AIA Colorado announced the recipients of its 2026 Design Awards at the Design + Honor Awards Celebration on September 17 in Denver. Seventeen projects received recognition across three award levels: three Awards of Excellence, six Awards of Merit, and eight Honorable Mentions. Bluff Lake Nature Center also received Sustainability Recognition.
The winning projects reflect the breadth of work by Colorado’s architecture community, encompassing homes, educational facilities, community destinations, preservation projects, and unbuilt proposals. Located across Colorado and beyond, the projects demonstrate the many ways architecture responds to place, serves communities, and shapes everyday experience.
The annual Design Awards honor the most outstanding work of AIA Colorado members and their firms, reinforce the value of great architecture, and highlight members’ positive contributions to the community.
WATCH THE 2026 DESIGN AWARDS VIDEO
Explore all 17 winning projects in the full-length awards video: https://youtube.com/watch?v=JB0wpVfRDnE%3Ffeature%3Doembed
Awards of Excellence
SENTINEL ROCK
- Firm: Piché Architecture
- Architect of record and design architect: Mike Piché, AIA
- Location: Boulder, Colorado
- Category: Historic Preservation and Restoration under 5,000 square feet
VONNEGUT CABINS
- Firm: ColoradoBuildingWorkshop at the University of Colorado Denver
- Architect of record: Erik Sommerfeld, AIA
- Design architects: The students of the University of Colorado Denver
- Location: Thoreau, New Mexico
- Category: Historic Preservation and Restoration under 5,000 square feet
COLORADO SCHOOL OF MINES EAST CLASSROOM BUILDING
- Firm: OZ Architecture
- Architect of record and design architect: David Schafer, AIA
- Location: Golden, Colorado
- Category: New Construction over 15,000 square feet
Awards of Merit
CAMP MEEKER
- Firm: Renée del Gaudio Architecture
- Architect of record and design architect: Renée del Gaudio, AIA
- Location: Allenspark, Colorado
- Category: New Construction under 5,000 square feet
MOLLIE ASPEN
- Firm: CCY Architects
- Architect of record: John Cottle, FAIA
- Design architect: Todd Kennedy, AIA
- Location: Aspen, Colorado
- Category: New Construction over 15,000 square feet
ASPEN DISTILLERS
- Firm: Anderson Mason Dale Architects
- Architect of record: David Pfeifer, AIA
- Design architects: David Pfeifer, AIA; Stephan Hall, AIA; Luc Bamberger, AIA
- Location: Aspen, Colorado
- Category: New Construction 5,000–15,000 square feet
RIVERBANK HOUSE
- Firm: F&M Architects
- Architect of record: Flynn Stewart-Severy, AIA
- Design architect: Eric Sechrist, AIA
- Location: Aspen, Colorado
- Category: New Construction 5,000–15,000 square feet
DENCHU DEN
- Firm: Roth Sheppard Architects
- Architect of record and design architect: Adam Harding, AIA
- Location: Denver, Colorado
- Category: Interior Architecture
PARKSIDE VILLA
- Firm: Studio B Architecture + Interiors
- Architect of record: Mike Piché, AIA
- Design architect: Robby Cuthbert, AIA
- Location: Boulder, Colorado
- Category: Renovation and Remodel 5,000–15,000 square feet
Honorable Mention
BLUFF LAKE NATURE CENTER
Also receiving Sustainability Recognition
- Firm: Shape Architecture Studio
- Architect of record: Steve Scribner, AIA
- Design architect: Bunny Tucker, AIA
- Location: Denver, Colorado
- Category: New Construction over 5,000 square feet
THE LEGACY AT THE NATIONAL WESTERN CENTER
- Firm: Tryba Architects
- Architect of record and design architect: David Tryba, FAIA
- Location: Denver, Colorado
- Category: New Construction over 15,000 square feet
GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY CONVOCATION CENTER
- Firm: Perkins&Will
- Architect of record and design architect: Don Dethlefs, FAIA
- Associate architect: The S/L/A/M Collaborative
- Location: Atlanta, Georgia
- Category: New Construction over 15,000 square feet
THE.PAVILION
- Firm: BOSS.architecture
- Architect of record and design architect: Kevin Stephenson, AIA
- Location: Lakewood, Colorado
- Category: New Construction under 5,000 square feet
JOHNSON’S STATION
- Firm: F9 Productions
- Architect of record: Alex Gore, AIA
- Design architect: Alex Gresh, AIA
- Location: Longmont, Colorado
- Category: Historic Preservation and Restoration 5,000–15,000 square feet
WESTREET ICE CENTER
- Firm: Perkins&Will
- Architect of record and design architect: Don Dethlefs, FAIA
- Location: Tulsa, Oklahoma
- Category: Renovation and Remodel over 15,000 square feet
WHERE THE EARTH BREATHES
- Firm: CCY Architects
- Architect of record: Will Young
- Design architects: Alexis Campion, Assoc. AIA; Joy Mullappally, Assoc. AIA; Mason Limke
- Location: Hverfjall, Iceland
- Category: Unbuilt
PITKIN COUNTY SOLID WASTE CENTER – SCALE HOUSE
- Firm: HDR
- Architect of record: Richard McKinley, AIA
- Design architect: James Braam, AIA
- Location: Aspen, Colorado
- Category: Unbuilt
