Architizer’s global architectural awards program, the 9th Annual A+Awards, is now accepting submissions, with a Final Entry Deadline of April 23rd this year. 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 will be at the forefront of innovation in the coming year.
In recognition of this fact, Architizer is delighted to present the second edition of the coveted A+List, an annual run-down of every firm that scooped an A+Award in the previous season. Complementing the newly launched A+Firm Awards, the A+List forms a comprehensive guide to the world’s best architecture firms, and is refreshed each year based on the results of the annual A+Awards program. You can see last year’s A+List here.
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.
Get Your Firm On the A+List
To secure your position on next year’s A+List, make sure to enter the 2021 A+Awards before the Final Entry Deadline on March 12th. As well as featuring within this definitive directory of high quality firms, winning firms will also have their work published in Phaidon’s stunning, hardbound compendium on the World’s Best Architecture, and gain amazing publicity through our year-round global celebration of design.
Without further ado, explore the work of each of these immensely talented firms below, and good luck with your submissions to this year’s program!
The A+List 2021
314 architecture studio
2020 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner –– Unbuilt – Multi-Unit Housing (L >10 Floors)
3andwich Design / He Wei Studio
2020 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner –– Architecture +Stone
3XN
2020 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner –– Architecture +Stairs
2020 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner –– Architecture +Sustainability
2020 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner –– Architecture +Sustainability
A U N Design Studio
2020 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner –– Architecture +Collaboration
A. Lerman Architects Ltd.
2020 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner –– Hall / Theater
A31 Architecture
2020 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner –– Unbuilt – Private House (L >3000 sq ft)
AIRLAB. SUTD
2020 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner –– Pavilions
Amber Book
2020 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner –– Architecture +Climate Change
ANALOG
2020 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner –– Unbuilt Commercial
António Costa Lima Arquitectos
2020 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner –– Architecture +Brick
Apparatus Architects
2020 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner –– Architecture +Ceilings
ARCHETONIC
2020 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner –– Multi Unit Housing – High Rise (16+ Floors)
2020 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner –– Multi Unit Housing – High Rise (16+ Floors)
Archi-Tectonics NYC, LLC
2020 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner –– Unbuilt Sports & Recreation
Archikon
2020 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner –– Architecture +Preservation
archimania
2020 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner –– Coworking Space
2020 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner –– Mixed Use
Architects 49 Limited
2020 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner –– Architecture +Facades
ARCHIVE Global
2020 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner –– Architecture +For Good
ARCHSTUDIO
2020 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner –– Architecture +Renovation
2020 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner –– Architecture +Renovation
Featured Firm: Atelier Alter Architects
BIT Sports Center in Beijing by Atelier Alter Architects, 2020 A+Awards Winner in the Sports and Recreation and Architecture +Ceilings category.
Atelier Alter Architects
2020 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner –– Gyms & Recreation Centers
Founded in 2009, Atelier Alter Architects is a pioneering inter-disciplinary practice based in New York and Beijing. Ever since its conception, the firm has developed a reputation for delivering high quality cultural and recreational facilities, including the BIT Sports Center in Beijing, which scooped a Popular Choice A+Award last year. Besides culture projects, the portfolio of Atelier Alter Architects ranges from small scale furniture design to educational facilities and large urban scale projects. Whether it is architecture, landscape or urban project, the firm’s work strives to manifest ideas that speak about humanity, a goal it will continue with more ambitious projects throughout 2021.
Atelier DAU
2020 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner –– Architecture +Living Small
Atelier Scale
2020 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner –– Architecture +Wood
Atelier TAO+C
2020 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner –– Architecture +Adaptive Reuse
2020 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner –– Architecture +Adaptive Reuse
2020 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner –– Libraries
B.L.U.E. Architecture Studio
2020 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner –– Restaurants
BAAQ
2020 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner –– Private House (S <1000 sq ft)
Ballman Khapalova
2020 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner –– Unbuilt Masterplan
Bates Smart
2020 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner –– Architecture +Prefab
BAU Brearley Architects + Urbanists
2020 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner –– Urban & Masterplans
BAU Brearley Architects + Urbanists
2020 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner –– Urban & Masterplans
BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group
2020 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner –– Architecture +Engineering
2020 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner –– Factories & Warehouses
2020 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner –– Gallery & Exhibition Spaces
2020 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner –– Gallery & Exhibition Spaces
2020 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner –– Museum
BNS Studio
2020 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner –– Unbuilt – Private House (S <3000 sq ft)
Bond Collective
2020 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner –– Architecture +Workspace
2020 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner –– Architecture +Workspace
bordas+peiro architecte
2020 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner –– Unbuilt – Multi-Unit Housing (S <10 Floors)
Brisac Gonzalez and Arquitectonica
2020 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner –– Architecture +Brick
Bushman Dreyfus Architects
2020 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner –– Apartment
2020 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner –– Apartment
CAATStudio
2020 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner –– Unbuilt Institutional
CAPOL International & Associates Group, Guangzhou Branch
2020 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner –– Showrooms
caspar.architects
2020 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner –– Architecture +Preservation
CEBRA Architecture + DCT Abu Dhabi
2020 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner –– Architecture +Ceilings
Cherem Arquitectos
2020 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner –– Private House (XL >5000 sq ft)
Christensen & Co Architects
2020 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner –– Architecture +BIM
2020 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner –– Higher Education & Research Facilities
Christian Lahoude Studio
2020 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner –– Architecture +Workspace
2020 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner –– Architecture +Workspace
Christos Pavlou Architecture
2020 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner –– Residential Interiors
2020 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner –– Residential Interiors
CLOU architects
2020 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner –– Shopping Center
Coarchitecture, Atelier in situ, Jacques Plante Architecte
2020 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner –– Hall / Theater
CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati
2020 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner –– Architecture +For Good
Featured Firm: CrystalZoo
Coworking LAB Nucía by CrystalZoo, double A+Award Winner in the Government & Civic Buildings category.
CrystalZoo
2020 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner –– Government & Civic Buildings
2020 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner –– Government & Civic Buildings
CrystalZoo buildings are spaces to generate synergies and dynamics of social transformation. Public work gives the firm an opportunity to use architecture as a tool for social dynamization. These building’s users range from the elderly, who take an active role in society, to young entrepreneurs looking for opportunities to renew the business world. CrystalZoo creates architecture as an extension of culture and education to hold as a source of new civic vocations and citizens. The vibrant Coworking LAB Nucía is a perfect example of the firm’s ethos, and it was awarded with a double A+Award in the Government & Civic Buildings category. We’re excited to see what this upwardly mobile studio produces in the next 12 months.
CUN Design
2020 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner –– Showrooms
Daluz Gonzalez Architekten
2020 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner –– Private House (L 3000-5000 sq ft)
DELUTION
2020 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner –– Architecture +Living Small
designbuildLAB
2020 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner –– Architecture +New Materials
East China Architectural Design & Research Institute
2020 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner –– Unbuilt Transportation
EDG
2020 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner –– Architecture +Technology
2020 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner –– Architecture +Technology
Edward Ogosta Architecture
2020 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner –– Unbuilt – Private House (S <3000 sq ft)
El Equipo Mazzanti
2020 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner –– Health Care & Wellness
emmanuelle moureaux
2020 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner –– Architecture +Color
Formafatal
2020 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner –– Private House (L 3000-5000 sq ft)
Graham Baba Architects
2020 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner –– Transport Interiors
Guang Zhou Hui Yi Ming Cheng Architectural Design Co.
2020 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner –– Architecture +Metal
Guardian Glass
2020 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner –– Architecture +Glass
Henning Larsen Architects
2020 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner –– Unbuilt Masterplan
Henriquez Partners Architects
2020 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner –– Architecture +Art
HIBINOSEKKEI + Youji no Shiro
2020 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner –– Primary & High Schools
IF (Integrated Field)
2020 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner –– Health Care & Wellness
ikon.5 architects
2020 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner –– Architecture +Engineering
International Program in Design and Architecture (INDA)
2020 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner –– Architecture +Water
iredale pedersen hook architects & Advanced Timber Concepts Studio
2020 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner –– Gyms & Recreation Centers
ISA – Interface Studio Architects
2020 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner –– Multi Unit Housing – Low Rise (1-4 Floors)
IttenBrechbühl
2020 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner –– Architecture +Stairs
2020 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner –– Architecture +Sustainability
2020 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner –– Architecture +Sustainability
J.MAYER.H
2020 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner –– Private House (XL >5000 sq ft)
JDWA (Johan de Wachter Architecten)
2020 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner –– Office Interiors (<25,000 sq ft.)
Joongwon Architects
2020 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner –– Private House (M 1000-3000 sq ft)
K-Studio
2020 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner –– Hotels & Resorts
Featured Firm: Khmaladze Architects
Coffee Production Plant – Meama by Khmaladze Architects, 5-Time A+Awards winner in 2020
Khmaladze Architects
2020 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner –– Architecture +Concrete
2020 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner –– Architecture +Concrete
2020 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner –– Office – Low Rise (1-4 Floors)
2020 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner –– Office Interiors (>25,000 sq ft.)
2020 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner –– Office Interiors (>25,000 sq ft.)
Georgian firm Khmaladze Architects has shot to prominence in recent years, designing a series of award-winning projects across a variety of scales and architectural typologies. The firm designed one of the stand-out winners from last year’s A+Awards, the Meama Coffee Production Plant, which swept the program with FIVE different accolades in three separate categories. It won the popular and jury vote in the Architecture +Concrete and Large Office Interiors categories, as well as the popular vote in the Low Rise Office Building category. It will be fascinating to see what founder Giorgi Khmaladze and his team produce in 2021.
KIENTRUC O
2020 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner –– Kindergartens
Kilograph
2020 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner –– Architecture +Models & Rendering
2020 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner –– Architecture +Models & Rendering
Koichi Takada Architects
2020 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner –– Retail
Koning Eizenberg Architecture
2020 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner –– Museum
L’Observatoire International
2020 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner –– Architecture +Light
Lake|Flato Architects
2020 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner –– Architecture +Climate Change
LANDPROCESS
2020 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner –– Public Park
2020 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner –– Public Park
Lazor/Office
2020 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner –– Architecture +Prefab
Lee Eunseok + Seoinn Design Group
2020 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner –– Religious Buildings & Memorials
Lemay
2020 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner –– Unbuilt Transportation
LOKOMOTIV.archs office
2020 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner –– Religious Buildings & Memorials
Lorcan O’Herlihy Architect [LOHA]
2020 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner –– Multi Unit Housing – Mid Rise (5-15 Floors)
LUO studio
2020 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner –– Pop-Ups & Temporary
Mackay Lyons Sweetapple Architects with Doublespace Photography
2020 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner –– Architecture +Photography & Video
2020 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner –– Architecture +Photography & Video
Featured Firm: MAD Architects
Courtyard Kindergarten by MAD Architects, 2020 A+Awards Winner in the Kindergartens category.
MAD Architects
2020 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner –– Kindergartens
2020 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner –– Unbuilt Sports & Recreation
Founded in 2004 by Ma Yansong, MAD works in forward-looking environments developing futuristic architecture based on a contemporary interpretation of the eastern spirit of nature. All of MAD’s projects — from residential complexes and offices to cultural centers — desire to protect a sense of community and orientation toward nature, offering people the freedom to develop their own experience. The renowned Chinese firm took away two accolades from last season’s A+Awards, with special praise given to its imaginative Courtyard Kindergarten project, an undulating form in the heart of Beijing. With projects like the A+Award-winning Quzhou Sports Campus set for construction this year, MAD’s positive impact on the built environment looks set to continue unabated.
Marziemirjafari
2020 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner –– Unbuilt – Multi-Unit Housing (S <10 Floors)
Methanoia
2020 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner –– Architecture +Stairs
MIA Design Studio
2020 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner –– Hotels & Resorts
mmkplus
2020 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner –– Architecture +Urban Transformation
Mork Ulnes Architects
2020 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner –– Private House (M 1000-3000 sq ft)
MUDA-Architects
2020 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner –– Restaurants
MVRDV
2020 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner –– Architecture +Urban Transformation
2020 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner –– Mixed Use
New World Development
2020 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner –– Shopping Center
NIKKEN SEKKEI
2020 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner –– Stadium/Arena
noa* network of architecture
2020 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner –– Unbuilt Hospitality
Office AIO
2020 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner –– Bars & Nightclubs
One Fine Day
2020 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner –– Architecture +Branding
OPN Architects
2020 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner –– Office – Mid Rise (5-15 Floors)
Pareid
2020 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner –– Architecture +Water
Perkins and Will
2020 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner –– Architecture +Light
2020 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner –– Coworking Space
2020 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner –– Unbuilt Institutional
PES-Architects Ltd
2020 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner –– Transport Interiors
Phoebe Says Wow Architects
2020 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner –– Architecture +Art
Pure + FreeForm
2020 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner –– Architecture +Metal (in collaboration with Woods Bagot)
2020 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner –– Multi Unit Housing – Mid Rise (5-15 Floors) (in collaboration with Woods Bagot)
2020 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner –– Office Interiors (<25,000 sq ft.)
QIYUE Architects
2020 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner –– Architecture +Community
REgroup
2020 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner –– Pop-Ups & Temporary
Reiulf Ramstad Arkitekter
2020 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner –– Architecture +Landscape
S.O.Y. LABO.
2020 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner –– Architecture +Wood
S^A | Schwartz and Architecture
2020 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner –– Unbuilt – Private House (L >3000 sq ft)
Sanjay Puri Architects
2020 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner –– Architecture +Color
SCOB Architecture & Landscape
2020 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner –– Private Garden
2020 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner –– Private Garden
SETUParchitecture
2020 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner –– Architecture +Stone
SGA
2020 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner –– Architecture +BIM
Shanghai United Design Group Co.
2020 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner –– Stadium/Arena
2020 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner –– Retail
SHAU
2020 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner –– Libraries
Sher Maker
2020 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner –– Architecture +Landscape
SHIMIZU CORPORATION
2020 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner –– Stadium/Arena
Shulin Architectural Design
2020 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner –– Architecture +Learning
2020 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner –– Pavilions
Solomon Cordwell Buenz (SCB)
2020 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner –– Higher Education & Research Facilities
Stantec Architecture
2020 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner –– Unbuilt Cultural
Studio Gang
2020 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner –– Office – Mid Rise (5-15 Floors)
2020 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner –– Unbuilt – Multi-Unit Housing (L >10 Floors)
2020 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner –– Unbuilt Cultural
Studio Locomotive
2020 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner –– Architecture +Branding
Studio Piet Boon
2020 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner –– Office – Low Rise (1-4 Floors)
Studio Toggle
2020 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner –– Unbuilt Hospitality
Teke Architects Office
2020 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner –– Private House (S <1000 sq ft)
Toshiko Mori Architect
2020 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner –– Primary & High Schools
TOUCH Architect
2020 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner –– Bars & Nightclubs
Turf Design Studio
2020 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner –– Architecture +Water
Featured Firm: UNITEDLAB Associates
UNITEDLAB Associates
2020 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner –– Multi Unit Housing – Low Rise (1-4 Floors)
2020 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner –– Architecture +Community
2020 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner –– Architecture +Learning
UNITEDLAB is New York City & Seoul based studio for architecture, landscape and urban design. This creative firm arguably took the award for most diverse in last season’s A+Awards, winning the Popular Choice vote in Multi Unit Housing, Architecture +Community and Architecture +Learning. UNITEDLAB’s approach often yields unexpected projects that break with typological conventions — a case in point being the joyous Cloud Forests Pavilion (pictured above), which rethinks the nature of play and its relationship with contemporary architecture. The work of this dynamic firm will undoubtedly continue to evolve throughout 2021.
UNStudio
2020 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner –– Architecture +Glass
Virginia Tech School of Architecture + Design
2020 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner –– Architecture +New Materials
Woods Bagot
2020 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner –– Architecture +Metal (in collaboration with Pure + FreeForm)
2020 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner –– Multi Unit Housing – Mid Rise (5-15 Floors) (in collaboration with Pure + FreeForm)
wulf architekten
2020 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner –– Architecture +Facades
WZWX Architecture Group
2020 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner –– Factories & Warehouses
Yazgan Design Architecture
2020 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner –– Unbuilt Commercial
Zaha Hadid Architects
2020 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner –– Office – High Rise (16+ Floors)
2020 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner –– Office – High Rise (16+ Floors)
2020 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner –– Transportation Infrastructure
2020 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner –– Transportation Infrastructure
ZXD Architects
2020 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner –– Architecture +Collaboration
To secure your position on next year’s A+List, make sure to enter the 2021 A+Awards before the Final Entry Deadline on April 23rd: