The A+Checklist: 161 Structure and Design Companies to Watch
Architizer’s global architectural awards program, the 10th Annual A+Awards, is now accepting submissions, with a Main Entry Deadline of December 17th 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 third edition of the coveted A+List, an annual run-down of every firm that scooped an A+Award and A+Firm Award in the previous season. 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 season’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 Next A+List
To secure your position on next year’s A+List, make sure to enter the 10th Annual A+Awards before the Main Entry Deadline on December 17th. As well as featuring within this definitive directory of high quality firms, winning firms will also have their work published in Monacelli’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 3rd Annual A+List
ahylo
Jury Winner, 2021 A+Awards, Architecture +Ceilings
Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Hall / Theater
Albertin Architekten
Jury Winner, 2021 A+Awards, Architecture +Health
Alexander &CO.
Jury Winner, 2021 A+Awards, Architecture +Workspace
Amir Hossein Afzali Architects
Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Unbuilt – Private House (L >3000 sq ft)
ANGOSTO E IBAÑEZ ARQUITECTOS
Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Architecture +Preservation
anonimous
Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Architecture +Concrete
AQUIDOS ARCHITECTURE
Jury Winner, 2021 A+Awards, Architecture +Low Cost Design
Arch-Age-Design (AAD)
Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Showrooms
Archermit
Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Cultural & Expo Centers
Architects 49
Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Retail
Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Residential Interiors (<3000 sq ft)
ArchSD
Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Gallery & Exhibition Spaces
ArquitectonicaGEO (ArqGEO)
Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Urban and Masterplan
Atelier Lina Bellovicova
Project of the Year, 2021 A+Awards
Jury Winner, 2021 A+Awards, Architecture +New Materials
Jury Winner, 2021 A+Awards, Private House (XS <1000 sq ft)
Featured Firm: Atelier Scale
Atelier Scale
Jury Winner, 2021 A+Awards, Architecture +Landscape
Atelier Scale is a Los Angeles-based landscape studio that has perfected the delicate balance between macro and micro architectural and urban scales. Regardless of the project size, from large to small, their designs are realized as interactive articulations of the relationships between the whole and parts, groups and individuals. Take for instance their Restroom in the Mountains or The Wave: Both projects are organized around module systems that allow a high degree of flexibility, allowing them to be adapted to the topography of their respective sites without sacrificing the aesthetic appeal or overshadowing the surrounding context.
Atelier Sergio Rebelo
Jury Winner & Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Unbuilt Hospitality
Aytac Architects
Jury Winner, 2021 A+Awards, Unbuilt Institutional
B² Architecture
Jury Winner, 2021 A+Awards, Architecture +Branding
Ballistic Architecture Machine
Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Architecture +Urban Transformation
Ballman Khapalova
Jury Winner, 2021 A+Awards, Unbuilt Masterplan
BDP Quadrangle
Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Shopping Center
Behin Ha Design Studio
Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Architecture +Art
Beijing Puri Lighting Design Co.,LTD.
Jury Winner, 2021 A+Awards, Architecture +Light
Bergmeyer
Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Architecture +Workspace
BKSK Architects
Jury Winner & Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Architecture +Collaboration
bo.M designstudio
Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Unbuilt Transportation
Bond Society
Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Primary & High Schools
BORD Architectural Studio
Jury Winner, 2021 A+Awards, Architecture +Engineering
Featured Firm: Carl-Viggo Hølmebakk Arkitektkontor
Carl-Viggo Hølmebakk Arkitektkontor
Jury Winner, 2021 A+Awards, Architecture +Prefab
Jury Winner, 2021 A+Awards, Architecture +Stairs
Norwegian architect Carl-Viggo Hølmebakk founded his eponymous studio in 1990. Since then, the Oslo-based office has maintained its small size and high, independent professional standards. With a team of around just six full-time architects, their projects range from small design and interior assignments to medium-sized architecture and large-scale planning services. On top of his decorated private practice, Hølmebakk has taught at the Oslo School of Architecture and at the Rhode Island School of Design, and lectured at other schools of architecture.
Carlos Zwick Architekten BDA
Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Private House (XL >6000 sq ft)
Carvalho Araújo
Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Private House (S 1000-2000 sq ft)
Caspar Schols
Project of the Year, 2021 A+Awards
Jury Winner, 2021 A+Awards, Architecture +Living Small
CCL Architects & Planners
Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Kindergartens
CCY Architects
Jury Winner, 2021 A+Awards, Architecture +Façades
CHINA ARCHITECTURE DESIGN&RESEARCH GROUP
Jury Winner, 2021 A+Awards, Stadium & Arena
Christ & Gantenbein
Jury Winner, 2021 A+Awards, Mixed Use
Clayton Korte
Jury Winner, 2021 A+Awards, Bars & Wineries
CLOU architects
Jury Winner, 2021 A+Awards, Shopping Center
Colorado Building Workshop
Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Architecture +Community
Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Architecture +Stone
Colwell Shelor Landscape Architecture
Jury Winner, 2021 A+Awards, Private Garden
Crossboundaries
Jury Winner, 2021 A+Awards, Architecture +Learning
Featured Firm: Cumulus Studio
Cumulus Studio
Jury Winner, 2021 A+Awards, Transportation Infrastructure
Jury Winner, 2021 A+Awards, Cultural & Expo Centers
Though Cumulus Studio is spread across four Australian offices — in Hobart, Launceston, Melbourne and Adelaide — the twenty-one designers that make up their team work as a unified practice. This distribution allows the firm to take on work that ranges in size and scope, with the flexibility to bring local, external specialist consultants into the fold when specific expertise is required. This cohesive and collaborative approach truly sets their work apart from the rest; sharing and workshopping ideas results in highly unique and effect solutions to each brief.
David Hertz Architects, Studio of Environmental Architecture
Jury Winner, 2021 A+Awards, Private House (XL >6000 sq ft)
Davide Macullo Architects
Jury Winner, 2021 A+Awards, Spa & Wellness
Diana Kellogg Architects
Project of the Year, 2021 A+Awards
Jury Winner, 2021 A+Awards, Architecture +For Good
Jury Winner, 2021 A+Awards, Primary & High Schools
ECG International Landscape Consultants
Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Public Park
Einwiller Kuehl Inc.
Jury Winner, 2021 A+Awards, Architecture +Urban Transformation
Enia architectes
Jury Winner, 2021 A+Awards, Architecture +Art
Ennead Architects
Jury Winner, 2021 A+Awards, Architecture +Sustainability
ENZO EUSEBI+PARTNERS
Jury Winner, 2021 A+Awards, Factories & Warehouses
EwingCole
Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Architecture +Learning
FDomes
Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Architecture +Living Small
Featured Firm: Felixx Landscape Architects & Planners
Felixx Landscape Architects & Planners
Jury Winner, 2021 A+Awards, Architecture +Water
Founded in 2014, Felixx specializes in designing and engineering landscapes that maximize environmental impact. Their locally-embedded design solutions are aimed at addressing urgent global challenges. Taking on projects within a broad international scope, their clients include governments, NGOs and private developers, and their output varies from spatial research, landscape transformation strategies and developing masterplans, to public space and product design. Across the spectrum, their solutions seek to diversity environmental landscapes by transforming them from mono-functional places into complex hybrids that integrate vital systems with scenic experiences.
fjmtstudio
Jury Winner, 2021 A+Awards, Higher Education & Research Facilities
Fogarty Finger
Jury Winner, 2021 A+Awards, Coworking Space
Form4 Architecture
Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Architecture +Metal
General Architecture Collaborative
Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Architecture +For Good
GOA (Group of Architects)
Jury Winner, 2021 A+Awards, Unbuilt Cultural
HDR
Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Unbuilt Institutional
Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Architecture +Health
Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Architecture +Models & Rendering
Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Unbuilt Commercial
Heatherwick Studio
Jury Winner & Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Hospitals & Healthcare Center
Henriquez Partners Architects
Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Multi Unit Housing – High Rise (16+ Floors)
HES Architects
Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Unbuilt – Private House (S <3000 sq ft)
HLW
Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Office Interiors (>25,000 sq ft.)
HWCD
Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Office – Low Rise (1-4 Floors)
Featured Firm: Irving Smith Architects
Irving Smith Architects
Jury Winner & Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Architecture +Wood
Lead by Andrew Irving and Jeremy Smith, this innovative firm is making waves for their iconic, sustainable and researched-based design practice. At present, their research is aimed at exploring the possibilities of structural timber design solutions. This is exemplified in their collaboration with RTA Studio, which resulted in the decorated SCION Innovation Hub – Te Whare Nui o Tuteata. The growing firm’s current work ranges from cultural, urban, civic and residential projects spread throughout New Zealand and, more recently, in the USA and France.
irwin kritioti architecture
Jury Winner, 2021 A+Awards, Transport Interiors
Itten+Brechbühl AG
Jury Winner, 2021 A+Awards, Office – Mid Rise (5-15 Floors)
J.C. Architecture
Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Government & Civic Buildings
Jiang & Associates Creative Design
Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Transport Interiors
Johnston Architects
Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Private House (XS <1000 sq ft)
K-Thengono Design Studio
Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Bars & Wineries
Kaleidoscope Nordic AS
Jury Winner, 2021 A+Awards, Architecture +Models & Rendering
Kennedy & Violich Architecture
Jury Winner, 2021 A+Awards, Architecture +New Technology
KIENTRUC O
Jury Winner, 2021 A+Awards, Kindergartens
Killa Design
Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Architecture +Engineering
Kim Kiwon & Kelly Lwu / KKKL
Jury Winner, 2021 A+Awards, Public Housing
Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates
Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Office – High Rise (16+ Floors)
Kokaistudios
Jury Winner, 2021 A+Awards, Gallery & Exhibition Spaces
Featured Firm: Koning Eizenberg Architecture
Koning Eizenberg Architecture
Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Multi Unit Housing – Mid Rise (5-15 Floors)
From adaptive reuse to social housing, this office places social interaction at the heart of their designs — a conviction underlies their rethinking of housing, community and educational settings. Collaborative design processes are baked into their practice, which draws on the active participation of Principals Hank Koning, Julie Eizenberg, Brian Lane and Nathan Bishop to create architecture that promotes sustainable neighborhoods. Indeed, their unique approach to myriad programatic types can equally be attributed to a design and technical team who are similarly invested in humanist values and environmental agenda.
Kris Lin International Design
Jury Winner, 2021 A+Awards, Showrooms
Lagranja Design, S.L
Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Office Interiors (<25,000 sq ft.)
Lamar Johnson Collaborative LLC
Jury Winner, 2021 A+Awards, Public Park
LEMAYMICHAUD Architecture Design
Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Unbuilt – Multi-Unit Housing (L >10 Floors)
LEVER Architecture
Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Public Housing
LIN architecture
Jury Winner, 2021 A+Awards, Pop-Ups & Temporary
line+
Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Spa & Wellness
llLab.
Jury Winner & Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Pavilions
MAD Architects
Jury Winner, 2021 A+Awards, Multi Unit Housing – Mid Rise (5-15 Floors)
Jury Winner, 2021 A+Awards, Architecture +Concrete
Jury Winner, 2021 A+Awards, Hall / Theater
Featured Firm: Mário Martins – Atelier de Arquitectura
Mário Martins – Atelier de Arquitectura
Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Private House (L 4000-6000 sq ft)
Mário Martins creates unforgettable residential design. Born in Lagos, Algarve and trained in Lisbon, this Portuguese architect draws on the vernacular of his birthplace to produce a contemporary and distinct residential aesthetic. From renovation work to research interests in photography and audiovisual media, his engagement with architecture is layered and multifaceted. His practice ranges in its output, from public facilities and private developments, to family homes, collective housing, tourist developments, public facilities, urban regeneration, urban planning and more.
MARS Studio
Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Unbuilt Cultural
Marty Chou Architecture
Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Apartment
MdeAS Architects
Jury Winner, 2021 A+Awards, Office – High Rise (16+ Floors)
Mensulae | Architecture & Heritage
Jury Winner, 2021 A+Awards, Architecture +Preservation
META-Project
Jury Winner, 2021 A+Awards, Architecture +Metal
MIA Design Studio
Jury Winner, 2021 A+Awards, Private House (L 4000-6000 sq ft)
Moguang Studio
Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Architecture +Renovation
Montalba Architects
Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Architecture +Prefab
Morphogenesis Lab
Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Architecture +New Technology
Morris Adjmi Architects
Jury Winner, 2021 A+Awards, Architecture +Adaptive Reuse
nARCHITECTS
Jury Winner, 2021 A+Awards, Architecture +Environment
NL Architects
Jury Winner, 2021 A+Awards, Libraries
Featured Firm: odd+architects
odd+architects
Jury Winner, 2021 A+Awards, Architecture +Brick
Jury Winner, 2021 A+Awards, Architecture +Stairs
The designs of this Ecuador-based design studio are found at the intersection of architecture, landscape, urbanism and culture. Though a process akin to ecological anthropology, they study the relationships that emerge through cultural adaptation within various geographies. In this way, they strive to create architecture that is not only highly contextual, but that is also integrated with its natural surroundings. This relationship between landscape and built form is on full display at A House in the Andes, where carving access areas through the mounds exposes rammed earth walls, mimicking the ancestral ‘Chaquiñán’ – a system of trails used by the ancient Andeans.
Office of Takumi Iwasawa / AUFTAKT + Tetsuya Sekimoto Architecture
Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Multi Unit Housing – Low Rise (1-4 Floors)
Orange Architects
Jury Winner, 2021 A+Awards, Unbuilt – Multi-Unit Housing (L >10 Floors)
Orms
Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Hotels & Resorts
Overland Partners
Jury Winner, 2021 A+Awards, Architecture +Renovation
Palmyra PLLC
Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Architecture +Color
PARA Project
Jury Winner, 2021 A+Awards, Unbuilt – Private House (L >3000 sq ft)
Parnagian Architects LLC
Jury Winner, 2021 A+Awards, Unbuilt – Private House (S <3000 sq ft)
PBDW Architects
Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Architecture +Sustainability
petrjanda / brainwork
Jury Winner, 2021 A+Awards, Unbuilt Sports & Recreation
Pitsou Kedem Architects
Jury Winner, 2021 A+Awards, Apartment
Plan Architect
Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Office – Mid Rise (5-15 Floors)
Plasma Studio
Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Restaurants (S <1000 sq ft)
Featured Firm: Populous
Populous
Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Unbuilt Sports & Recreation
From stadiums and arenas to airports, Populous specializes in designing spectacular venues for memorable, shared experiences. With roots going back four decades — back to the 1980s when they were HOK Sport Venue Event and LOBB Partnership — the global design firm has continuously innovated and inspired, marking their maturation when they officially became Populous back in 2009. Since then, they have continued fusing their technical expertise with visionary design right up to the present day.
Post Company
Jury Winner, 2021 A+Awards, Restaurants (S <1000 sq ft)
RDH Architects (RDHA)
Jury Winner, 2021 A+Awards, Architecture +Community
Redland-scape.Ltd.
Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Private Garden
Reiulf Ramstad Arkitekter
Jury Winner, 2021 A+Awards, Multi Unit Housing – Low Rise (1-4 Floors)
RIOS
Jury Winner, 2021 A+Awards, Office Interiors (>25,000 sq ft.)
Ronald Lu & Partners
Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Factories & Warehouses
Rooi Design and Research
Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Pop-Ups & Temporary
Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Architecture +Adaptive Reuse
RSP Architects
Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Unbuilt Masterplan
RTA Studio
Jury Winner & Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Architecture +Wood
Featured Firm: Rvad Studio
Rvad Studio
Jury Winner, 2021 A+Awards, Unbuilt Commercial
This emerging design studio was co-founded in Tehran in 2020 by two young Iranian architects, Ms. Hannaneh Misaghi and Mr. Hasan Dehghanpour. Placing history and culture at the forefront of their designs, their office foregrounds the relationship between architecture and humanity. In this way, they seek to provide architectural solutions that not only anticipate the needs of future generations, but also ingeniously propose socially-focused ways for culture to evolve. Their projects range from single-family houses to residential, commercial and mixed-use large-scale complexes, to urban master plans.
Safdie Architects
Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Mixed Use
Sanzpont [arquitectura]
Jury Winner & Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Unbuilt – Multi-Unit Housing (S <10 Floors)
Shanghai PTArchitects
Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Architecture +Landscape
Shanghai United Design Group Co., Ltd.
Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Religious Buildings & Memorials
SHAPE Architecture
Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Architecture +Light
Sharon Tzarfati Photography
Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Architecture +Photography & Video
Shoayb Khattab
Jury Winner, 2021 A+Awards, Architecture +Photography & Video
Sinas Architects
Jury Winner, 2021 A+Awards, Architecture +Stone
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill
Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Transportation Infrastructure
Smart Design Studio
Jury Winner, 2021 A+Awards, Office Interiors (<25,000 sq ft.)
Jury Winner, 2021 A+Awards, Office – Low Rise (1-4 Floors)
smartvoll
Jury Winner, 2021 A+Awards, Government & Civic Buildings
Steyn Studio
Jury Winner & Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Restaurants (L >1000 sq ft)
Stinessen Arkitektur
Jury Winner & Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Architecture +Glass
Studio 10
Jury Winner, 2021 A+Awards, Religious Buildings & Memorials
Studio Egret West
Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Coworking Space
Featured Firm: Studio Gang
Studio Gang
Jury Winner & Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Gyms & Recreation Centers
Jury Winner, 2021 A+Awards, Multi Unit Housing – High Rise (16+ Floors)
Studio Gang has produced some of the most striking architecture in America over the past decade. When it comes to innovative textural façades that add movement — even rhythm —to the urban environment, Studio Gang truly is a leader in the field. Projects such as One Hundred, Solar Carve and Aqua Tower have pushed the bounds of the skyscraper typology by rethinking the role of sunlight in façade design, tower siting and massing. Ever the versatile firm, the adaptive reuse of a former coal plant for Beloit College Powerhouse and and the geological massing of the Richard Gilder Center at New York’s Museum of Natural History further underline the eminence of this Chicago-headquartered practice.
Studio Link-Arc
Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Architecture +Ceilings
Studio Zhu Pei
Project of the Year, 2021 A+Awards
Jury Winner, 2021 A+Awards, Museum
Suh Architects
Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Architecture +Branding
Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Architecture +Façades
SUP Atelier of THAD
Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Architecture +New Materials
Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Architecture +Low Cost Design
Tadao Ando Architect and Associates
Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Museum
Takeru Shoji Architects.Co.,Ltd.
Jury Winner, 2021 A+Awards, Private House (S 1000-2000 sq ft)
Teeple Architects Inc.
Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Higher Education & Research Facilities
The Architectural Design & Research Institute of Zhejiang University Co., Ltd
Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Stadium & Arena
The Design Institute Of Landscape & Architecture China Academy Of Art CO.,LTD
Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Libraries
Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Residential Interiors (>3000 sq ft)
The Miller Hull Partnership
Jury Winner, 2021 A+Awards, Private House (M 2000-4000 sq ft)
TROP: terrains + open space
Jury Winner, 2021 A+Awards, Urban and Masterplan
Tsimailo Lyashenko and Partners
Jury Winner, 2021 A+Awards, Unbuilt Transportation
Valentí Albareda Tiana
Jury Winner, 2021 A+Awards, Residential Interiors (<3000 sq ft)
Virkkunen & Co Architects
Jury Winner, 2021 A+Awards, Architecture +Brick
Featured Firm: VTN Architects (Vo Trong Nghia Architects)
VTN Architects (Vo Trong Nghia Architects)
Project of the Year, 2021 A+Awards
Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Architecture +Environment
With offices in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, VTN Architects (Vo Trong Nghia Architects) is a leading architectural practice that is based in Vietnam and known across the globe. Indeed, their team of more than 60 international architects, engineers and staff work together on cultural, residential and commercial projects worldwide. Founded in 2006, VTN first gained international recognition for their innovative bamboo designs. Their more recent work evolves this approach by fusing a contemporary design vocabulary with a uniquely local sensibility — grounded in an urban-oriented mentality — to explore green and sustainable possibilities for the 21st century.
Weber Thompson
Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Architecture +Water
Will Gamble Architects
Popular Choice, 2021 A+Awards, Private House (M 2000-4000 sq ft)
Woods + Dangaran
Jury Winner, 2021 A+Awards, Residential Interiors (>3000 sq ft)
X+LIVING
Jury Winner, 2021 A+Awards, Retail
Zaha Hadid Architects
Jury Winner, 2021 A+Awards, Hotels & Resorts
ZAV Architects
Jury Winner, 2021 A+Awards, Architecture +Color
To secure your position on next year’s A+List, make sure to enter the 10th Annual A+Awards before the Main Entry Deadline on December 17th, 2021:
Enter the 10th Annual A+Awards