Architizer is now welcoming entries for the 8th Annual A+Awards, the world’s largest awards program for architecture and building products. As well as celebrating some of the most innovative recently-completed projects around the globe, the A+Awards also serves as an incredible indicator for which designers are worth watching in the coming year.
By definition, the architecture firms that win an A+Award are among the world’s most forward-thinking companies — their projects address contemporary challenges and answer clients’ needs in a way that sets them apart from their peers. For this reason, we’re introducing the A+List, an annual run-down of every firm that scooped an A+Award in the previous year. It provides a comprehensive picture of the world’s best architecture firms, and will be refreshed each year based on the results of the annual A+Awards program.
The A+List is arranged alphabetically, with more information available by clicking on the link to each firm’s profile. We’ve also picked out a selection of featured firms, providing some extra background on their A+Award triumphs. To secure your position on next year’s A+List, make sure to enter the 2020 A+Awards before the Final Entry Deadline on May 8th, and explore the work of each of these immensely talented firms below.
3Arquitectura y Asociados, S.C.
2019 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner — Stadium/Arena
3XN
2019 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner — Commercial-Unbuilt Commercial
A-01
2019 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner — Architecture +Sustainability
A+A Studio
2019 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner — Architecture +Light
AECOM
2019 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner — Public Park
AGo Architects
2019 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner — Architecture +Living Small
Andrea McLean Studio
2019 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner — Private Garden
Architecture Research Office
2019 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner — Commercial-Retail
Featured Firm: ARIZON DESIGN
VITA-The Fortune Bridge by ARIZON DESIGN, Zhengzhou, China, winner of a 2019 A+Award in the Transport Infrastructure category
ARIZON DESIGN
2019 A+Awards Popular and Jury Vote Winner — Transportation Infrastructure
ARIZON DESIGN was the sole firm to be awarded a double 2019 A+Award in the transportation categories, taking home both the Jury Vote and Popular Choice awards for its glimmering, golden intervention below the Fortune Bridge in Zhengzhou, China. The project cleverly interweaves cultural commercial spaces with transportation infrastructure, spearheading a rising trend in the inventive reuse of existing spaces. We can’t wait to see what ARIZON designs in 2020.
Arquitectonica
2019 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner — Architecture +Cantilever
A-rr
2019 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner — Primary & High Schools
Artwow
2019 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner — Architecture +Collaboration
asap/adam sokol architecture practice
2019 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner — Architecture +Metal
ASPECT Studios
2019 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner — Urban & Masterplans
ATAH
2019 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner — Recreation Centers
Austin Maynard Architects
2019 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner — Private House (M 1000-3000 sq ft)
Avci Architects
2019 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner — Unbuilt – Multi-Unit Housing (S <10 Floors)
BAD. Built By Associative Data
2019 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner — Unbuilt – Private House (L >3000 sq ft)
Bernardes Arquitetura
2019 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner — Architecture +Prefab
BERNASKONI
2019 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner — Commercial-Mixed Use
Best Practice Architecture
2019 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner — Architecture +Living Small
Bennetts Associates
2019 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner — Architecture +Learning
Featured Firm: BIG
79&Park by BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group; photo by Laurian Ghinitoiu
BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group
2019 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner — Commercial-Office – High Rise (16+ Floors)
2019 A+Awards Popular and Jury Vote Winner — Architecture +Photography & Video (with Aldo Amoretti Photography)
2019 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner — Kindergartens
2019 A+Awards Popular and Jury Vote Winner — Multi Unit Housing – Mid Rise (5-15 Floors)
Four years after being named the A+Awards Firm of the Year, BIG’s success continues unabated — the Danish studio’s projects won the most A+Awards of any firm last year, taking home six trophies across a broad range of categories. 79&Park, an innovative new form of multi unit housing in Stockholm, scooped a double A+Award in its typology category, while Aldo Amoretti Photography helped ensure BIG’s groundbreaking Amagerforbrændingen Waste to Energy Plant (complete with rooftop ski slope) won two further A+Awards.
BNS Studio
2019 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner — Unbuilt – Private House (S <3000 sq ft)
Bureau de Change Architects
2019 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner — Architecture +Brick
BREAKFAST
2019 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner — Architecture +Technology
Caballero+Colón
2019 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner — Private House (S <1000 sq ft)
Carmody Groarke
2019 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner — Museum
C Cubica Arquitectos
2019 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner — Architecture +Community
Christensen & Co Architects
2019 A+Awards Popular and Jury Vote Winner — Government & Municipal Buildings
CHYBIK+KRISTOF
2019 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner — Commercial-Showrooms
CLOU Architects
2019 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner — Commercial-Shopping Center
CO Architects
2019 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner — Architecture +Metal
Featured Firm: COBE
Tingbjerg Library and Culture House by COBE, winner of a 2019 A+Award in the Libraries category
COBE
2019 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner — Libraries
Danish firm COBE scooped a Project of the Year Award in 2018 with their dramatic transformation for The Silo in Copenhagen, and triumphed again last year, topping the Jury Vote in the Libraries category with the remarkable Tingbjerg Library and Culture House. COBE refuses to be tied down to a particular architectural style, responding to the unique context of each project with a creative and often unorthodox solution. This spirit of invention undeniably makes the studio one to watch in 2020 and beyond.
Colorado Building Workshop
2019 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner — Architecture +Stone
DAGA Architects
2019 A+Awards Popular and Jury Vote Winner — Commercial-Coworking Space
decaARCHITECTURE
2019 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner — Health Care & Wellness
DEQA Design Collaborative
2019 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner — Unbuilt Cultural
Department of Architecture co.,ltd.
2019 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner — Architecture +Facades
DESYPRI & MISIARIS Architecture
2019 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner — Unbuilt – Private House (S <3000 sq ft)
Featured Firm: DP Architects
winner of a 2019 A+Award in the Architecture +For Good category
DP Architects
2019 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner — Architecture +For Good
DP Architects is a multi-A+Award winning firm, having collected two trophies in 2018 for their vibrant Archifest Pavilion. More recently, the practice realized an office space that deservedly won an A+Award in the Architecture +For Good category, thanks largely to its refreshingly unconventional approach to workplace design. Heartware Network Office offers young volunteers a contemporary space in which to work, encouraging collaboration, communication and sustainable practices to boot. 2020 looks set to be another fascinating year for this innovative firm.
dkstudio architects inc.
2019 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner — Commercial-Office Interiors (<25,000 sq ft.)
Ehrlich Yanai Rhee Chaney Architects
2019 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner — Architecture +Art
Era Architects
2019 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner — Commercial-Office – Mid Rise (5-15 Floors)
Fábio Ferreira Neves
2019 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner — Private House (M 1000-3000 sq ft)
Formwerkz Architects
2019 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner — Private House (XL >5000 sq ft)
gad
2019 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner — Unbuilt Hospitality
GARDE Co., Ltd.
2019 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner — Commercial-Retail
Generator Studio
2019 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner — Unbuilt Sports & Recreation
GEZA – Gri e Zucchi Architettura
2019 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner — Commercial-Factories & Warehouses
Gianni Ranaulo Design
2019 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner — Commercial-Shopping Center
Graham Baba Architects
2019 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner — Bars & Nightclubs
Featured Firm: Heatherwick Studio
Coal Drops Yard by Heatherwick Studio, London, United Kingdom, winner of 2 A+Awards
Heatherwick Studio
2019 A+Awards Popular and Jury Vote Winner — Architecture +Engineering
Four years after scooping multiply A+Awards for the stunning Bombay Sapphire Distillery, Thomas Heatherwick and his team produced another elegant exemplar of post-industrial regeneration with Coal Drops Yard, a beautifully detailed commercial project notable for its signature “kissing roofs”. The project won topped the vote with both the public and the jury, and was explored in further detail as one of our Projects of the Year. With countless other projects underway around the globe, 2020 looks set to be another stellar year for the British design practice.
Henriquez Partners Architects
2019 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner — Multi-Unit Housing (L >10 Floors)
HKS
2019 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner — Architecture +For Good
Hooba Design
2019 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner — Multi Unit Housing – Low Rise (1-4 Floors)
IDIN ARCHITECTS
2019 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner — Commercial-Office – Low Rise (1-4 Floors)
IF (Integrated Field)
2019 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner — Architecture +Renovation
I-KANDA ARCHITECTS
2019 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner — Apartment
Imafuku Architects
2019 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner — Bars & Nightclubs
IMO Architecture & Design
2019 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner — Architecture +Color
Iván Marín Arquitectura
2019 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner — Architecture +Brick
Featured Firm: Kengo Kuma & Associates
V&A Dundee by Kengo Kuma & Associates, Dundee, United Kingdom, winner of a 2019 A+Award in the Museums category; image © Hufton + Crow
Kengo Kuma & Associates
2019 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner — Museum (with PiM.studio Architects and James F Stephen Architects)
Kengo Kuma and his team are no strangers to success in the A+Awards, and were responsible for one of the most iconic winners in last year’s edition of the program: The new Victoria & Albert Museum in Dundee constitutes a significant new architectural landmark for Scotland and the UK as a whole. Working with PiM.studio Architects and James F Stephen Architects, Kuma created a sculptural piece on the waterfront with a number of clever details, explored in depth here. With the 2020 Olympics being hosted in a Kengo Kuma-designed stadium, the name of this legendary architect will only become more universally known in the upcoming months.
Koichi Takada Architects
2019 A+Awards Popular and Jury Vote Winner — Multi Unit Housing – High Rise (16+ Floors)
KPMB Architects
2019 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner — Unbuilt Institutional
K/R (Keenen Riley)
2019 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner — Architecture +Collaboration
KWK Promes
2019 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner — Private House (XL >5000 sq ft)
LAAB Architects
2019 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner — Architecture +Stairs
Lacime Architects
2019 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner — Recreation Centers
Lake|Flato Architects
2019 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner — Architecture +Prefab
LCR ARCHITECTES
2019 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner — Unbuilt Transportation
Leckie Studio Architecture + Design
2019 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner — Unbuilt – Private House (L >3000 sq ft)
Lemay
2019 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner — Factories & Warehouses
2019 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner — Commercial-Office – Low Rise (1-4 Floors)
LEMAYMICHAUD Architecture Design
2019 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner — Health Care & Wellness
LEVENBETTS
2019 A+Awards Popular and Jury Vote Winner — Pavilions
Liska ehf
2019 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner — Architecture +Light
LYCS Architecture
2019 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner — Primary & High Schools
MARC FORNES / THEVERYMANY
2019 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner — Commercial-Pop-Ups & Temporary
MASS Design Group
2019 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner — Religious Buildings & Memorials
Mecanoo
2019 A+Awards Popular and Jury Vote Winner — Hall / Theater
Featured Firm: Michael Green Architecture
The Dock Building by MGA in Vancouver, Canada, winner of 2 A+Awards in Commercial-Mixed Use and Architecture +Facades
MGA | Michael Green Architecture
2019 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner — Commercial-Mixed Use
2019 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner — Architecture +Facades
As one of the leading players in the use of cross laminated timber for large scale buildings, Michael Green Architecture simply cannot be ignored. While the firm is already well known for its high rise timber buildings including Minneapolis T3 (the largest modern timber building in the United States), MGA scooped the plaudits in last year’s A+Awards with a more modest but no less innovative project: The Dock Building in Vancouver, Canada, shows how glulam beams can be employed on a smaller scale to wonderful effect. As the timber revolution continues in 2020, it’s worth watching Michael Green Architecture closely in the coming months.
MUDA-Architects
2019 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner — Unbuilt Commercial
2019 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner — Architecture +Models & Rendering
NADAAA
2019 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner — Architecture +Climate Change
Nathan Allan Glass Studios Inc.
2019 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner — Architecture +Glass
Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects
2019 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner — Public Park
NPDA studio
2019 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner — Hotels & Resorts
OBJECT TERRITORIES
2019 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner — Unbuilt Masterplan
Octane Architect & Design
2019 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner — Apartment
2019 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner — Residential Interiors
ODA New York
2019 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner — Multi-Unit Housing (L >10 Floors)
ODO
2019 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner — Commercial-Pop-Ups & Temporary
Featured Firm: OfficeOffCourse
“The Shadow Garden” of World Horticulture Expo in Yangzhou by OfficeOffCourse, Yangzhou, China
OfficeOffCourse
2019 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner — Architecture +Landscape
2019 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner — Architecture +Learning
2019 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner — Gallery
2019 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner — Architecture +Glass
2019 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner — Kindergartens
Just seven years after its founding, international firm OfficeOffCourse become the undisputed “people’s champion” of architecture in 2019, winning the popular vote in an astonishing five different A+Award categories. The practice, currently working out of Shanghai, Hangzhou and Boston, earned international recognition for every project that it entered: The elegant yet playful 123+ Kindergarten, the sculptural “Shadow Garden” pavilion at the World Horticulture Expo in Yangzhou, and the bold forms of the Exhibition Center of Longquan National Archaeological Park of China.
o’neill rose architects
2019 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner — Residential Interiors
Parisa Manouchehri Design
2019 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner — Architecture +Preservation
PCA-STREAM
2019 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner — Architecture +Workspace
Pfeiffer
2019 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner — Architecture +Sustainability
Philipppe
2019 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner — Private Garden
Plano Humano Arquitectos
2019 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner — Architecture +Renovation
PPAA
2019 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner — Private House (L 3000-5000 sq ft)
Rebelo de Andrade
2019 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner — Architecture +Color
REX
2019 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner — Unbuilt Cultural
Roth Architecture
2019 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner — Architecture +Wood
Featured Firm: Sanjay Puri Architects
PRESTIGE UNIVERSITY (concept) by Sanjay Puri Architects, winner of a 2019 A+Award in the Unbuilt Institutional category
Sanjay Puri Architects
2019 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner — Unbuilt Institutional
2019 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner — Unbuilt Sports & Recreation
2019 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner — Unbuilt Transportation (With Shree Cement PVT ltd.)
Indian firm Sanjay Puri Architects was arguably the Conceptual Firm of the Year in last year’s A+Awards, being the only practice to take home multiple awards in the Unbuilt categories. Puri and his team won recognition for the striking transportation project “THE BRIDGE”, planned for construction this year in Ras, India, as well as the wonderfully pixelated roof of “PRESTIGE UNIVERSITY”, shown above. With a host of beautiful completed projects to their name already, it will be fascinating to see which of Puri’s concepts are brought to reality this year.
SJB
2019 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner — Unbuilt – Multi-Unit Housing (S <10 Floors)
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM)
2019 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner — Libraries
2019 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner — Unbuilt Masterplan
Shenzhen Huahui Design
2019 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner — Architecture +Art
Some Space
2019 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner — Unbuilt Hospitality
Sordo Madaleno Arquitectos
2019 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner — Architecture +Landscape
2019 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner — Architecture +Stairs
SPORTS
2019 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner — Architecture +Urban Transformation
Steven Holl Architects
2019 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner — Higher Education & Research Facilities
Steyn Studio
2019 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner — Religious Buildings & Memorials
Stinessen Arkitektur
2019 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner — Architecture +Cantilever
studioMDA
2019 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner — Gallery
Featured Firm: VIRGINLEMON with Studio Precht
Detail from the Farmhouse (concept) by VIRGINLEMON / Studio PRECHT, winner of a 2019 A+Award in the Architecture +Models & Rendering category
VIRGINLEMON and Studio Precht
2019 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner — Architecture +Models & Rendering
Winner of the 2016 Emerging Firm of the Year A+Award under its previous name Penda, Studio Precht has lost none of its pioneering spirit and creative courage as we head into the new decade. Rendering Studio VIRGINLEMON brilliantly envisioned the firm’s groundbreaking concept for vertical agricultural living, entitled simply “Farmhouse“, sparking conversations across the profession about how rural and urban typologies could be integrated to better serve people in the years to come. What will 2020 bring for VIRGINLEMON and Studio Precht? We can’t wait to find out.
Studio Stockholm Arkitektur
2019 A+Awards Popular and Jury Vote Winner — Commercial-Office Interiors (>25,000 sq ft.)
Studio Workshop
2019 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner — Multi Unit Housing – Low Rise (1-4 Floors)
Suh Architects
2019 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner — Architecture +Branding
SUP Atelier
2019 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner — Architecture +Community
2019 A+Awards Popular and Jury Vote Winner — Architecture +Ceilings
Taller de Arquitectura de Bogotá
2019 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner — Commercial-Office – Mid Rise (5-15 Floors)
Terreform ONE
2019 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner — Architecture +Climate Change
The Design Institute of Landscape and Architecture China Academy of Art
2019 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner — Hotels & Resorts
TONO MIRAI ARCHITECTS
2019 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner — Private House (S <1000 sq ft)
Featured Firm: Tropical Space
ORGANICARE SHOWROOM by Tropical Space, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, winner of a 2019 A+Award in the Showroom category
Tropical Space
2019 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner — Commercial-Showrooms
Having scooped a double A+Award in 2017 for the beautifully detailed Terra Cotta Studio, Vietnamese firm Tropical Space triumphed again last year in the Showrooms category with ORGANICARE SHOWROOM. The creative studio has become renowned for their adept use of brick, harnessing its flexible attributes to provide beautiful, naturally ventilated façades for both residential and commercial projects across Vietnam. It will be fascinating to see how Tropical Space utilize this classic material in new ways throughout 2020.
Tuñón Arquitectos SLP
2019 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner — Private House (L 3000-5000 sq ft)
Utile, Inc.
2019 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner — Architecture +Preservation
Ventura and Partners
2019 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner — Commercial-Office Interiors (<25,000 sq ft.)
vgz arquitectura y diseño
2019 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner — Restaurants
VIRGINLEMON
2019 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner — Architecture +Models & Rendering (In collaboration with Studio Precht)
WAY Studio
2019 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner — Restaurants
WEISS/MANFREDI
2019 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner — Higher Education & Research Facilities
West-line Studio
2019 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner — Architecture +Stone
WeWantMore
2019 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner — Architecture +Branding
XWG Archi-Studio
2019 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner — Architecture +Technology
Yuan Ye Architects
2019 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner — Stadium/Arena
WXY architecture + urban design
2019 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner — Urban & Masterplans
Zaha Hadid Architects
2019 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner — Commercial-Office – High Rise (16+ Floors)
ZGF Architects
2019 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner — Architecture +Workspace
ZJA Zwarts & Jansma Architects
2019 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner — Architecture +Urban Transformation
2019 A+Awards Popular and Jury Vote Winner — Architecture +Concrete
To secure your position on next year’s A+List, make sure to enter the 2020 A+Awards before the Final Entry Deadline on May 8th:
Featured image: “The Shadow Garden” of World Horticulture Expo in Yangzhou by OfficeOffCourse, Yangzhou, China