6 Small Architecture Studios Punching Above Their Weight in 2025

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Studios with just a few employees can deliver some of the most intimate and resonant work because every member plays a vital role. They take ownership of each design decision and leave clear fingerprints on every stage of a project. Their size becomes an advantage rather than a limitation and allows them to respond with a level of care that may be difficult to achieve at scale.

These firms show what happens when small studios hold their work close and stay fully accountable to every choice. Their teams may be few in number, but the clarity of their involvement runs through each project, from the first sketch to the final detail. They read constraints, respond with precision, and protect the intimacy that often gets diluted in larger offices.

Architizer recognizes this kind of commitment because it proves that the strength of the punch does not depend on headcount. The A+Awards places firms of all sizes on equal footing, celebrating the strength of their ideas, not the size of their offices. This year’s winners and finalists from the Micro, X Small, and Small Firm categories show what can happen when tight teams pursue big ambitions.

Splyce Design

Jury Winner, Best Micro Firm (1 to 2 employees), 13th Architizer A+Awards

splyce design_01-architizer Canadian-based architect Nigel Parish runs a micro firm, Splyce Design, with the kind of focus that comes from leading a very small studio. He works closely on every project, shaping spaces from the inside outward and letting material, light, and structure guide each decision. His approach is clear in the reDEW House, an A+Awards finalist.

Parish stripped the 1969 home to its original timber frame and rebuilt the interiors so that they open directly to the ocean. He designed the interior to mirror this openness. Especially with the suspended steel stair, long views through the rooms, and the quiet palette. Through this and many more projects, this firm delivers successful uppercuts to big design problems.

Thellend Fortin Architectes

Popular Choice Winner, Best Micro Firm (1 to 2 employees), 13th Architizer A+Awards

Louis Thellend and Lisa Marie Fortin run a tag team practice in Quebec, Thellend Fortin Architectes, that delivers steady counter hooks with every project they take on. They stay close to each commission, reading the land and shaping their ideas around what the site offers.

This is clear in the Orford House, a single-family home near Parc national du Mont Orford. They designed it to rise like one of the surrounding trees, with a calm vertical rhythm that blends into the forest. The way the structure steps with the slope and opens toward the woods lands like a clean knockdown and shows a direct and confident connection to place.

Peter Braithwaite Studio

Jury Winner, Best X Small Firm (3 to 5 employees), 13th Architizer A+Awards

Peter Braithwaite owns a lean eponymous studio based in Halifax, which treats building as a direct extension of design. His team brings long experience in carpentry and construction to each project, which gives them a steady hand when the work gets tough. (You can check out the team’s incredible models here.)

One of their projects, Armstrong Cottage, earned a special mention in the A+ Awards. The off-grid structure sits on a remote island and requires careful planning from the moment materials leave the mainland. They handled this project with a steady form and landed professional one-two combinations. The materials arrived by barge, the parts fit together like a kit, and the final building settled into its landscape. This level of coordination is usually unexpected for X small firms like this.

Snorre Stinessen Architecture

Popular Choice Winner, Best X Small Firm (3 to 5 employees), 13th Architizer A+Awards

Snorre Stinessen leads a small, handpicked team that makes up the practice bearing his name. Though the studio works between Tromsø and Udine, distance has never softened their involvement. He stays present in every commission and guides each project with the accuracy of a long-range shot that still lands with force.

The multi-award-winning project, Manshausen Two Towers, shows how his studio handles remote conditions with control and intent. The towers sit on the edge of a stone quay, wrapped in charred timber and angled toward the Arctic sea, their openings framing weather and light with a steady calm. Solar panels line the south wall, allowing the structures to stand on their own in harsh seasons. Stinessen keeps his practice small so every decision stays close to its source. The work is quiet, disciplined, and always delivered with purpose, no matter the distance.

Desai Chia Architecture

Jury Winner, Best Small Firm (6 to 15 employees), 13th Architizer A+Awards

Katherine Chia and Arjun Desai have led their New York studio since 1996, with a quiet confidence that comes from decades of focused practice. Over the past 30 years, the pair have built a body of work that spans continents, crosses typologies and commands the attention of peers worldwide. (Dive more into their global reach and design philosophy here).

They work closely with their team to deliver clean parry jabs like their Michigan Lake House. The home sits on a woodland bluff overlooking Lake Michigan. It is formed from three offset volumes that hold the gathering areas and sleeping rooms. The roof follows the natural terrain and has exposed beams that give the interiors a calm character. Chia and Desai guide their projects with steady hands, and the results feel grounded and intentional.

Dubbeldam Architecture + Design

Popular Choice Winner, Best Small Firm (6 to 15 employees), 13th Architizer A+Awards

Heather Dubbeldam runs a tight Toronto-based studio, Dubbeldam Architecture + Design, that knows how to land clean, targeted solutions when the brief calls for clarity. Yet, beyond this, the practice constantly infused work with creative flare that strikes the balance between elegance and uniqueness. (Read an exclusive interview with their principal and founder, here.)

The A+Award-winning Skygarden House project shows how her team handles pressure on a narrow urban site. They stacked a series of outdoor rooms through the home, pulling light and planting into places where the footprint refused to give. The top level, especially, holds a slice of sky carved into the roofline. Dubbeldam’s small team reads constraints well and responds with work that lands exactly where it needs to.

Top image: Cabane Tortin by Snorre Stinessen Architecture, Nendaz, Switzerland

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