many countries, Neri&Hu is composed of multi-cultural staff who speak over 30 different languages. The diversity of the team reinforces a core vision for the practice: to respond to a global worldview incorporating overlapping design disciplines for a new paradigm in architecture.
Foster + Partners
Best of the Year Awards > Best XL Firm
Firm Location: London, United Kingdom
Firm Website: https://www.fosterandpartners.com/
Pictured Project: Apple Park, Cupertino, United States
Foster + Partners is a global studio for sustainable architecture, engineering, urbanism and industrial design, founded by Norman Foster in 1967. Since then, he, and the team around him, have established an international practice with a worldwide reputation. With offices across the globe, we work as a single studio that is both ethnically and culturally diverse.
Sustainability is at the heart of everything the firm undertakes, auditing all projects against global standards, while developing bespoke strategies that drive our environmental agenda. To build sustainably requires Foster + Partners to design holistically, and the firm’s unique integrated design approach enables it to develop innovative strategies that have a firm focus on the future of the environment. From within the practice, structural and environmental engineers, together with many other specialist design teams, work alongside the architects to develop fully integrated design solutions.
OFFICE OFF COURSE
Best of the Year Awards > Best Young Firm
Firm Location: SHANGHAI,HANGZHOU,BOSTON, China
Firm Website: https://officeoffcourse.com/
Pictured Project: National Archaeological Park Visitor Centre, Longquan, China (Mainland)
Founded in 2012, OfficeOffCourse is currently based in Shanghai, Hangzhou and Boston. The core design team covers urban planning, architecture, landscape architecture, interior and other professions, who has professional experience in world-renown architecture office and institute in the US, Netherland, Japan, Mexico and Spain to participate in various types of project, with extensive background and practical experience. The office is engaged in variety of projects in China, Japan, US and Australia, including museums, private residential, office buildings, urban planning, historical building renovation, schools and more.
The Office explores and extends the core value of architecture between globalization and localization. Their project bridges history, nature and space, discussing typologies of architecture and landscape in different contexts, to expand the unknowable boundaries beyond limits. Meanwhile, office pays attention on the creative application of traditional materials by modern technology, the organic renewal development in historical heritage and the criticism over diversification of contemporary cities.
MGA | Michael Green Architecture
Best of the Year Awards > Best in North America
Photo by Ema Peter Photography
Firm Location: Vancouver, Canada
Firm Website: http://mg-architecture.ca/
Pictured Project: Wood Innovation and Design Centre, Prince George, Canada
MGA | MICHAEL GREEN ARCHITECTURE is one of the most internationally recognized architecture firms in Canada. From its head office in Vancouver, British Columbia, MGA’s exceptionally talented and experienced staff of architects, interior designers, graphic designers, urban planners, and researchers work on projects from tiny boutique interiors to large institutional buildings and airport complexes, both locally and internationally. The firm is recognized for its innovation in sustainable architecture and developing carbon-neutral buildings with advanced wood construction.
The firm was founded in 2012 by Michael Green, who is known for his research, leadership, and expertise in building with timber products. In fact, he literally wrote the book on the subject, authoring The Case for Tall Wood Buildings and popularizing the phrase ‘mass timber.’
Studio Saxe
Best of the Year Awards > Best in Central and South America
Photo by Andres Garcia Lachner
Firm Location: San Jose, Costa Rica
Firm Website: https://studiosaxe.com/
Pictured Project: Santiago Hills Villa, Santa Teresa, Puntarenas, Costa Rica
Benjamin G. Saxe set up his own practice in San Jose, Costa Rica in 2004, with the aim of exploring our relationship with the natural environment through architecture. Since then, Studio Saxe has grown into an award-winning international practice made up of a multidisciplinary team, creating buildings and spaces by blending technological innovation with handcrafted techniques to form truly sustainable designs.
Founded on the belief that buildings must connect to their landscape – whether a tropical paradise or a concrete jungle – Studio Saxe brings a global attitude to solve local problems. Ideas and techniques from around the world can be harnessed to benefit communities, both at home and abroad. Local traditions and identities are explored and developed, ensuring a process whereby we learn from the past and build for the future.
Department of ARCHITECTURE Co.
Best of the Year Awards > Best in Asia
Firm Location: Bangkok, Thailand
Firm Website: https://departmentofarchitecture.co.th/
Pictured Project: Little Shelter Hotel, Chiang Mai, Thailand
Department of ARCHITECTURE Co. is a design studio based in Bangkok, Thailand. It practices architecture, interior architecture, landscape architecture, and other related design disciplines in a broad range of programmatic requirements and scales. The studio is interested in finding new possibilities of architecture not only in the physical space but reaching above and beyond to the ‘circumstance’ that the physical form emerges from.
The firm believes in sustainable development, and has been a long-standing proponent for open-air living. Department of ARCHITECTURE Co. always designs to reduce the air-condition space by creating comfortable non-air-conditioned spaces with proper building orientation, ventilation and exploring on sun-shading elements. The open-air space both connects people to the nature and reduces the energy consumption at the same time.
Dominique Coulon & Associés
Best of the Year Awards > Best in Europe
Photo by Thibaut Muller
Firm Location: Strasbourg, France
Firm Website: http://coulon-architecte.fr
Pictured Project: ‘Théodore Gouvy’ Theatre, Freyming-Merlebach, France
Located in the heart of Strasbourg, Dominique Coulon & Associés is a firm of architects of national and international renown. For more than 25 years, the agency has earned a reputation for the quality of the public facilities it designs. It has worked on a wide and varied range of programmes, including a media library, music school, auditorium, school complex, swimming pool, sports facilities, a residential home for the dependent elderly, and housing.
Dominique Coulon and his associate Steve Lethos Duclos allow their intuition to lead the way as they seek to develop contextual projects that combine contrast and complexity, where the outer envelope hints at inner richness. Spatial quality and natural light are fundamental elements in every project: space is always controlled by precise geometry.
Koffi & Diabaté Group
Best of the Year Awards > Best in Africa
Firm Location: Abidjan, Cote D’Ivoire
Firm Website: www.koffi-diabate.com
Pictured Project: COMPLEXE IMMOBILIER GREEN, Abidjan, Cote D’Ivoire
Koffi & Diabaté Group is convinced that, in order to participate in the creation of a new model for the African city, architects need to carry out a change of scale and dare to challenge the status quo — and this drives the firm’s vision, method and core project-concepts.
Over the past few years, the firm has evolved from the traditional role of the architect to that of architect-developers with the creation of Koffi & Diabaté Group, structured around 3 key entities specialized in architecture, real estate development and construction. Beyond the concept of individual building units, the firm is moving towards the notion of designing on a larger scale, namely that of the neighborhood, the city, with the aim of having a wider impact on our environment.
The firm’s mission is to encourage local populations to adopt a new dwelling model, and to live differently.
ustin Maynard Architects
Best of the Year Awards > Best in Australasia
Firm Location: Melbourne, Australia
Firm Website: https://maynardarchitects.com
Pictured Project: St Andrews Beach House, Victoria, Australia
Happiness, fun, friends, family, ethics, sustainability and reward for effort — these are the pillars of Austin Maynard Architects. Widely renowned for their boundless creative energy Austin Maynard Architects’ designs are at once well conceived, playful and edgy.
Since 2002, the Austin Maynard Architects team has built up an exciting and diverse portfolio. The practice is not inhibited by building type, but rather navigates residential, retail and commercial arenas and is rich in envelope-pushing conceptual designs. Austin Maynard Architects explore architecture of enthusiasm. Treating each project as a unique challenge, and working directly with clients and occupants, our team offer individual possibilities and thoughtful responses to people, brief and place.
Park + Associates
Typology Awards > Architecture – Private Residential
Firm Location: Singapore, Singapore
Firm Website: www.parkassociates.com.sg
Pictured Project: Stark House, Singapore, Singapore
Since it was established in 1999, Park + Associates has grown to be a studio made up of dedicated like-minded individuals that strive towards shared virtues both conceptual and aesthetic. This rings true across all levels of experiences within the office. The firm’s determination to achieve is strong, and as a result, produces a working environment that is intense yet vibrant and conducive for enhancing design discourse.
We recognize the importance of people and the human experience in architecture. We understand the importance of architecture that has good bones. In every piece of design that Park + Associates create, no matter the scale, the firm seeks to create objects and spaces that resonate with the individual.
ODA New York
Typology Awards > Architecture – Multi Unit Residential
Firm Location: New York, United States
Firm Website: http://www.oda-architecture.com/
Pictured Project: The Rheingold, Brooklyn, United States
ODA was founded in 2007 by Eran Chen AIA, Principal and Executive Director, Ryoko Okada, Principal and Director of Interior Architecture, and Christian Bailey, Principal and Project Director. Since its inception, ODA has quickly emerged as one of the most recognized firms of its generation, promptly establishing a reputation for delivering imaginative and mold-breaking designs.
ODA challenges conventional perspectives of dwelling that will, over time, influence life in our cities. Our award-winning team of designers bring an expertise in a range of disciplines from landscape and interior design to architecture and master planning. Our team is dedicated to creating a more equitable future through good design.
Hooba Design Group
Typology Awards > Architecture – Commercial
Firm Location: Tehran, Iran
Firm Website: www.hoobadesign.com
Pictured Project: Kohan Ceram Central Office Building, Tehran, Iran, Islamic Republic Of
Founder and Executive Director Hooman Balazadeh established HOOBA Design in 2007 with the aim of developing projects in harmony with the cultural and geographical characteristics of the site so that each project forms a new platform for research and investigation.
This office has focused on various topics such as light, color, relation between architecture and the city, building materials, and the development of spatial diagrams in the Persian Architecture. Using the latest design methods and construction technologies, HOOBA Design tries to create projects that are sustainable and cost efficient. At HOOBA Design, one of the main design criteria is to create consistency between the whole and the pieces.
Mecanoo
Typology Awards > Architecture – Cultural
Firm Location: Delft, Netherlands
Firm Website: https://www.mecanoo.nl/
Pictured Project: St. Mary of the Angels Chapel, Rotterdam, Netherlands
Mecanoo, officially founded in Delft in 1984, is made up of a highly multidisciplinary staff of creative professionals from 25 countries. The team includes architects, interior designers, urban planners, landscape architects as well as architectural technicians and support staff. Mecanoo is led by Creative Director/Founding Partner, Francine Houben and Design and Research Director/Partner Dick van Gameren.
Mecanoo has extensive experience designing and realizing exceptional buildings which serve client ambitions while creating vibrant end-user spaces. Each project responds to the firm’s philosophy of People, Place and Purpose: to the client’s requirements and the user’s needs (People); the physical context, climate and culture (Place); and the current and predicted potential of a building’s function (Purpose).
Crystalzoo
Typology Awards > Architecture – Institutional
Firm Location: Alicante, Spain
Firm Website: www.crystalzoo.net
Pictured Project: Coworking LAB Nucía, La Nucía, Spain
CrystalZoo began with the idea of an office as a discussion forum, in a continuous process of learning and researching new constructive and functional solutions. The firm is a specialist in architecture, design and landscaping with more than 20 years of experience in public and private work. CrystalZoo’s goal is to create works that are beneficial to society.
CrystalZoo buildings are spaces to generate synergies and dynamics of social transformation. Public work gives the firm an opportunity to use architecture as a tool for social dynamization. These building’s users range from the elderly, who take an active role in society, to young entrepreneurs looking for opportunities to renew the business world. CrystalZoo creates architecture as an extension of culture and education to hold as a source of new civic vocations and citizens.
Lacime Architects
Typology Awards > Architecture – Hospitality
Firm Location: Shanghai, China (Mainland)
Firm Website: https://www.lacime-sh.com/
Pictured Project: Xitang Ancient Town Tourist Center, Xitang, China
Based in Shanghai, Lacime Architects adheres to the architectural design philosophy “Simplify complicated material, back to the origin.” Lacime Architects believes good architecture must be reflected and promoted in three aspects: urban contribution, quality and spirit of the times. Given that, we design works more on the context of urban or rural areas, the real space usage, rather than highlighting for single building, as architecture will not exist independently.
After nearly 20 years’ development, Lacime Architects have over 700 architects and rich practical experience both in china and overseas. We actively participate in various types of projects, including residential, commercial, cultural, educational, civic, healthcare, corporate, tourism and so on, aiming to integrate elite design team and provide best solutions to the nature.
MASS Design Group
Typology Awards > Architecture – Humanitarian
Firm Location: Boston, MA, United States
Firm Website: https://massdesigngroup.org/
Pictured Project: Rwanda Institute of Conservation Agriculture, Karama, Rwanda
MASS Design Group (MASS) was founded in 2008 during the design and building of the Butaro District Hospital in Rwanda; a project of Partners In Health and the Rwandan Ministry of Health. In the years since, MASS has grown into a team of over 140+ architects, landscape architects, engineers, builders, furniture designers, writers, filmmakers, and researchers representing 20 countries across the globe dedicated to fulfilling our mission to research, design, build and advocate for architecture that promotes justice and human dignity.
Through the design of the built environment, the firm seeks to address the structural systems that perpetuate some of the world’s most intractable challenges. MASS Design Group’s projects range from the design and construction of a medical campus in Rwanda to a Cholera Treatment Center in Haiti after the 2010 earthquake, to the first memorial to victims of racial terror lynching in the United States.
Ballman Khapalova
Typology Awards > Architecture – Conceptual
Firm Location: Ithaca, United States
Firm Website: https://www.ballkhap.com/
Pictured Project: St. John’s Park, New York, United States
Ballman Khapalova are architects who strive to merge the intimate and the urban through imaginative structures, forms, events and activities that transform the way a city can see itself. The firm’s urban work in neglected and desolate areas develops opportunities to introduce new spaces of play, art, performance, recreation, reflection, healing, and debate that can allow residents and visitors alike a chance to experience and envision a street, neighborhood, riverbank, or city in a new way.
Ballman Khapalova aspires to fuse the human, the elemental (i.e. “natural”) and the urban, while always questioning and rethinking what these mean — historically, academically, intuitively — in the contemporary context of architecture. Each project, at whatever scale and in any setting, is a unique configuration of these factors. The firm tries to tease out this indigenous relationship and utilize it in the design of original, unexpected and custom architecture that is physically and logistically achievable.
Stonehill Taylor
Typology Awards > Interior Design – Commercial
Photo by David Mitchell
Firm Location: New York, United States
Firm Website: https://stonehilltaylor.com/
Pictured Project: TWA Hotel & Connie Cocktail Lounge, New York, United States
Stonehill Taylor is a hospitality-focused architecture and interior design firm based in New York City. Many of the firm’s projects have made use of unique, historic buildings focusing on seeking out the essence of a project’s location to create an inspired and distinguished approach. The firm seeks to craft a unique and immersive narrative for each project with a focus on thoughtful, classic design.
Stonehill Taylor’s high-profile portfolio ranges from interior design and renovation, to new building construction, adaptive reuse and historic preservation projects. Luxury, high-end boutique, and larger convention hotels completed include the TWA Hotel, The Conrad New York Midtown, Moxy Chelsea, Moxy East Village, Ace Hotel New York, The Refinery Hotel, The Asbury Hotel, and the InterContinental Barclay.
Vermilion Zhou Design Group
Typology Awards > Interior Design – Institutional/Cultural
Firm Location: Shanghai, China (Mainland)
Firm Website: www.vermilionzhou.com
Pictured Project: Song Art Museum, Beijing, China (Mainland)
Vermilion Zhou Design Group was founded in 2002 by Kuang Ming (Ray)Chou (Founder / Creative Director) and Vera Chu (Founder / Lighting Design Director) in Shanghai. Later in 2009, with Garvin Hung (Interior Design Director) joining the team, Vermilion Zhou Design Group has completed more than 800 projects across countries in Asia-Pacific. Vermilion Zhou Design Group “never stops in breaking boundaries and embracing new possibilities”.
The firm’s designs are built upon the aspiration for an oriental modern lifestyle, which also forms Vermilion Zhou’s unique identity in the field. The firm aims to achieve a fine balance between functions and aesthetics in each design. Vermilion Zhou’s ultimate goal is to succeed in creating highly functional designs that take people on “a joyful and exquisite journey”.
Zhu Yufan Y³C Atelier
Typology Awards > Landscape Architecture
Firm Location: Beijing, China (Mainland)
Pictured Project: ‘The Cloud’ landmark Tower & Community Center in Nanchang: The Culture of commercial space, Nanchang, China
Zhu Yufan Y³C Atelier is a Beijing-based design firm since 2002, and specializes in landscape planning and design across a wide range of scales. Zhu Yufan Y³C Atelier’s projects include urban green space system planning, urban park/square design, public building environment design, historic preservations, residential design, and more.
Y³C is named after the Chinese idiom “yiyuzhongdi”, which translates to “hit the key-point in one word”, mainly emphasizing on “one sharp design move”. The firm aims to discover the design essence of balancing the site and its demands under the unique perspective of history and culture. With the continuous focuses on the spirits of site (genius loci), Yiyu Studio uplifts the extension of both site context and cultural context onto an elevated site-ethics level, making the project design works present more site-specific features. The firm takes into account considerable diversity and openness in the design details via interpreting, rewriting and representing the historical and cultural factors of the site (from the ancient to the present, from the east to the west).
l’atelier, nomadic architecture studio
Typology Awards > Interior Design – Residential
Firm Location: Berlin, Germany
Firm Website: www.latelier.work
Pictured Project: MICHELET, Paris, France
l’atelier is nomadic. Based on the European continent and active in every scale and program of space production — from a stool to a city. l’atelier does not believe in style or form — instead, the approach is to understand and master the context as a foundation for content.
The firm does not have an official workspace. They work on site, in co-working spaces, cafés, on dropbox, at the train station, on Zoom. But they do have a list of favorite places: Berlin is where they feel at home, Brussels is where they interact with inspiring architects, Switzerland is home to their mentors, Albania is where they find inspiration, and Paris is where they have most of their clients.
Gabriel Saunders Pty Ltd
Specialization Awards > Rendering Studio
Firm Location: Fitzroy, Melbourne, Australia
Firm Website: https://gabrielsaunders.com.au/
Pictured Project: Huntingtower Road, Melbourne, Australia
Gabriel Saunders is a visualization firm that works with an experimental spirit to add value to our client projects by way of research and collaboration. Comprising a team of stylists, modelers and visualization artists, the firm also works with architectural and interior photographers to ensure that attention to detail is at the forefront.
Over the years, Gabriel Saunders has devised processes and procedures to ensure that they, as a team, can still be creative and have room to bring fresh ideas to a project. The processes also enable the firm to become detail driven and drill down into “what will make this image come alive?”, from how leaves fall in autumn to how fabric drapes.
The studio’s mission is one of always questioning and researching. By doing this, the firm generate photorealistic images that are honest, relevant and beautiful.
Julien Lanoo
Specialization Awards > Photography Studio
Firm Location: Comines, Belgium
Firm Website: http://www.julienlanoo.com
Pictured Project: Longquan International Bamboo Architecture Biennale, Baoxi, China
Julien Lanoo’s photography is a documentation of the built environment. He looks at the architectural world with a deep understanding of its historical and social layers as well as the visible and intangible connections between nature, light and materiality. Lanoo’s photographic career has covered such topics and fields as architecture, design, social integration, urban transformations and their dwellers.
His work has been exhibited widely, including the Venice Architecture Biennale, the Chicago Architecture Biennial, the Cité de l’architecture in Paris, and the Deutsches Architekturmuseum, among others. He co-authored, together with Julien de Smedt, the book “Built Unbuilt” revisiting 16 years of JDSA’s work, and most recently his photographs appeared in “The Vitra Campus: Architecture Design Industry”. His never-ending search for the intricate relationship between the human being and his surroundings, a central subject in his photographs, was presented in 2018 as In[Cognitus], a monographic exhibition at the WAAO in Lille, France.
KT II Limited
Specialization Awards > Engineering Firm
Photo by Timothy Schenck
Firm Location: London, United Kingdom
Firm Website: www.akt-uk.com
Pictured Project: Vessel, New York, United States
AKT II is a design-led engineering consultancy, founded as Adams Kara Taylor in 1995. The company today unites 350 staff, with 50 cultural backgrounds and 30 languages, who work together across 40 countries. AKT II’s six engineering specialisms — structural, geotechnical, envelope, bioclimatic, transport, and infrastructure — collectively touch every aspect of the built environment.
Several in-house R&D teams support the firm’s collaborative design-invention. In summer 2020, the firm’s computational design team “p.art” and their bioclimatic design team published AKT II’s new design tool “Carbon.AKT”, which applies generative parametric modeling to enable architects and clients to calculate and optimize a design’s embodied carbon from the early concept stage. Across all of our disciplines and specialist groups, AKT II operates a proprietary data-driven design software ecosystem called “Re.AKT”, which interfaces with all major design platforms and BIM, driving a technological response to the greatest challenge of our time: the climate emergency.
LUO studio
Specialization Awards > Sustainability
Firm Location: Beijing, China
Firm Website: www.luostudio.cn
Pictured Project: Longfu Life Experience Center — A Universally-used Space Created by General Timbers and Techniques, Puyang County, China
LUO Studio focuses on sustainable construction methods and advocates using less materials to create more versatile spaces. The firm believes in constructing with natural materials, and uses wooden construction (steel-wood prefabricated construction technology) for continuous research and practice. The firm continuously explores how to solve social problems more creatively, and how to achieve the maximum reuse of temporary buildings.
In addition to regular projects, the firm is also committed to improving the activities and learning spaces for children in vulnerable areas. LUO Studio constantly pays attention to the innovative renovation of abandoned spaces (urban and rural) and reuse of waste materials. The firm also advances the ecological aspect based on the concept of Pumen’s sustainable Farm (community) and construction, continuing in the participation and development of “construction camp” activities with the concept of sustainability.
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM)
Specialization Awards > Public Projects
Firm Location: New York, United States
Firm Website: www.som.com
Pictured Project: Moynihan Station, New York, United States
SOM is a collective of architects, designers, engineers and planners working together to build a better future. The firm is responsible for some of the world’s most technically and environmentally advanced buildings and significant public spaces. SOM’s approach is highly collaborative, and its interdisciplinary team is international. Working from a network of creative studios across the globe, SOM is able to apply international expertise at a local level.
The firm believes that design is about more than meeting people’s needs — it is the art of realizing their aspirations and changing the way they experience the world. The best results come from a balance of disciplines: planning, interiors, engineering, and architecture. This total design approach means seamless coordination, from the dynamic initial design stages to the pride in seeing users inspired by the end result.
The Urban Conga
Specialization Awards > Small Projects
Firm Location: Brooklyn, United States
Firm Website: http://www.theurbanconga.com/
Featured Project: Oscillation, New York, United States
The Urban Conga is an international multidisciplinary design studio promoting community activity and social interaction through open-ended play. The firm achieves this by creating inclusive, engaging, and site-specific work that sparks creativity, exploration, and free-choice learning within the built environment.
The Urban Conga aims to create opportunities that bridge divides and begin to break inequities within the public and private realm by bringing people together. The firm strives to use its work as a platform for creating a stronger sense of community within a place. The studio is always exploring this idea of a “Playable City” as an ecosystem of playable opportunities, intertwined within the existing urban infrastructure that doesn’t just disrupt our daily lives, but adds to it.
HDR
Specialization Awards > Collaboration
Firm Location: Omaha, Nebraska, United States
Firm Website: www.hdrinc.com
Featured Project: Penn Medicine New Patient Pavilion, Philadelphia, United States
HDR is an integrated design practice that creates human-centered, inspiring places grounded in smart ideas substantiated through data and research and informed by global best practices. The firm embraces unconventional thinking in order to elevate the human spirit and inspire human endeavors.
As a full-service firm that combines architecture, engineering, interiors, experience, product and many other related design services, collaboration is at the heart of what HDR does. The firm combines the expertise of various disciplines to approach projects from every angle. HDR’s nearly 2,000 architecture and design professionals in offices around the globe are united by a shared vision to create meaningful places that will endure for generations to come.
Tillotson Design Associates
Specialization Awards > Lighting Designer
Firm Location: New York, United States
Firm Website: www.tillotsondesign.com
Featured Project: Gateway Arch Museum and Visitor’s Center, St. Louis, MO, United States
For 15 years, Tillotson Design Associates’ collaborations with leaders in the field of architecture have extended to all elements of the built environment illuminating cultural, academic, hospitality, landscape, and corporate works with precision, curiosity, and experience. The firm’s diverse staff, with backgrounds in architecture, interior design, theater, and several LEED accredited professionals, combine talents to create exemplary work. Together, Tillotson Design’s principals provide over 80 years of lighting expertise.
The firm’s clients have included some of the most talented architects in the world including nine Pritzker Prize Laureates: Rem Koolhaas, Herzog & de Meuron, Norman Foster, SANAA, Thom Mayne of Morphosis, Renzo Piano, Christian de Portzamparc, Frank Gehry, and Shigeru Ban. Tillotson Design Associates’ ambitions include bringing a critical voice to issues of lighting design, including the potential for a positive impact on environmental sustainability, mitigation of light pollution, and the role of light in social entrepreneurship.
Who was on the jury and how were the winners selected?
For the inaugural A+Firm Awards, Architizer was proud to present one of the most influential and diverse juries for this global architectural awards program. Hailing from a wide range of industries and with unique expertise, these thought leaders offered their unique perspective to help identify which firms are the world’s best, based on the quality of their work and what they stand for in today’s fast-evolving world. The full jury, including biographies, can be viewed here.
The Jury evaluated the projects and accompanying mission statement of each shortlisted firm based on five key criteria: Impact, Innovation, Aesthetics, Versatility and Mission. A full description of each judging criteria can be viewed here.
How can my firm participate next season?
This season, the Best Firm Awards are an integral part of the A+Awards program, currently inviting submissions from innovative architecture and design studios from around the world. Get started on your entry here.
All images courtesy of the architects. Please reach out to [email protected] for additional credit requests.
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Color-Coded: Studio Renesā Gives Every Architecture Project Its Own Brand Identity
Celebrate a decade of inspirational design with us! The 10th Annual A+Awards is officially underway, with an Early Entry Deadline of October 29th, 2021. Click here to start your entry today.
New Delhi-based Renesā is well-known for its eccentric projects that celebrate bold colors and geometric patterns. Led by Founder Sanjay Arora and his son, Sanchit Arora, this studio has worked on a variety of projects that range from simple residential interiors to neon storefronts.
The design firm gets its name from the French word Renaissance, symbolizing an architectural vision that combines the old with the new. This is a reference to the design practice’s desire to fuse the more traditional design ideology of the father with his son’s more contemporary language.
Images by Saurabh Suryan and Lokesh Dang
The Indian firm shot to fame with its project The Pink Zebra in 2018. This design uses elements of European grandeur and Art Nouveau to denote the significance of its location, Kanpur, to the British Administration in India. The firm made the most of their client’s love for quirk and the Wes Anderson aesthetic to create and pink and black vision that attracts visitors from all over the world.
That project is a great example of the firm’s design process. Sanchit Arora said that they try to ensure that every project is its own brand — with a unique name and signature color palette. Citing the example of McDonald’s and Domino’s Pizza, Arora said, “I always believe that brands should have their own color because the cognitive mapping of your brain will remember that color as well.”
Images by Niveditaa Gupta
When asked about the starting point, he said that it always depends on what the client wants and where his imagination takes him when on site. Some projects are demure whereas some take the maximalist route. There is no middle ground when it comes to their work. Reactions to Renesā’s commercial designs are similar. His philosophy about deciding which side to veer on is very simple:
“In a house, you see the same wall, the same ceiling every day. So that’s why the color of a house might be white. But a retail store can be black because you spend just two to three hours in a week,” he said. “That’s the road to the designing. The amount of time you spend, the duration that’s given to a project in terms of a visiting person.”
Their most recent project The Fluted Emerald is one such example of branding and maximalism. When Arora first saw the site, it was a dilapidated farmhouse. The lush vegetation on the site and a piece of Udaipur green marble lying in a corner gave rise to the rich green palette of this cafe design. The client’s fondness for paneling had them experimenting with different wall treatments that ultimately led to the fluting.
Once designed, the cafe was so successful that they had to extend the indoor seating outdoors. Another project that stays true to its color identity is The Black Concrete. The new take on a speakeasy features inky tones, glass brick and reflective surfaces to create a dramatic yet sophisticated lair.
Images by Niveditaa Gupta
A made-in-India approach is another core principle of the firm. Arora believes that this is not only more cost-effective but also a lot more practical. The firm is currently working on a boutique in Amritsar where they have used the mud from Bikaner to make the bricks from scratch — step is taken in the direction towards sustainability.
Another example of their environmentally-conscious ideology is the House with 49 Trees, where the structure was shaped by the trees on site. The presence of these trees ensures the house remains cool on hot days and filters the direct harsh sunlight. Furthermore, the house is also self-sufficient in energy. In fact, the electricity generated by the solar panels exceeds the use and is now being given back to the government.
Some of their other projects include The TerraMater, a gallery space where red brick is the hero; The Flip Flop, a Neon green detailed popup store that makes passersby stop in their tracks; and The Geometrication, which draws inspiration from the game Monument Valley. The firm also recently unveiled a restaurant and bar called Social with Distancing. The original design was modified and built during the pandemic to create seating arrangements that work with the ongoing safety guidelines.
Arora claims that their most recent project — a Pan-Asian restaurant that is currently a work in progress — is the studio’s best work to date. When asked about upcoming projects, Arora said, “I know what is coming in the next six months from my end because it’s in progress. And it is revolutionary. I can vouch that it’s something that you haven’t seen across the world.”
If your firm has recently completed a boldly colored architectural project, enter it in the Architecture +Color category in the 10th Annual A+Awards! The Early Entry Deadline is October 29 — Get started on your submission.
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Grand Théatre de Québec // Lemay
Project Status: BuiltYear: 2020
Text description provided by the architects.
Prized for its brutalist architecture by Victor Prus and historic mural by Jordi Bonet, the fragile Grand Théâtre de Québec, inaugurated in 1970, required a major intervention to restore and protect its outer shell. Prefabricated concrete indoor and outdoor walls are the theatre’s defining feature; their anchors had disintegrated over time due to moisture seeping into the concrete.
© Lemay
© Lemay
Nearly 60% of the interior is covered by the Bonet mural.The concrete icon reflects the end of the Quiet Revolution in Quebec, and its mural is one of the largest in the world. The fragility of the work and the inability to directly access the concrete anchors required a radical solution to protect this heritage treasure.
© Lemay
© Lemay
Lemay + Atelier 21’s innovative glass casing is a delicate response to this complex problem. The start of the refurbishment project required consideration of its two defining components: the architecture of Prus and the monumental work of Bonet. The proposed intervention was meant to be a holistic reflection based on an interpretation, a transposition of these entities into a work depicting finesse.
© Lemay
© Lemay
The opposing elements were intentional: the new outer shell fades, disappears, reflects, illuminates. It articulates the project discreetly and sensitively. Beyond its primary function, the casing acts as an extension of the original building it now protects, using Prus’ finely developed structural logic and composition, married to the building’s unusual shape.
© Lemay
© Lemay
The glass can appear solid or immaterial depending on the light, sometimes blurring the boundaries of the building. In turn, it protects the building from the weather mainly by creating a tempered envelope, while a low-flow heat recovery and thermal mass system provides an energy-efficient and economical solution.
The glass casing is amplified according to the morphology of the Grand théâtre; it twists at the corners, it lifts at the base, it fades, leaving the concrete work intact and perfectly visible.
© Lemay
© Lemay
It keeps the continuity of the design storyline developed by Prus, while the beautiful Octave-Crémazie Hall highlights the work of Bonet, enshrined by Prus’ protective outer shell now enhanced by a thin wall of immaterial and protective glass. It has become the main interface with the City, true to its theatrical pedigree: a new act in the discovery of Quebec culture.Consortium : Lemay & Atelier 21Engineering: WSPGeneral Contractor: PomerleauGlass and fixture design engineering: ELEMA experts-conseilsExperts in materials engineering: SIMCOSteel Structure : Métal-PrestoGlass Manufacturer : Vitrerie LabergeLighting designers : Lemay & Atelier 21, Guy Simard and Lumenpulse.
© Lemay
© Lemay
Grand Théatre de Québec Gallery
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How Can Architecture Be an Antidote for this Turbulent Era?
Every day we are bombarded with news, data and stories. Social media and smart technologies have facilitated an unprecedented barrage of dialogue informing us on the turbulent happenings from around the globe. For the most part, being informed is useful and developmental; it can help to facilitate change, or to breed empathy by allowing us to understand the plight of others. However, increasingly, the inescapable immersion in a spiralling news cycle is increasingly overwhelming. A mainstay on the top spot of our feeds, the never-ending stream of bad news seems to outstrip positive, engulfing us in pessimism.
As global communities navigate ongoing health and environmental crises, the ability for architecture to spark joy and raise spirits has never been more vital. For this reason, we’re introducing a brand new category for the 10th edition of Architizer’s annual A+Awards program: Architecture +Joy. Open Projects of all typologies, this category celebrates projects that bring joy to their users, whether it be through form, color, program and social impact.
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Architects are problem solvers by trade, and although it is unlikely that architecture will solve all of the world’s problems, designers hold a unique position in society; their work has the ability to influence and affect. The way human beings think, feel and conduct ourselves can be hugely impacted by the environment we find ourselves in.
EKH Children Hospital by IF (Integrated Field co.,ltd), Thailand
Jury Winner, 2020 A+Awards, Hospitality – Healthcare & Wellness
The pandemic has generated many studies that establish the impact of humans’ environmental surroundings on our general well-being. With all the research conducted, our understanding of how spaces make us feel has become more nuanced.
The beauty of architecture is that it can influence us on multiple levels — the way we move from place to place, the impact of a building’s façade as we walk by, how the acoustics in a room can make us calm or anxious or, on a much broader scale, the way we adore or dislike a whole a city due to our upbringing as children. This study of the inter-relationship between humans and their surroundings — of how the body and brain respond to and shape the built environment — is vast and informative. If we learn to harness this potential, there is an opportunity to bring more positivity to the world.
Amagerforbrændingen Waste to Energy Plant by BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group, Copenhagen, Denmark
Jury Winner & Popular Choice, 2019 A+Awards, Concepts Plus Architecture – Architecture +Photography & Video
Popular Choice, 2020 A+Awards, Commercial – Factories & Warehouses
User-focused architecture isn’t a trend, style, or a methodology. It is a solution-based approach that can be used to optimize the relationship between people and the building around them. With that in mind, how can architects use their platform to create positive spaces that ensure our surroundings lift us emotionally when everything seems bleak?
There is no universal reaction to a singular space, so a one-size-fits-all approach to user-focused architecture is not the answer. As the name suggests, architects must consider the demographic alongside the local area to establish how a building can improve the lives of the people who will inhabit the space. It is not solely aesthetics but how and space comes into being and how it functions during its lifespan that can bring positivity and joy to its environment.
Amos Rex Museum by JKMM Architects, Helsinki, Finland
Amos Rex museum in Helsinki is a subterranean museum that has gained international popularity since its opening in 2018. Primarily a city center museum, the public space hosts numerous exhibitions and shows much like a typical city center museum. However, JKMM architects took the opportunity to develop the urban landscape with their proposal. Built with large concrete domes that contain the skylights for the galleries below, the architects formed the domes at street level to create a playful urban park and transitional space.
By simply considering how their project could impact the broader audience of the whole community, they have not only created a unique museum but have also changed how people use the land above. Social interaction and fun reverberate throughout the area that was once passive and unmemorable.
Presence in Hormuz by ZAV Architects, Hormuz, Iran
Jury Winner, 2021 A+Awards, Concepts – Architecture +Color
Equally, by considering the societal and economic situation of where a project is to be built, architects can personally impact the lives of individuals in the area. Hormuz is a historic port in the Persian Gulf in Iran. Colorful and surreal landscapes surround the island, yet the local inhabitants struggle economically.
Presence in Hormuz is a series of touristic developments envisioned to empower the island’s local community. The architects chose to not only add to the visual landscape but to support the local economy and tradespeople. Built-up of numerous domes — a shape familiar to locals — the project used traditional techniques and materials that did not require importation from elsewhere. Additionally, they earmarked far more of their budget to pay laborers than for buying materials. This money can then filter back into the society to benefit all the Iranians of the area.
Architecture can be used as a tool to bring joy and improve life. It is an opportunity to understand the needs of a branch of society. It must move beyond the aesthetic and delve deeper to find and deliver greater joy in its construction and its being. In doing so, a thoughtful design is able to bring people together and to spark a little more joy in the lives of those visiting or living alongside the design.
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Do you have a project that brings joy to its users, whether it be through form, color, program and social impact? Consider entering the brand new Architecture +Joy category in Architizer’s 10th Annual A+Awards.
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581 Grant Ave, Brooklyn NY // think! architecture and design pllc
Project Status: Under Construction
Text description provided by the architects.
The Think! Architecture design for the affordable housing project at 581 Grant Avenue was selected as part of the winning project proposal that was submitted in response to a Request for Proposals from the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development and is currently in the design phase of development.
© think! architecture and design pllc
© think! architecture and design pllc
The RFP mandated the use of modular construction as a means of bringing much needed housing to the market more expeditiously and at lower cost than by conventional means. The project, which will provide 167 affordable units ranging in size from studio apartments to 4 bedroom units, has been designed to maximize the benefits of modular construction.
© think! architecture and design pllc
© think! architecture and design pllc
All of the building’s residential modules are the same size to facilitate ease of fabrication and on-site construction and, to further minimize cost, the number of unique modules for stairs and other interstitial common spaces have been kept to the absolute minimum At the same time, the building has been designed to provide an innovative exterior massing and a façade treatment intended to mitigate the scale of the building in its low-rise residential context through a distinctly modern vocabulary that takes the building’s modularity as its starting point.
Landscaped areas play a significant role in the overall project design with a diversity of outdoor spaces supporting a range of uses for the building’s residents as well as for the surrounding community.
© think! architecture and design pllc
© think! architecture and design pllc
These spaces include rooftop terraces, a new exterior passage connecting the community to the subway station head house directly adjacent to the project site, a public plaza and private ground level gardens and recreational areas. Additionally, the project prioritizes sustainability through building orientation, the use of energy efficient systems and renewable and resilient building materials.
© think! architecture and design pllc
© think! architecture and design pllc
The building, when complete, will exceed the requirements of Enterprise Green Community standards as mandated by HPD..
© think! architecture and design pllc
© think! architecture and design pllc
581 Grant Ave, Brooklyn NY Gallery
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Architecture Forecast: Will Wonderland Whimsy Overtake the Concrete Block?
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Box-like apartment buildings are seemingly becoming a thing of the past. Innovators are finding ways to break away from the ubiquitous stacked housing plans and flat elevations to create new typologies of buildings that are interactive and playful while being extremely functional.
Colored walls, polygonal projections, mixed materials and quirky forms are just some of the methods that designers have used to create a new typology for housing complexes. These also help create new ways of looking and ventilation, connectivity and circulation in these spaces. The following collection highlights eight residential buildings that are breaking out of the boxy apartment block mould.
Honeycomb Apartments by OFIS architects, Livade, Slovenia
The housing complex is arranged to make sure that each of the thirty apartments has a private balcony. These staggered projections have textile shades that create intimate alcoves. With perforations on the side for ventilation, the terraces allow inhabitants to interact with the surroundings. For those approaching the complex, the colorful spectrum of panels on the balconies make the composition come alive.
Images by Takumi Ota Photography
Kitasenzoku Apartment by Tomoyuki Kurokawa Architects, Ota, Japan
This architectural complex for students looks like a mass of concrete with cuboidal voids and cutouts. It houses shared rooms, an office for clients and staff residences. The volume of the building was shaped by the requirements of the spaces within, and the voids were formed in the gaps between these functions.
Images by Rungkit Charoenwat
Hachi Serviced Apartment by Octane Architect & Design, Bangkok, Thailand
Popular Winner, 2019 A+Awards, Residential – Apartment
This project plays with different variations of the conventional house shape to create a memorable statement façade. All the openings in the internal spaces also play with the same profile to create fenestrations within. Even elements like headboards have the same geometry, which ties the design together as a unified whole.
The Snail Apartments by archimatika, New York City, New York
This studio merged the aesthetic of old New York houses with that of modern skyscrapers to create a structure that would easily blend with the different types of buildings found in the neighborhood. It houses apartments of various sizes, catering to residents across several social classes and fostering a greater sense of community.
Images by Maíra Acayaba
Manga Building by Laurent Troost Architectures, Manaus, Brazil
A vibrant yellow and white exterior makes this building stand out among the neutral-toned houses in the surrounding neighborhood. It has a total of 12 apartments in four different sizes, encouraging for a mix of residents. Each floor contains two apartments that are built around a central void. The metal grid is placed on the eastern and western elevations to filter light; the luminescent screen creates a yellow halo when the sun rises or sets.
Tetris Apartments by OFIS architects, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Much like the game that they are named for, the homes in this four-level structure look like they have been slotted into one another. The balconies are angled at 30 degrees to orient the houses in the southern direction which is away from the busy highway. Colored wooden panels and perforated balconies add some playfulness to the overall geometry.
Images by Prue Roscoe, and Edward Birch
The Triplex Apartments – Stepped Residences on a Steep Hill by Luigi Rosselli Architects, Sydney, Australia
Unlike conventional apartment buildings, this project is defined by a staggered approach to massing, which takes into account the site’s natural contours. This design provision creates large private terraces for residents. The street-facing elevation has curved projections to make the structure look more open and inviting.
Day Street Apartments by Tzannes, Sydney, Australia
Anodized aluminum shutters are the main feature of this mixed-use building. The foldable panels filter the light entering the structure. The brick façade on the lower floors visually anchors the design while the shutters on the top balance the dense mass below.
Architects: Want to have your project featured? Showcase your work through Architizer and sign up for our inspirational newsletter.
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Noru // K-Thengono Design Studio
Project Status: BuiltYear: 2021Size: 0 sqft – 1000 sqft
Text description provided by the architects.
Noru is an elevated lounge and garden space for an existing hotel rooftop in Kuningan, Indonesia. Throughout the city of Jakarta, the buildings are getting taller, the infrastructure is improving, and the human population is continuing to increase — but there is less development of green space compared to its growth.
© K-Thengono Design Studio
© K-Thengono Design Studio
The result is poor air quality, which brings unhealthy lifestyles to citizens. The vision of the project is to bring the natural elements back to the city, providing an ecosystem that cleans air pollution at the same time.The design embraces the panoramic skyline by using overlapping overhead planes. They act as a shelter from the rain and protect the space from over-exposure during the day.
© K-Thengono Design Studio
© K-Thengono Design Studio
However, the different elevations still allow daylight to bounce into the semi-outdoor space. The topographical platforms compromise the aesthetic appearance of the overhead planes, but also help to define seating group typologies. Together with natural stone, wood, plants, and trees in custom planters, they complete the elevated garden as a whole..
© K-Thengono Design Studio
© K-Thengono Design Studio
Noru Gallery
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Cboe Global Markets Headquarters // CannonDesign
Project Status: BuiltYear: 2021Size: 100,000 sqft – 300,000 sqft
Text description provided by the architects.
Cboe’s dynamic new 185,000 SF HQ located in the historic Chicago Old Post Office is an energetic workplace occupying four floors within two unique buildings with world-class features and amenities. The vibrant environment reflects Cboe’s dynamic culture and is infused with commissioned artwork, unique branding, custom furniture, screens and lighting to enrich the experience.The striking ceiling element truly makes the space come alive.
© CannonDesign
© CannonDesign
It delivers on a theme of movement as a reflection and expression of Cboe’s ever vigorous business. The design element distinguishes itself in numerous ways, including:Momentum: The major ceiling element speaks to momentum, depicting the dynamic trajectory of Cboe’s business. This expansive sculptural element begins quietly within the elevator lobby with recessed floor lighting, reaching upward and stretching beyond reception as a 140ft canopy reflecting the city beyond and with embedded tickers bringing the markets to life.
Reflective and Energized: The element uses a reflective material to draw the panoramic city skyline and daylight deep into the space.
© CannonDesign
© CannonDesign
Integrated and kinetic scrolling tickers translate the company’s immersively energetic business. Along the horizontal expanse above the white ceiling canopy another ticker spans the entire length engaging those on the adjacent mezzanine, effectively connecting everyone at any angle.Sharp angles cut through the element with shards of light reflecting the often volatile market activity inherent within options trading.Bronze screens that depict market movement filter light and views throughout.Beyond serving as a sculptural storytelling element, the piece also has acoustical properties and visually disguises significant ductwork and infrastructure above, adding to the overall environmental quality of the space..
© CannonDesign
© CannonDesign
Cboe Global Markets Headquarters Gallery
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The 10 Top Small Architecture Firms of 2021
Building great architecture begins with practice. Structuring a firm to take on new work is an exercise in values and scale. Design is intrinsically related to individuals and their creative approach, and this is certainly the case with the designers that run the world’s best small firms. For this reason, one of our most highly anticipated categories in this year’s A+Awards — now open for entries — is the Best Small Firm category. Enter now to get your practice in the running for a prestigious global accolade, international publication and a host of opportunities for visibility throughout 2022:
Start A+Awards Submission
This year, we’re making the A+Awards more accessible for small architecture firms! If your firm has 10 staff or less, enter APLUSSMALL at check out to get $50 off. Valid through October 29, 2021 for up to 3 entries.
Now celebrating its 10th year, the A+Awards program gives every architecture and design firm an equal opportunity to gain recognition, regardless of their size, location or existing standing in the industry. Each of the following firms has scooped an A+Award in the past few seasons, elevating their practice and their professional reputation as a result. As you prepare your own A+Award submissions, take inspiration from these offices, each of which are harnessing new programs, material explorations and groundbreaking research to lead the architectural profession into the next decade.
Mountain House in Mist, Zhejiang, China. Jury Winner, 2020 A+Awards, Cultural – Pavilions. Jury Winner, 2020 A+Awards, Concepts – Plus-Architecture +Learning
Shulin Architectural Design
Any list of small firms to watch would be incomplete without Shulin, who scooped the prestigious title of Small Firm of the Year in Architizer’s 2021 Firm Awards. Established by Chen Lin in 2015, the Hangzhou-based studio specializes in design for rural areas throughout the Chinese countryside. This geographic context lends itself to renovation and renewal projects. As such, “the village” acts as a starting point for the firm. Alongside their insistence on small projects, throughout their portfolio, Shulin Architectural design calls attention to rural tectonics, typology, respecting the authenticity of construction and the locality of materials, as well as researching the relationship between nature and architecture, people and the environment, and the new and the old.
Big Barn, Glen Ellen, CA. Image by Joe Fletcher Photography
Faulkner Architects
Faulkner Architects was formed in 1998 by Greg Faulkner to pursue the development of highly crafted, site-sensitive spaces. A staff of eight operate from two offices, one near Lake Tahoe in the Sierra Nevada mountains and one in Berkeley near the San Francisco Bay. The work of the practice ranges from hospitality projects to institutional buildings (including master planning), though the firm is best known for private houses, small and large.
Often designing building in harsh, extreme environments — noted for fires, snow, and heat — the firm’s work is recognized for it’s use of low-maintenance, durable materials that minimize risk, while preserving direct engagement of the environment. Sustainability design integration is focused on use of local resources, including photovoltaics, water collection, and natural ventilation, minimizing reliance on the grid.
Assinie-Mafia Church, Côte d’Ivoire. Image by François-Xavier Gbré
Koffi & Diabaté Architectes
Founded in 2001 by Guillaume Koffi (DESA Paris) and Issa Diabaté (YALE University), the Koffi & Diabaté Architectes office is structured around a wide range of projects. Their portfolio includes everything from residences to corporate offices, housing estates and real estate programs, in Côte d’Ivoire and West Africa. As they state, the partners’ goal is to build modern, quality buildings, all the while taking into account their clients’ lifestyle and cultural identity. The firm was also named Best of the Year > Africa in Architizer’s 2021 Firm Awards.
University of Toronto, Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design, Toronto, Canada. Jury Winner, 2019 A+Awards, Concepts – Plus Architecture +Climate Change
NADAAA
No stranger to accolades, NADAAA has regularly been on the list of firms in the Architect’s Top 50, as well as an Architizer A+ Award winner for the Beaver Country Day School Research + Design Center, Rock Creek House, Gwangju Pavilion and the Melbourne School of Design. They also received a special mention for the Best of the Year, North America category in last year’s A+ Awards. As a multi-disciplinary practice bridging between design disciplines, the firm continues to build upon a legacy of innovative, smart and nimble design.
Women’s Opportunity Center, Kayonza, Rwanda. Jury & Popular Winner, 2015 A+Awards, Concepts – Architecture +Community
Sharon Davis Design
Founded in 2007, Sharon Davis Design has built a portfolio of work for nonprofit organizations where social benefit underpins beautiful and transformative design. Centering on social justice, economic empowerment, and sustainability, and was a finalist in the Architecture – Humanitarian category for last year’s A+ Awards. Their diverse projects span from a hospital in Nepal to community centers in Rwanda.
Limestone Gallery, Anlong, Qianxinan, China. Jury Winner, 2018 A+Awards, Cultural – Gallery
He Wei Studio／3andwich Design
He Wei is a professor at the School of Architecture of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, as well as the founder of He Wei Studio／3andwich Design. Using materials and existing contexts to reimagine everyday life, He Wei’s work is inventive and tied to place. Spanning design and representative architecture in the field of rural construction, the studio’s work includes projects like the Xihe Grain and Oil Museum and the Villager Activity Center, a Youth Hostel, and the revitalization plan of the ancient village of Shangping in Fujian.
Guadalupe River House in New Braunfels, TX, United States
Low Design Office
Low Design Office is an architecture studio and an integrated design practice. Bridging design and construction, they bring high-impact buildings and landscapes to life. They also have a particular focus on low carbon footprints and environmental impact with the goal of bringing life into balance for people and place. Their core idea is simple – more with less, but their work brings together diverse ideas on design, construction and architecture.
Village Lounge of Shangcun in Jixi, China. Project of the Year, 2019 A+Awards. Jury Winner, 2019 A+Awards, Concepts Plus Architecture +Community
SUP Atelier
Exploring the sustainability of natural resources and human community, SUP Atelier was founded by Prof. Song Yehao from Tsinghua University School of Architecture in Beijing. Dedicated to research and practice on sustainable urban and architectural design, they focus on natural and local materials, tectonics and contextual strategies. SUP Atelier’s projects have been recognized internationally and have won over 60 awards worldwide, including Jury winner and “Building of the Year” as part of the Architizer A+ Awards.
Casa Candelaria in Mexico. Jury Winner, 2020 A+Awards, Residential – Private House (XL>5000 sq ft)
Cherem Arquitectos
Cherem Arquitectos is an architectural design firm located in Mexico city that was founded by architects Abraham Cherem and Jose Antonio Aguilar. As the team notes, the “quality of their work is represented by the synthesis and abstraction of the ideas” to bring a range of artistic and poetic projects to life. Their projects are defined by a respect for materials and construction, as well as embracing light and space as defining elements that characterize their work. Founded in 2012, the firm’s portfolio includes single-family residences, hospitality projects, places of worship, and office buildings, architecture that’s defined by well-executed details and carefully curated formal moves.
BIT Sports Center in Beijing, China. Popular Choice, 2020 A+Awards, Sport & Recreation — Gyms & Recreation Centers
telier Alter Architects
Founded in 2009, Atelier Alter Architects is an interdisciplinary practice based in New York and Beijing. Their work focuses on cultural facilities after winning the competition to build Qujing Culture Center in 2009. This was followed by the Senior Culture Center in 2010. Besides culture projects, the portfolio of Atelier Alter Architects ranges from small scale furniture design to educational facilities and large urban scale projects.
We’re making the 10th Anniversary Architizer Awards more accessible for small architecture firms! If your firm has 10 staff or less, enter APLUSSMALL at check out to get $50 off. Offer valid through October 29, 2021 for up to 3 entries.
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The Skinny on Supertall Skyscrapers: Problem-Solving or Problematic?
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As the sea-level rises, increasing population and diminishing flatlands pose the following conundrum: How can humanity accommodate more people with limited lands? This is quickly becoming an essential and typical urban problem for architects, developers and local government. High-rise buildings have long been seen as a problem-solver capable of vertically expanding the limitations of a small site footprint in order to provide more residential and working spaces in cities. The future city, according to the booming trends of building up, might be a skyscraper forest.
Such scenes have already been depicted in many architects’ futuristic urban designs. However, as super-high-rise office buildings in central business districts compete for the top height — in many parts of the work, to accommodate more companies or satisfy certain business demands — the question worth asking: should residential buildings also compete to be the tallest and skinniest one? In recent years, New York has been a testing ground for the answer to this question.
Just as some skyscrapers advertise the privilege of working beyond the clouds, more and more developers are aspiring to satisfy the desires of the world’s elite to flex their wealth and status by promising them a home up in the air. No longer dedicated to solving the housing problems for dense populations, architects who undertake these projects guarantee buyers the best view of the cityscape (for those on the upper floors), while also maximizing the profits of the developer by reaching taller and taller. As these residential towers grow taller, they become attenuated. No longer designed to solve urban problems, are these structures destined to become problematic in and of themselves?
Image by The Skyscraper Museum
Millions of Dollars for Living in the Sky: Is It Even Worth It?
The burgeoning legal saga of 432 Park Avenue in Manhattan, New York indicates that the unsolved technical problems in the super-high-rise residential buildings, such as flooding pipes, unstable elevator services and constant noises caused by structural components, are more than inconvenient; they could become life-threatening to their residents. For those who haven’t followed the coverage, residents in this building were caged for hours due to the unstable elevator services on multiple occasions.
The 425-meter-tall residential tower, which includes 125 living units whose price ranges from some 5 million dollars to over 100 million dollars, is supposed to offer privileged living experiences. Unfortunately, apart from the house price, residents in 432 Park Avenue have now had to spend extra money hiring engineering consultants and lawyers in order to fight for the comfortable and safe domestic living that they say that they paid for. So far, more than 1,500 construction and design defects were identified as “life safety issues” by the engineering consultant. In September 2021, residents sued the building’s developers based on the engineering report.
As architects, we know that a part of the reasons for the high price is that these foreseeable technical problems on super skinny towers are difficult and costly to tackle — or to ever fully solve. For example, the elevators, a necessity of skyscrapers, are highly likely to malfunction due to possibility of uneven force distributions among elevator cables, especially when buildings sway severely during windy days. Additional problems include drastically difficult emergency evacuation, undesirable stack effect and noises caused by air friction in deep elevator shafts, extra efforts to set up and maintain water and electricity supply for the whole building, etc.
Sometimes, even though all technical issues are predicted and thoroughly considered, any small mistake in the building’s design, construction or maintenance could still trigger the above problems. The question requiring reflection becomes: Should we, as architects, stop designing and pursuing the skinniest and tallest buildings, as we wait to be sure that these technical issues can be well handled?
The conceptual project Planet City that tackles future urban problems by Liam Young, image via Worldarchitecture.
Should We Stop Building Skinny Skyscrapers for Good?
Before answering the question, let us ask another question: what is so attractive about living in the sky? The answer might be the ‘unblocked’ views. In cities with high-rise jungles, views from lower floors are rarely that desirable. Unblocked vistas that fly over lower buildings’ roofs — as well as the distant coasts or mountains — therefore become a privilege and a scarce resource. Living in an upper-floor home, therefore, is closely engaged with the richest and most powerful “1%” of the society.
As Adrian Forty wrote in his book Objects of Desire, “…design tells people what they ought to think about the home and how they ought to behave there.” Design has the power to influence people’s behavior; yet, disrupting the chain of supply-demand is only possible if designers are joined by managers/developers, customers and local governments. At present, this truly seems like a pipe dream.
While there is still a need to explore more economical and practical ways for solving technical issues of super-high-rise residential buildings, are these skinny residential buildings the only way to respond to the demands of “unblocked view”? As architects, at least until there are engineering breakthroughs for these issues, should we stop the fashion of building taller and skinnier skyscrapers for residential uses? Could we, by employing other technologies such as vertical gardens, holograms and virtual/augmented reality, come up with other ways to approach domestic sight enjoyment without sacrificing residents’ safety and convenience? Hopefully, decades or centuries later, when skinny skyscrapers are no longer rare and expensive, there will be one day that these towers are built for the general welfare.
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