It’s time to take your place among the world’s best firms! One of the most highly anticipated AEC events of the year is here: The 11th Annual A+Awards is accepting entries, with an Extended Entry Deadline on February 24th, 2023.
Forming a key part of the newly expanded A+Awards, the world’s largest architectural awards program, the new Best Firm Categories will spotlight the best in the AEC industry, giving innovative companies the global recognition they deserve. To get your firm in the running for this prestigious accolade, get started on your entry today:
Submit Your Firm for the A+Awards
By entering, you put your firm in the running to join past winners including Foster + Partners, Studio Gang, MVRDV, Adjaye Associates, Shulin Architectural Design, neri&hu, Michael Green Architecture and Koichi Takada Architects in being named one of the world’s best architecture firms.
Every winning firm will see their work published in the next edition of “The World’s Best Architecture”, a stunning, hardbound compendium published annually. Winners will also see their work celebrated in the form of a year-round digital exhibition, with their projects being published on Architizer Journal, Facebook (1.8 Million Followers), Instagram (1.5M), and Twitter (1.1M), as well as being shared with our professional network on LinkedIn.
We’ve also partnered with international architectural newswire v2com to distribute a major press release on the A+Awards Winners to some 6,600 publications across 97 countries. Altogether, the A+Awards media package is worth more than $20,000. With a combined audience of more than 7.5 million, the exposure that awaits A+Award recipients is unparalleled, and the buzz is set to be huge!
In addition to these publication opportunities, each winner receives an iconic A+Awards trophy, designed and produced by the renowned Society Awards, makers of the Emmy Awards, the MTV Music Awards, the Brit Awards and more!
See full details of this year’s A+Awards Prizing here.
We received our Architizer Firm of the Year Award in the mail! Massive thanks again to @Architizer and the amazing jury for this honor! Congrats to all the other winners! @ArchitizerAward pic.twitter.com/EoPgG0pnfh
— The Urban Conga (@TheUrbanConga) June 9, 2021
A+Awards Categories for Every Kind of Architectural Practice
With the addition of Firm Categories, the A+Awards is the only architectural program designed explicitly to reward studios of all sizes and expertise. There are 13 Firm Categories to enter, based on Firm Size, Type and Specialization. The A+Awards Firm Categories are summarized as follows:
Firm Type
- Best X-Small Firm (1 – 5 employees) – NEW! – For extra small-sized architecture and/or design firms demonstrating excellence in their field. Eligible firms should submit at least 3 projects built within the last 10 years and employ 1 to 5 staff as of October 1st, 2022.
- Best Small Firm (6 – 15 employees) – For small-sized architecture and/or design firms demonstrating excellence in their field. Eligible firms should submit at least 3 projects built within the last 10 years and employ 6 to 15 staff as of October 1st, 2022.
- Best Medium Firm (16 – 40 employees) – For medium-sized architecture and/or design firms demonstrating excellence in their field. Eligible firms should submit at least 3 projects built within the last 10 years and employ 16 to 40 staff as of October 1st, 2022.
- Best Large Firm (41+ employees) – For large-sized architecture and/or design firms practicing excellence in their field. Eligible firms should submit at least 3 projects built within the last 10 years and employ 41+ staff as of October 1st, 2022.
- Best Young Firm – For emerging architecture and/or design firms demonstrating excellence in their field. Eligible firms should submit at least 3 projects built within the last 10 years and should have been founded no earlier than January 1st, 2012.
- Best Interior Design Firm – For interior design and/or architecture firms demonstrating excellence in interior architecture. Projects can include interior designs for commercial, residential, cultural, hospitality and other project types.
- Best Young Interior Design Firm – For emerging interior design firms demonstrating excellence in their field. Eligible firms should submit at least 3 projects built within the last 10 years and should have been founded no earlier than January 1st, 2012.
- Best Landscape Design Firm – For landscape architecture and/or architecture firms demonstrating excellence in landscape architecture. Projects can include, but are not limited to public outdoor spaces, private gardens and landscape master plans.
Specialization
- Best Residential Firm – For architecture and/or design firms demonstrating excellence in the private and/or multi-unit residential typology. Projects can include, but are not limited to, private houses, apartments, and multi-unit residential buildings such as condominiums, student dormitories, and social housing.
- Best Commercial Firm – For architecture and/or design firms demonstrating excellence in the commercial typology. Projects can include, but are not limited to, offices and workspaces, retail and shopping centers, restaurants, hotels, stadiums, and mixed-use commercial buildings.
- Best Cultural Firm – For architecture and/or design firms demonstrating excellence in the cultural typology. Projects can include, but are not limited to, museums and galleries, theaters, exhibition centers, religious buildings and memorials, and other cultural projects.
- Best Public Projects Firm – For architecture and/or design firms demonstrating excellence in the public realm. Projects can include, but are not limited to, schools and universities, libraries, civic buildings, transportation centers, landscape projects, and urban and masterplans.
- Best Sustainable Firm – For architecture and/or design firms demonstrating excellence in the field of sustainability, energy efficiency and environmental design. Projects can include commercial, residential, cultural, institutional, hospitality, transportation and other project types.
Eligible firms can submit for multiple A+Awards categories, so there are many ways to win. For specific eligibility requirements for each of the above categories, check out the A+Awards Categories Page for details.
Dominique Coulon & Associés celebrates its ‘Best Firm in Europe’ accolade in last season’s A+Firm Awards program; image via Instagram
Have Your Work Reviewed by a Globally Renowned Jury
The Jury will evaluate each firm based on the following three criteria: Aesthetics, Performance and Impact. You can see detailed descriptions for each of these criteria over on the A+Awards website. Be sure to take a read through as you compile your entry, as firms scoring highly in these areas have an outstanding chance to win.
What about the jury itself? Architizer is 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 will offer 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. Select jurors include:
- Nader Tehrani, Founding Principal, NADAAA; Dean, Cooper Union’s Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture
- Tom Kundig, FAIA, RIBA, Principal/Owner, Olson | Kundig
- Alison Brooks, Principal & Creative Director, Alison Brooks Architects
- Dong Danshen, Chairman & Chief Architect, The Architectural Design and Research Institute of Zhejiang University
- Professor Lesley Lokko, Founder & Director, African Futures Institute
- Aric Chen, M+ Museum, Design Miami
- Liam Young, Speculative Architect and Director, Tomorrows Thoughts Today
- Karim Rashid, Kreator, Karim Rashid
- Natsai Audrey Chieza, Founder & Director, Faber Futures
- David Benjamin, Founder & Principal; Director, The Living; Columbia GSAPP Incubator
- Céline Semaan, Founder & Executive Director, Slow Factory Foundation
- Monica von Schmalensee, Senior Architect/MDA, White Arkitekter
- Tao Liu + Chunyan Cai, Founders & Principals, Atelier tao+c
- Pascale Sablan, FAIA, NOMA, LEED AP, Founder & Executive Director, Beyond the Built Environment
- Fernanda Canales, Founding & Director, Fernanda Canales Arquitectura
- Amanda Ferber, Founder, Architecture Hunter
A full rundown of jurors and featured biographies can be found here.
Jeanne Gang receiving the Firm of the Year Award on behalf of Studio Gang at Architizer’s A+Awards Gala in 2016; photography by Jenna Bascom.
Get Your Submission Prepared
To help you prepare your submission, here is a list of materials and information you’ll need to complete the entry process:
- Entrant name and contact information
- Company information
- A+Award category or categories – Click here for a description of all categories
You are invited to submit a portfolio of up to 12 images showcasing a variety of your firm’s projects for each Firm Category submission. Entries may include BUILT and UNBUILT projects, but must include at least 3 projects BUILT within the past 10 years. For each submission, we’ll ask for the following information:
- Firm Name
- Firm Year Founded
- Firm Statement
- Collaborator and Client Credits (Optional)
- Upload 1-12 images (single images only, no collages)
- Upload 1 video (Optional)
- Images: 30MB max: jpg, jpeg, or png file
- Video: 2GB max: mpg, flv or mp4 file
Once you have uploaded your materials, hit the ‘Check Out’ button and complete payment of the entry fee to complete your submission ($295 before the Extended Entry Deadline on February 24th 2023). Once this is successfully processed, you will receive a confirmation email.
Hitzig Militello Architects celebrates its ‘Best in Interior Design’ Finalist accolade in last season’s A+Firm Awards program; image via Instagram
We recommend reading through the available Click here to see which your firm is eligible for. Firms can enter their work in multiple categories to maximize their chances of success. To find out more about the A+Awards, check out our handy About pages, including FAQs, and eligibility and guidelines.
Watch out for updates on Architizer Journal and on the program website, and don’t forget — enter before February 24th, 2023 to participate in architecture’s biggest annual awards program! Click the button below to get started:
Top image: Palace Museum, Southern Branch by KRIS YAO | ARTECH, 10th Annual A+Awards Popular Choice Winner for “Best Architecture Firm in Asia”; photo by Kyleyu Photo Studio
