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.
Public architecture has always carried a different kind of responsibility. Unlike private homes or offices, these are the buildings designed for everyone, places where strangers become neighbors, where communities gather and where cities express their values. Whether it’s a library, a museum, a transport hub or a public park, the best civic architecture has the power to improve everyday life.
The winners of the 2026 Best Public Projects Firm A+Award demonstrate just how broad that responsibility has become. Their work spans everything from climate resilience and adaptive reuse to mobility, housing and cultural identity, reflecting a profession that increasingly sees public buildings as more than places that simply serve a function. Right now, public spaces are expected to be welcoming, adaptable and resilient, evolving alongside the communities that rely on them. The work of these seven firms shows exactly that.
Fernanda Canales
Jury Winner, Best Public Projects Firm, 14th Annual A+Awards
Few architects move as comfortably between practice, research and teaching as Fernanda Canales. Based in Mexico City, her studio has built a body of work that spans housing, cultural institutions and civic architecture, united by a consistent interest in the relationship between buildings and public life. Every project begins with a careful reading of its social and urban context, allowing architecture to respond to the communities it serves rather than imposing a predetermined language.
That broader perspective has made Canales one of Mexico’s most influential contemporary architects. Alongside her built work, she has written extensively on housing and the evolution of Mexican architecture while teaching at institutions including Columbia, Harvard, Princeton and Yale. It’s an approach that treats architecture not simply as the design of buildings, but as a way of understanding and improving the city itself.
CrystalZoo
Popular Choice Winner, Best Public Projects Firm, 14th Annual A+Awards
Based in Guadalajara, CrystalZoo was founded on the idea that architecture is a collaborative process rather than the work of a single author. Bringing together architects, designers and specialists from different disciplines, the practice approaches every project as an opportunity to experiment, adapting its methods to the unique social, environmental and economic conditions of each site. That flexibility has become one of the studio’s defining strengths, allowing it to deliver inventive public architecture that responds thoughtfully to both people and place without relying on a fixed architectural language.
WW+P Architects
Finalist, Best Public Projects Firm, 14th Architizer A+Awards
Founded in Australia in 1985, WW+P has grown into an international practice spanning architecture, planning, urban design and landscape architecture. Rather than treating these disciplines as separate, the firm brings them together from the outset, allowing individual buildings to contribute to a broader vision for cities and public life. Whether designing civic institutions, infrastructure or large-scale urban districts, its projects balance ambitious long-term planning with careful attention to the experience of the people who will ultimately use them.
That integrated approach has become increasingly important as cities confront the challenges of climate change and rapid urban growth. Guided by regenerative design principles, WW+P sees every project as an opportunity to strengthen communities while improving the environmental performance of the places they inhabit.
Safdie Architects
Finalist, Best Public Projects Firm, 14th Architizer A+Awards
“For Everyone a Garden” has shaped Safdie Architects’ work for more than six decades. The phrase reflects the practice’s enduring belief that architecture should reconnect people with nature while creating places where public life can flourish. From libraries and museums to airports and large-scale civic developments, the firm’s projects are defined by generous public spaces, abundant greenery and a careful response to their surroundings rather than a fixed architectural style.
That philosophy has allowed Safdie Architects to build some of the world’s most recognizable public buildings without losing sight of the people who use them every day.
nARCHITECTS
Finalist, Best Public Projects Firm, 14th Architizer A+Awards
Rather than developing a recognizable architectural style, the Brooklyn-based practice has built its reputation by responding to the changing ways people live, work and gather. From New York City’s first micro-unit residential building to libraries, parks, adaptive reuse projects and civic institutions, each commission tackles a different challenge while remaining rooted in the same question: how can architecture make everyday urban life work better?
That curiosity has led the studio to some of today’s most pressing conversations, including housing affordability, public space and climate resilience. Instead of treating buildings as isolated objects, nARCHITECTS sees them as part of a larger civic ecosystem, where architecture becomes a framework for stronger communities rather than an end in itself.
ikon.5 architects
Special Mention, Best Public Projects Firm, 14th Architizer A+Awards
Some of a city’s most important buildings are also its most everyday. Libraries, university buildings and civic institutions rarely attract the attention of museums or concert halls, yet they’re often the places communities rely on most. Since its founding in 2003, ikon.5 architects has focused much of its work on these public-facing projects, approaching each as an opportunity to express the identity of the people and places it serves rather than imposing a recognizable house style.
Working across education, government and cultural architecture, the studio allows each project’s history, landscape and community to shape its design. The result is a portfolio that feels remarkably diverse, united less by a consistent aesthetic than by a consistent commitment to creating civic architecture with a strong sense of place.
1PAX Architects
Special Mention, Best Public Projects Firm, 14th Architizer A+Awards
The best airports and transit hubs feel intuitive, quietly guiding thousands of people through some of the most complex buildings ever constructed. Designing that experience has become 1PAX’s specialty. Working at the intersection of architecture, infrastructure and mobility, the practice focuses on how people actually move through space, creating transportation environments that prioritize clarity, efficiency and comfort without sacrificing architectural quality.
Rather than viewing mobility as an engineering challenge alone, the studio treats it as an architectural one. The result is a body of work that demonstrates how thoughtful design can transform even the busiest public infrastructure into places that are easier, calmer and more enjoyable to navigate.
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.
