The end of the year is fast approaching, which means it’s time to reveal the results of AN’s annual Best of Design Awards! Now in its 13th edition, Best of Design reflects on the year’s achievements by recognizing and crowning recent project across typologies and across the globe. Ahead of the forthcoming announcements of this year’s Honorable Mentions, Winners, and Project of the Year, AN is pleased to introduce the 2025 Best of Design Awards Editors’ Picks.
What can this crop of projects, and the submitted entries overall, share about the state of the design? This year, Best of Design had the highest amount of entries in residential categories for both single family homes and multi-unit buildings. Residential projects continue to be a field ripe for young and established architects to make a mark. As such, residential projects are well represented in this roundup and makes these accomplishments that much more impressive.
The following were selected by AN’s editors with insight and input from this year’s jury, as seen below. Take a look at this year’s cohort of jurors, the largest panel for AN’s awards to date, and meet the projects that deserve a special spotlight this year.
Jury
Adaptive Reuse—Education
Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center
Architectural Lighting
Torrey Heights by Breakthrough
Building Renovation—Commercial
Building Renovation—Education
Harvard Medical School, Francis A. Countway Library
Building Renovation—Hospitality
Commercial–Hospitality
Commercial–Office (Large)
NBCUniversal Campus Project
Commercial–Office (Small)
East Seattle Partners Office Building
Commercial–Retail
Commercial–Sports & Entertainment
Victory Capital Performance Center
Cultural
Education—Kindergartens, Primary & High School
Khalil Gibran International Academy and P.S. 456
The Branch School, Hightower Middle School
Exhibition Design
Charles Darwin – A Life in Letters
Facades
University of Florida, Malachowsky Hall
Healthcare
Stanford University School of Medicine Center for Academic Medicine
Higher Education—Instructional
University of Toronto Schwartz Reisman Innovation Campus
Interior—Institutional
Small Business Innovation Hub
Interior—Residential (Renovation)
Interior—Restaurant & Bar
Interior—Retail
Interior—Workplace (Large)
Interior—Workplace (Small)
Landscape
Helios Education Foundation
Residential—Mixed-use
VooDoo Affordable Housing
Residential–Multi-unit (Large)
Residential–Multi-unit (Small)
Residential–Single-unit (Large)
Residential–Single-unit (Small)
Restoration & Preservation
Social Impact
Anduhyaun Women’s Shelter
Make the Road New York Community Center
Student Work
Temporary Installation
Unbuilt–Cultural & Civic
Mercat del Peix Research Center
Unbuilt–Landscape, Urban Design & Master Plan
Greater Greenways: The New York City Greenway Plan
Unbuilt–Residential—Multi-unit
A Building Hugging a Breezeway
Unbuilt–Residential—Single-unit
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