From Local Heroes to Global Powerhouses: The 32 Best Firms of the 13th A+Awards
Call for entries: The 14th Architizer A+Awards celebrates architecture's new era of craft. Apply for publication online and in print by submitting your projects before the Main Entry Deadline on December 12th!
As we step into a new year shaped by rapid change but also profound awareness, the winning practices of the 13th A+Awards stand as thoughtful stewards of the built environment. Spanning continents, scales and specialties, the following 32 studios have distinguished themselves in the Best Firm Categories, rising above thousands of entries. Their work has brought about significant impact, not only in the field of architecture but in the wider communities and environments in which they operate. Portfolios that hold forward-thinking practices and resonant projects are honored for shaping a more extraordinary, imaginative build world. Join them by submitting your firm for consideration in this year’s A+Awards Firm categories.
This year’s jury reviewed an extraordinary depth of talent, weighing a broad spectrum of criteria to identify studios redefining excellence in their fields. From global to local, small to large, residential to commercial, these firms excelled in their respective categories – yet their influence reaches far beyond them, tackling pressing global challenges. Here are the visionary firms shaping the next chapter of our built environment in 2025…
Best Interior Design Firm
DA bureau
Jury Winner, Best Interior Design Firm, 13th Architizer A+Awards
Myata Platinum restaurant by DA bureau, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
EKONIKA store, Moscow, Russia
Firm Location: London, United Kingdom
Known for delivering unique, sensory experiences, DA bureau is a firm comprised of 30 architects and designers, all utilizing contemporary technologies to vividly transform interior spaces and recontextualize them into their immediate urban landscapes.
Their projects vary from restaurant, retail, hotel, offices and residential design and feature a vibrant visual language as well as functional clarity that supports the rhythm of daily use.
LINEHOUSE
Popular Choice Winner, Best Interior Design Firm, 13th Architizer A+Awards
Gaga Coast Shanghai by LINEHOUSE, Shanghai, China
ALL SH, Xingfu Li by LINEHOUSE, Shanghai, China
Firm Location: Shanghai, China
Operating as a platform to investigate the rituals of inhabitation, LINEHOUSE is an architecture and interior design practice established in 2013 by Alex Mok and Briar Hickling. Their approach transforms even the most mundane moments of daily life into performative acts through an interdisciplinary practice.
By utilizing poetic narrative in their process of design, they deliver projects filled with whimsy and voyeurism that invite occupants to see familiar spaces through a fresh, curious lens.
Best Landscape Design Firm
ASPECT Studios
Jury Winner, Best Landscape Design Firm, 13th Architizer A+Awards
Yagan Square by ASPECT Studios, Australia
The Summit by ASPECT Studios, Shanghai, China
Firm Location: Melbourne, Australia
Founded 25 years ago, ASPECT Studios has curated some of the most transformative landscape projects around the world. Comprised of a global, dexterous (as they describe it) team, the firm employs landscape architects, urban designers, architects, wayfinding specialists, strategists, and graphic designers to create some of the most memorable public realms and natural spaces.
Using context as a compass, the firm’s design process examines social, cultural, economic, historical and ecological conditions and crafts impressive landscapes that respond sensitively to place, people, and the environment.
Change Studio
Popular Choice Winner, Best Landscape Design Firm, 13th Architizer A+Awards
A Sanctuary for the Soul | Shunde Yunlu Wetland Pavilion by Change Studio, Foshan, China
Integration, Symbiosis, and Renewal | Shenyang CR.Land Zhonghuanyue Mansion City Exhibition Hall by Change Studio, Shenyang, China
Firm Location: Chongqing, China
Using each project to foster an interactive, emotional connection between people and nature, Change Studio is a dynamic and innovative team that designs complex urban environments.
Working is a diverse range of projects – from expansive, open landscapes to architectural structures and installations – the firm aims at bringing out the inherent beauty and promise of each site through poetic reinterpretation.
Best Large Firm (41+ employees)
Olson Kundig
Jury Winner, Best Large Firm (41+ employees), 13th Architizer A+Awards
Burnt Rock by Olson Kundig, Grand Marais, Minnesota
Hawaii Residence Office Hut by Olson Kundig, Hawaii
Firm Location: Seattle, Washington
Founded in Seattle, Olson Kundig is a collaborative practice that always “designs from the margins”. The firm embraces the outsider’s perspective along with an eagerness for experimentation that informs architecture in various typologies – from residences to commercial spaces.
Practicing internationally, the firm operates in a range of scales, implementing big ideas in the smallest detail and embracing multidisciplinary collaboration to shape meaningful, resilient places.
Montalba Architects
Popular Choice Winner, Best Large Firm (41+ employees), 13th Architizer A+Awards
Nobu Garden Restaurant by Montalba Architects, Palo Alto, California
Whitepod, Zen Suite by Montalba Architects, Monthey, Switzerland
Firm Location: Santa Monica, California
This California-based studio embraces a humanistic approach towards each of their designs that looks beyond the immediate site and brief and considers the wider cultural and economic impact of each project.
The firm’s design approach operates equally with material and immaterial conditions, employing textures, volumes and light as tools that make up space, delivering not only pragmatic function to shapes but actually elevating them into places filled with narrative and poetry.
Best Medium Firm (16 – 40 employees)
Padovani Arquitetos
Jury Winner, Best Medium Firm (16 – 40 employees), 13th Architizer A+Awards
GM House by Padovani Arquitetos, São Paolo, Brazil
LR House by Padovani Arquitetos, Bragança Paulista, Brazil
Firm Location: Campinas, Brazil
Founded by Architect Lucas Padovani, the office employs an in-depth creative process, where simplicity in design is put in dialogue with the complexity found in nature.
Comprised of a highly skilled, multidisciplinary team, the firm’s portfolio features impressive residential projects that reflect this thoughtful interplay, revealing a careful calibration of attention to detail and an intuitive understanding of how people live within and alongside nature.
Merge Architects
Popular Choice Winner, Best Medium Firm (16 – 40 employees), 13th Architizer A+Awards
Cable Mills – Modern Mill by Merge Architects, Williamstown, Massachusetts
Northeastern University Silicon Valley Campus by Merge Architects, San Jose, California
Firm Location: Boston, Massachusetts
Merge Architects was founded in 2003, featuring an impressive range of projects – from residences to institutional spaces. The firm’s approach is based in experimentation, altering existing typologies, researching material properties and reimagining typical building types.
Through their extensive curiosity lens, Merge Architects is a multidisciplinary team comprised of engineers, fabricators, clients, and even communities that use craft and technology to uncover opportunities where the ordinary is replaced with invention.
Best Small Firm (6 – 15 employees)
Desai Chia Architecture
Jury Winner, Best Small Firm (6 – 15 employees), 13th Architizer A+Awards
Osprey House by Desai Chia Architecture, Shelter Island, New York
Sayavedra House by Desai Chia Architecture, Planned for Construction
Firm Location: Manhattan, New York
This New York-based practice interweaves technology, sustainability, material innovation and meticulous technical design in order to deliver customized environments for every brief.
Their portfolio features a distinctive range of commercial, retail and residential projects that are born through a creative collaboration between client and architect. Their most powerful asset is their attention to craft and authentic design, which results in spaces that feel deeply personal as well as thoughtfully refined.
Dubbeldam Architecture + Design
Popular Choice Winner, Best Small Firm (6 – 15 employees), 13th Architizer A+Awards
Catchacoma Cottage by Dubbeldam Architecture + Design, Kawartha Lakes, Canada
Dubbeldam Office by Dubbeldam Architecture + Design, Toronto, Canada
Firm Location: Toronto, Canada
Dubbeldam Architecture + Design is characterized by its bold design and meticulous craftsmanship. It features a diverse portfolio with projects varying from homes, multi-unit residential projects, workspaces, hospitality, and mixed-use buildings to landscape design and architectural installations.
Their philosophy is that every architectural project carries a social responsibility, prioritizing projects such as social housing that benefit both people and the planet while enhancing the overall quality of life.
Best X-Small Firm (3 – 5 employees)
Peter Braithwaite Studio
Jury Winner, Best X-Small Firm (3 – 5 employees), 13th Architizer A+Awards
The Sandbox by Peter Braithwaite Studio, Bathurst, Canada
B-Frame by Peter Braithwaite Studio, Terence Bay, Canada
Firm Location: Halifax, Canada
Peter Braithwaite Studio was founded in 2014 in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Delivering primarily residential projects, the firm is creating homes with the highest level of craftsmanship.
Their highly skilled team of architects is collaborating with local experts and specifically, carpenters, producing buildings that are both environmentally and culturally sustainable, thus enriching the communities within which their buildings reside.
Snorre Stinessen Architecture
Popular Choice Winner, Best X-Small Firm (3 – 5 employees), 13th Architizer A+Awards
Manshausen by Snorre Stinessen Architecture, Nordland, Norway
Cabane Tortin by Snorre Stinessen Architecture, Nendaz, Switzerland
Firm Location: Troms, Norway
Based in Norway’s Arctic landscape, Stinessen Arkitektur is a boutique studio known for crafting site-specific architecture rooted in nature.
Led by Snorre Stinessen, the practice delivers highly personalized designs – from remote cabins to refined residences – always developed through close dialogue with clients. Every project reflects a deep respect for place as well as an understated, Nordic sense of luxury.
Best Micro Firm (1-2 employees)
splyce design
Jury Winner, Best Micro Firm (1-2 employees), 13th Architizer A+Awards
reDEW House by splyce design, Vancouver, Canada
Yield House by splyce design, Vancouver, Canada
Firm Location: Vancouver, Canada
Splyce is a small, hands-on practice working across a range of residential projects – from new homes and renovations to custom furniture and landscapes. Drawing on a deep foundation in both construction knowledge and architectural education, the firm creates work that is at once functional and poetic.
Their approach embraces an intimate scale of design, shaping not only the spaces themselves but also the fixtures, furniture, and bespoke art that inhabit them.
Thellend Fortin Architectes
Popular Choice Winner, Best Micro Firm (1-2 employees), 13th Architizer A+Awards
Les Récoltes by Thellend Fortin Architectes, L’Assomption, Canada
The Orford House by Thellend Fortin Architectes, Orford, Canada
Firm Location: Québec, Canada
The practice brings an innovative and environmentally attuned approach to architecture and its relationship with place. Specifically, the projects unfold through a sensitive understanding of context, while exploring the dynamics of contemporary life.
The firm has an impressive portfolio of all scales, mainly featuring residential projects, all of which are informed by thoughtful craft and a deep insight for the immediate context.
Best Young Firm
SHISUO Design Office
Jury Winner, Best Young Firm, 13th Architizer A+Awards
The Coffee Shed of Luxun Park-The Artificial and Natural by SHISUO Design Office, Shanghai, China
The Breeze Hall-Between the sacred and the mundane by SHISUO Design Office, Shanghai, China
Firm Location: Shanghai, China
SHISUO Design Office was founded in 2023 and focuses on materiality and tectonics to create spaces with meaning. Their intent is to always challenge conventional architectural boundaries and use the discipline as a theoretical starting point to explore broader fields of design.
Consequently, their portfolio comprises a range of urban, architectural, as well as product design work, showcasing how conceptual rigor can be translated into compelling built and crafted forms.
Future Simple Studio
Popular Choice Winner, Best Young Firm, 13th Architizer A+Awards
Bay 12 Plaza by Future Simple Studio, Toronto, Canada
Sicard by Future Simple Studio, Montréal, Canada
Firm Location: Montréal, Canada
This female-founded architectural firm was established in 2018 in Montréal and New York. The studio combines intuitive craft and simplicity to deliver a wide range of projects – from residences to public installations.
The three pillars of their practice are: careful attention to detail, inventive space planning and harmonious use of materials in an attempt to shape intuitive and cohesive spatial experiences.
Best Young Interior Design Firm
alvarez | sotelo
Jury Winner, Best Young Interior Design Firm, 13th Architizer A+Awards
CC75 by alvarez | sotelo, Madrid Spain
AVB19 by alvarez | sotelo, Madrid, Spain
Firm Location: Madrid, Spain
This Madrid-based architecture and design firm explores the experiential impact of architecture by placing emphasis on mutual collaboration and the shared exchange of ideas throughout their creative process. Specifically, for the studio, meaningful architecture emerges when clients become active participants in a project.
Additionally, their human-centric approach allows them to deliver projects that go beyond architecture and design and focus primarily on the impact they have on people.
Multitude Of Sins
Popular Choice Winner, Best Young Interior Design Firm, 13th Architizer A+Awards
Pearls On Swine by Multitude Of Sins, Bengaluru, India
Project Sin City by Multitude Of Sins, Bengaluru, India
Firm Location: Bengaluru, India
Multitude of Sins (MOS) was founded in 2018 by Smita Thomas and is a creative design studio that is identified by its experimental take on design. Using an array of colors and graphics as tools for making, the practice creates a “multitude of possibilities” of what a space can be.
Its unorthodox designs challenge the notion of the familiar and aim at unveiling the more disregarded potentialities of space, resulting in immersive and unapologetically original interiors.
Best Adaptive Reuse and Renovation Firm
KieranTimberlake
Jury Winner, Best Adaptive Reuse and Renovation Firm, 13th Architizer A+Awards
Bulletin Building Renovation by KieranTimberlake, Philadelphia
East End Transformation by KieranTimberlake, St. Louis, Missouri
Firm Location: Philadelphia, United States
Founded in 1984, KieranTimberlake is a globally recognized practice that specializes in the conservation, renovation, and transformation of existing buildings as well as the programming, planning, and design of new structures.
Their portfolio features an impressive range of typologies and scales – from residential to civic projects – all of which tackle pressing contemporary issues. Environmental sustainability, social inequity and human health are at the forefront of the firm’s design, prioritizing long-term performance over surface-level aesthetic results.
Ziger|Snead Architects
Popular Choice Winner, Best Adaptive Reuse and Renovation Firm, 13th Architizer A+Awards
Slate House by Ziger|Snead Architects, Maryland
The Voxel – Adaptive Reuse of the Autograph Playhouse by Ziger|Snead Architects, Baltimore, Maryland
Firm Location: Baltimore, Maryland
Ziger|Snead Architects has earned a national reputation for design excellence, supported by an impressive portfolio of projects with significant public impact. Their work reinforces the firm’s mission that great design can transform people and places, leaving a lasting and positive social footprint.
Additionally, the firm encourages participatory design and community engagement, from which a distilled design approach takes shape, translating collective voices into clear, meaningful architecture.
Best Commercial Firm
dMFK Architects
Jury Winner, Best Commercial Firm, 13th Architizer A+Awards
Former Nestlé Factory by dMFK Architects, Hayes, United Kingdom
Chancery House by dMFK Architects, London, United Kingdom
Firm Location: London, United Kingdom
dMFK Architects is a close-knit team of architects and designers based in Fitzrovia. Their work is particularly informed by a respect for heritage. Whether designing new buildings or reimagining existing ones, the studio believes that creating architecture that is timeless and sustainable begins with an understanding of the past, allowing history and context to guide contemporary design.
As a result, each of their projects is one of a kind, memorable places unconstrained by convention that accommodate in parallel the everyday rituals of the world.
OPENBOOK
Popular Choice Winner, Best Commercial Firm, 13th Architizer A+Awards
PHC Software Headquarters by OPENBOOK, Lisbon, Portugal
VdA – Vieira de Almeida Building and Interiors by OPENBOOK, Lisbon, Portugal
Firm Location: Lisbon, Portugal
Founded in 2007, The Openbook group has steadily grown, developing five distinct brands within the field (architecture, engineering, studio, real estate and design). This multidisciplinary practice is defined through the synergy between autonomy and collaboration, where each team explores ideas with refined expertise.
This knowledge-building approach enables the firm to tackle complex challenges within the built environment and create an array of spaces that are deeply attuned to human experience.
Best Global Firm
Oppenheim Architecture
Jury Winner, Best Global Firm, 13th Architizer A+Awards
Desert Rock by Oppenheim Architecture, Saudi Arabia
Besa Museum by Oppenheim Architecture, Tirana, Albania
Firm Location: Miami, Florida
Established in 1999, the practice considers itself a group of architectural archaeologists. Specifically, their work is highly attuned to its site, going beyond the bounds of conventional architecture and creating spaces that connect people with place.
The firm utilizes tools such as meticulous craft, contextual design and hyper-functionality, viewing each building as part of a wider ecosystem – cultural, economic and environmental – resulting in work that is both deeply contextual and purposefully connected.
HDR
Popular Choice Winner, Best Global Firm, 13th Architizer A+Awards
Kiewit Luminarium by HDR, Omaha, Nevada
Mayo Clinic Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Building, Rochester, Minnesota
Firm Location: Omaha, Nevada
HDR is an employee-owned global design firm with more than a century of expertise in the architectural field. Albeit a practice that has an impressive array of architectural projects, both in scale and typology, the firm’s bread and butter is delivering high performance environments, regardless of program.
Pushing the boundaries of technology and smart design, the firm addresses societal challenges and strengthens communities by supporting well-being and anticipating the needs of future generations.
Best Local Firm
ARISTIDES DALLAS ARCHITECTS
Jury Winner, Best Local Firm, 13th Architizer A+Awards
PNOES by ARISTIDES DALLAS ARCHITECTS, Tinos, Greece
THE LAP POOL HOUSE by ARISTIDES DALLAS ARCHITECTS, Tinos Greece
Firm Location: Tinos, Greece
Aristides Dallas Architects is a studio founded in 2008, whose ongoing architectural research seeks a timeless and contemporary identity. The practice is inherently local, drawing inspiration from the traditional elements found in each project site, while contributing to the evolving architectural landscape.
In every design, however, the firm adds a modernist twist, reinterpreting the immediate context and using it to reimagine traditional architecture while addressing contemporary challenges. A practice that is rooted in place but looks into the future.
QINGMO Architects
Popular Choice Winner, Best Local Firm, 13th Architizer A+Awards
Eye of Erhai Lake by QINGMO Architects, Jincheng Dali Peace Valley, China
Vanke Wonderland Primary School (TOD) by QINGMO Architects, Hangzhou, China
Firm Location: Hangzhou, China
Qingmo Design is a design practice founded in 2017, driven by an inclusive, rigorous, and human-centered approach. The studio grounds innovation is a deep understanding of each site, working with the immediate context to create spaces with lasting vitality and a strong local identity.
The firm’s mission is to create “diversified life experiences” for each user, employing local life and production practices as ingredients for design thinking and making.
Best Public Projects Firm
WXY architecture + urban design
Jury Winner, Best Public Projects Firm, 13th Architizer A+Awards
Rockaway Boardwalks Reconstruction by WXY architecture + urban design, New York City, New York
Brooklyn Navy Yard Master Plan by WXY architecture + urban design, Brooklyn, New York
Firm Location: New York, United States
WXY is a studio-based multidisciplinary practice focusing on innovative approaches to public space, structures and cities. The firm heavily focuses on community and urban design, incorporating new technologies and green design to deliver effective solutions for complex urban challenges.
Although WXY specializes in large-scale public projects such as education, civic buildings, parks and waterfront developments, the firm also extends its architectural thinking to smaller scales, exploring furniture design as a way to enrich the everyday experience of public space.
Utile, Inc.
Popular Choice Winner, Best Public Projects Firm, 13th Architizer A+Awards
Boston Harbor Islands Pavilion by Utile, Inc., Boston, Massachusetts
Roxbury Branch of The Boston Public Library Renovation by Utile, Inc., Boston, Massachusetts
Firm Location: Boston, Massachusetts
Utile was founded in 2002 and is a design firm built like a think tank. From theoretical issues that frame policy to the practical implementation of architectural commissions, the practice develops rigorous, research-based approaches in order to deliver the best design solutions
Their name, Utile, which means ‘useful,’ reflects the firm’s mission: to yield fresh ways of thinking about how to build cities in a useful and clear-sighted manner.
Best Residential Firm
Feldman Architecture
Jury Winner, Best Residential Firm, 13th Architizer A+Awards
Sunrise by Feldman Architecture, Healdsburg, California
The Farm by Feldman Architecture, San Francisco, California
Firm Location: San Francisco, California
This San Francisco–based architecture and interiors studio crafts site-sensitive and high-performance buildings that respond to their immediate context and community. Their primary work focuses on residential designs that are both sustainable and regenerative for the site they sit on.
In parallel, the studio culture promotes deep listening and collaborative vision-setting as well as placing an emphasis on technical rigor, translating ambitious concepts into finely detailed architecture.
Assembledge+
Popular Choice Winner, Best Residential Firm, 13th Architizer A+Awards
Laurel Hills Residence by Assembledge+, Los Angeles, California
St. Andrews ADU and Addition by Assembledge+, Los Angeles, California
Firm Location: Los Angeles, California
Assembledge+ is a Los Angeles–based architecture firm founded by David Thompson. The studio’s name reflects its ethos, i.e., creating assemblies from the many components found in the design process and creating timeless, human-centric architecture. The firm follows the philosophy of “warm modernism,” using minimal forms and natural light as the protagonists of their design.
In parallel, Assembledge+ employs rigorous analysis and sustainable strategies in order to respond to the immediate contextual conditions and the surrounding community. The studio forges an architecture of clarity that resonates with both context and people.
Best Sustainable Firm
MGA | Michael Green Architecture
Jury Winner, Best Sustainable Firm, 13th Architizer A+Awards
The Dock Building by MGA | Michael Green Architecture, Vancouver, Canada
Google Borregas by MGA | Michael Green Architecture, Sunnyvale, California
Firm Location: Vancouver, Canada
MGA | Michael Green Architecture was founded in 2012 and comprises a range of talented architects bound with a shared drive to create meaningful projects that shape a better future.
Pushing the boundaries in technology and sustainability, the company experimented with timber and bio-construction, completing some of the most significant timber buildings and large-scale sustainable developments ever built, ranging from cultural installations and private homes to residential masterplans and university campuses.
Hennebery Eddy Architects
Popular Choice Winner, Best Sustainable Firm, 13th Architizer A+Awards
PDX Terminal Balancing & Concourse E Extension by Hennebery Eddy Architects, Portland, Oregon
PCC Newberg Center & Master Plan by Hennebery Eddy Architects, Newberg, Oregon
Firm Location: Portland, Oregon
Hennebery Eddy Architects is an Oregon–based architecture, planning, and interiors firm dedicated to strengthening community and advancing a regenerative future. The firm uses inquiry as a mode of practice in order to examine ways of creating architecture that preserves cultural and historical resources.
The firm’s context-driven architecture suggests a meticulous approach to sustainability – one that is no longer rooted in surface-level efficiencies but in a deeper understanding of place, heritage, and long-term environmental impact.
Featured image: Yagan Square by ASPECT Studios, Australia
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