Excellence in Design Awards

The AIA Potomac Valley Chapter Excellence in Design Awards Competition is designed to encourage and recognize distinguished architectural achievement; to honor the architectural team, their clients and consultants who work together to improve the built environment; to demonstrate the breadth of services architects provide; and to raise public consciousness of the Architect’s role in shaping the quality of life through design excellence. The awards program is established to recognize excellence in design and planning. Consequently, the awards program honors the full range of quality work completed or designed by eligible members of the AIA Potomac Valley Chapter.

2025 EXCELLENCE IN DESIGN AWARDS

Congratulations to all our 2025 Excellence in Design Awards Winners!  View the full 2025 Excellence in Design Awards Gallery.

View the 2025 Excellence in Design Awards Winners List

View event photos from Celebrate Design 2025 and Excellence in Design Awards winners 

View our 2025 Emerging Professionals Design Competition Winners Gallery
View our 2025 Student Design Competition Winners Gallery

You can view an online gallery of all professional entries in the 2025 Design Awards competition on the Maryland AIA Projects Gallery as well as access a photo slideshow of the entries and full interview with the jury chair on this web page. View the Press Release

Click the image of each winning project below to see full project descriptions and photos.

PV AWARD
Recognizing the best project exemplifying elements of the AIA’s Framework for Design Excellence

PV Award
PROJECT  Joy Evans Therapeutic Recreation Center
LOCATION  Washington, District of Columbia
ARCHITECT  DLR Group
ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN TEAM  Matt Davitt, AIA; Rachel Chung, AIA; Hannah Caster, Jate Yonkos, Michael Boco, Hillary Keene, Chris Sanders, Bob Widger
OWNER/CLIENT  DC Department of General Services
CONTRACTOR   Smoot Construction Company
LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT  CGLA
PHOTOGRAPHER  Allen Russ / Allen Russ Photography

PROJECT DESCRIPTION
The Joy Evans Therapeutic Recreation Center is a new state-of-the-art facility focused on providing therapeutic recreational programming and serving people of all ages and along the full spectrum of physical and cognitive abilities. It is sited on forested National Park Service land in Southeast Washington, DC and is designed to take full advantage of this location to harness the therapeutic benefits of biophilic design for its users by establishing strong connections to nature.

JURY 
“A highly articulated design that maximizes solar gain, shading, and rainwater collection. The architect has created a sustainable, biophilic space with a unique roofline that enhances the community experience, blending environmental responsibility with architectural beauty."

GOLD AWARD
Recognizing “Best in Show” – Residential

GOLD / Residential
PROJECT  Del Ray Passive House
LOCATION  Alexandria, Virginia
ARCHITECT  CEDAR Architects
ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN TEAM  Deborah Buelow, AIA, Todd Yeomans, and Tim McCarthy
OWNER/CLIENT  Confidential
CONTRACTOR  Thorsen Construction
PHOTOGRAPHERS  Jennifer Hughes; Frazier Springfield

PROJECT DESCRIPTION
The Del Ray Passive House is a ground-up net-positive home guided by the principles of regeneration, quality, and collaboration. This project balances energy performance with joy; sustainability with the needs of a large family; connection to nature with privacy. The home has received PHIUS (Passive House Institute of the United States) design certification. Built to last for generations, it offers a model of what’s possible when sustainability is the foundation—not the finish.

JURY 
“The Jury was impressed by the client’s ambition to create a forever home that prioritizes energy efficiency, and by the architects’ ability to realize these goals in the built proposal. The project demonstrates how Passive House standards can be met without compromising beauty, timelessness, or a careful attention to detail and materiality. Both the interior and exterior express a modern sensibility with subtle vernacular references. The spaces are warm, simple, and well daylit, offering areas for quietude as well as collective gathering.”

GOLD AWARD
Recognizing “Best in Show” – Non-Residential

GOLD / Institutional Architecture
PROJECT  Bowie State University, Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Communication Arts and Humanities
LOCATION  Bowie, Maryland
ARCHITECT  Perkins&Will
ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN TEAM  Carl Knutson, AIA; Paul Harney, AIA; Renee Rodriguez, AIA; Thomas Butcavage, FAIA; Kate Carrico; Katie Janson; Brittany McNairy; Joshua Rubin, AIA; Veronica Hernandez; Laura McMullan; Elaine Zhang; Keegan Wilson; Christine Burton; Mike Johnson II; Marta Fenollosa, AIA
OWNER/CLIENT  Bowie State University
CONTRACTOR  Whiting-Turner Contracting Company
PHOTOGRAPHERS  Halkin Mason Photography; Lincoln Barbour

PROJECT DESCRIPTION
Bowie State University’s Martin Luther King Jr. Center is an integral part of the campus experience, collecting and connecting students across various fields into a facility that is designed to encourage student self-expression and foster a collaborative environment for learning and creativity. The building equips students with, as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. stated in his Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech, “courage to face the uncertainties of the future.”

JURY 
“A vessel for voice and memory, this center extends Dr. King’s legacy into the future; where the power of speech, performance, and storytelling continue to shape collective dignity. Its architecture frames these acts—through auditoria, studios, and gathering spaces—so that the spoken word reverberates as built form, an idea that is also cemented in the rhythm of the facade.”

2025 Design Awards Entries Gallery

ARCHIVES

2024 Design Awards Winners Gallery

2024 Design Awards Entries Gallery

2023 Design Awards Winners Gallery

2023 Design Awards Entries Gallery

2022 Design Awards Winners Gallery

2022 Design Awards Entries Gallery

2021 Design Awards Winners Gallery

2021 Design Awards Entries Gallery

2020 Design Awards Winners Gallery

2020 Design Awards Entries Gallery

2019 Design Awards Winners Gallery

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2018 Design Awards Winners Gallery

2018 Design Awards Entries Gallery 

2017 Design Awards Winners Gallery

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2016 Design Awards Winners Gallery

2016 Design Awards Entries Gallery

2015 Design Awards Entries Gallery

2014 Design Awards Entries Gallery