The jury and the public have had their say — discover the remarkable winners of Architizer's 14th Annual A+Awards. Subscribe to our Awards Newsletter to receive future program updates.
Every awards season celebrates the year’s standout projects, but look a little closer, and another story begins to emerge. Across different countries, building types and design briefs, the same ideas keep resurfacing. In that sense, the winners reveal as much about the direction of the industry as they do about the individual projects.
Looking specifically at this year’s A+Awards-winning interiors, a handful of priorities appear time and time again. From workplaces designed around connection to interiors where materials, adaptability and existing character take precedence, these projects offer a glimpse into what designers are valuing most. Take a look at what caught our attention and see if you spot the same patterns.
1. The Workplace Is Becoming a Destination
PUMA Studio
By West of West, Los Angeles, California
Popular Choice Winner, Commercial Interiors (< 25,000 sq ft), 14th Annual A+Awards
Long gone are the days when an office meant rows of desks and a handful of meeting rooms. With flexible working now the norm, designers are faced with a new question: what makes an office worth the commute? PUMA Studio in Los Angeles finds its answer in the traditional atelier. West of West’s design brings making to the forefront, allowing design, prototyping and collaboration to unfold in full view rather than behind closed doors. Workshops, material libraries and gathering spaces encourage ideas to circulate throughout the day.
The project reflects a clear shift in workplace priorities. Efficiency alone is no longer enough. Especially in creative fields, the office has become a place for inspiration, where collaboration and shared authorship are treated as essential ingredients of the design rather than welcome by-products.
Harry The Hirer Headquarters
By Riofrio Carroll Architects, Melbourne, Australia
Popular Choice Winner, Commercial Interiors ( > 25,000 sq ft), 14th Annual A+Awards
Harry the Hirer approaches the same question from a different perspective. As the company expanded from a single floor to four, preserving its close-knit culture became just as important as accommodating more desks. The answer was a dramatic central void that visually, physically and acoustically connects every level, allowing conversations, movement and natural light to flow through the building. Stairways and bridges become places to meet rather than simply pass through, while programmable LED walls and event-inspired lighting reflect the company’s identity.
Together, both projects suggest that the best workplaces are no longer designed around individual tasks, but around the people and interactions that give them purpose.
2. Residential Design Is Escaping the Home
PENN 2
By Fogarty Finger, New York, NY, United States
Jury Winner, Commercial Interiors (< 25,000 sq ft), 14th Annual A+Awards
What stands out most about PENN 2 is how confidently it borrows from residential design. Luxury materials are hardly a foreign concept in premium office interiors, yet Fogarty Finger goes beyond a polished finish. White oak, vein-cut travertine and Roman plaster are used to create the kind of warmth and familiarity more often associated with high-end homes than Manhattan office towers.
PENN 2 is part of a wider story unfolding across this year’s winners. More and more, architects are looking beyond a building’s purpose, borrowing qualities from one typology (in this case, high-end residential interiors) to reshape another (namely, the corporate workplace).
3. Materiality Is Taking Center Stage
Eslite Spectrum Xindian
By RCPA+ PW Hsiao Architects & Associates, New Taipei City, Taiwan
Jury Winner, Commercial Interiors (> 25,000 sq ft), 14th Annual A+Awards
Looking at this project, it’s easy to forget that it is, in fact, a shopping mall. Eslite Spectrum Xindian swaps polished commercial finishes for timber, textured materials and softly lit vaulted spaces that encourage browsing rather than rushing. A sequence of timber arches establishes rhythm and orientation while giving the expansive interior a distinctly human scale. It’s a reminder that even the busiest commercial spaces can feel calm when architecture and materiality take the lead.
AMS House
By Jacobsen Studio, Porto Feliz, Brazil
Jury Winner, Residential Interiors ( > 3000 sq ft), 14th Annual A+Awards
AMS House strips the interior back to its essentials, allowing a carefully chosen palette of laminated timber, travertine and rammed earth to shape the experience of every space. The rammed earth walls reveal their layered texture under shifting daylight, while exposed timber structure and natural finishes create a quiet sense of warmth. It’s an approach that values materials for what they are rather than what they imitate, proving that some of the most memorable interiors are built on authenticity instead of embellishment.
4. Space Is Shaping Behavior
Qingshan Forest Classroom
By 317studio, New Taipei City, Taiwan
Jury Winner, Educational Interiors, 14th Annual A+Awards
In a typical classroom, too much movement is discouraged. Qingshan Forest challenges that convention by reorganizing the traditional classroom around a central clearing that encourages students to gather, discuss and explore together. Flexible work zones, integrated furnishings and embedded Scouting elements replace fixed rows and front-facing hierarchy, allowing learning to unfold through participation rather than observation. Instead of asking students to adapt to the space, the space encourages curiosity, collaboration and active engagement.
5. History Is Becoming Part of the Design
Watertown Exploratory Labs (WELL)
By ELKUS|MANFREDI ARCHITECTS, Watertown, Massachusetts
Popular Choice Winner, Architecture +Renewal, 14th Annual A+Awards
Sometimes the best starting point is an existing building. Rather than replacing a 1930s industrial landmark, Watertown Exploratory Labs transforms it into a contemporary life sciences campus while preserving the character that made it distinctive in the first place. The former factory’s masonry, industrial patina and Art Deco detailing remain central to the interior, while a reopened atrium, shared amenities, and modern laboratories carefully layer new uses onto the historic fabric. The project shows that preserving character doesn’t mean freezing a building in time. It means allowing its story to continue.
Architectural Warehouse Studio
By Studio André Lenza, Goiânia, Brazil
Jury Winner, Architecture +Workspace, 14th Annual A+Awards
Studio André Lenza takes a similarly restrained approach. Instead of reinventing an existing warehouse, the project embraces its industrial identity, allowing the original structure, concrete block walls and generous proportions to shape the workspace. Contemporary interventions are deliberately understated, creating an office that feels connected to its past rather than detached from it.
The jury and the public have had their say — discover the remarkable winners of Architizer's 14th Annual A+Awards. Subscribe to our Awards Newsletter to receive future program updates.
