ALA Announces the 2026 Design Award Winners

The Association of Licensed Architects honored the winners of the 2026 ALA Design Awards on Thursday, November 5, at the Design Awards Gala at Medinah Country Club. Lee Bey, architecture critic for the Chicago Sun-Times, hosted the evening and presented the awards, and ALA President Craig Cernek announced the Presidential Award. The jury recognized one Presidential Award, three Gold Awards, twelve Silver Awards and fifteen Merit Awards.

Presidential Award

DMU Pond Shelter by INVISION Architecture in West Des Moines, Iowa, received the 2026 Presidential Award, the program's top honor. The President of ALA chooses the recipient from the full field of entries. Des Moines University's Pond Shelter is a campus landmark that connects people to the surrounding landscape, with repeating structural frames, reclaimed wood canopy elements, integrated seating and carefully coordinated lighting that frame views toward the pond.

• DMU Pond ShelterINVISION ArchitectureWest Des Moines, IA

Gold Awards

Three projects earned Gold. Open any project to see its photographs, credits and the entrant's description in the Design Awards Archive.

• 147th Street Sibley Boulevard Metra StationGFTHarvey, ILA transparent headhouse, new elevator and stair, reconstructed platform and folded canopy turn a constrained commuter rail station beneath a viaduct into an accessible civic gateway for Harvey, Illinois.
• Waverly Shell Rock North Ridge ElementaryINVISION ArchitectureWaverly, IAA walk-out configuration connects both levels of a hillside elementary school to grade, with daylight-filled classrooms and collaborative learning neighborhoods.
• Cobun Creek Pedestrian BridgeApexx ArchitectureMorgantown, WVTwo mass timber girders reach lightly across the creek in White Park and reconnect the trails.

Silver Awards

Twelve projects received Silver Awards.

• 1237 North CaliforniaDesignBridge LtdChicago, IL
• 3160 N BroadwaySGW Architecture & DesignChicago, IL
• BARDAVIDParkFowler PlusChicago, IL
• Lakehouse Link & Guest Suite RenovationFoster Dale Architects, Inc.Green Lake, WI
• MargariteParkFowler PlusWashington, DC
• Ribbon Ridge RetreatPLAADNewburg, OR
• Sunrise Pump StationThree i DesignEvansville, IN
• The St. JamesHirsch MPG LLCChicago, IL
• Thrive ExchangeKOOChicago, IL
• United Yards | 1ADesignBridge LtdChicago, IL
• Waubonsee Community College Career & Technical Education CenterDemonica Kemper ArchitectsSugar Grove, IL
• White Oaks Savanna FarmhousePLAADStillwater, MN

Merit Awards

Fifteen projects received Merit Awards.

• 2390 Mariner Square DriveSGW Architecture & DesignAlameda, CA
• 621 South Catalina StreetSGW Architecture & DesignLos Angeles, CA
• Bunch Family RetreatTabberson ArchitectsTallassee, TN
• Church Club Pickleball (formerly St. Cornelius Church)Arda DesignChicago, IL
• Hannibal Innovation CampusKlingner & Associates, P.C.Hannibal, MO
• Hemmens Cultural Center North AdditionCordogan ClarkElgin, IL
• HUB 07UrbanWorks, Ltd.Grand Rapids, MI
• Lakeview RetreatPKA ArchitectureWest Lake Okoboji, IA
• Minnehaha Creek RemodelPKA ArchitectureEdina, MN
• NHRA Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park Wally Parks TowerThree i DesignBrownsburg, IN
• Nordic ModernPKA ArchitectureWarroad, MN
• Penny Lane ResidencePLAADStillwater, MN
• Peoria AmphitheaterEpsteinPeoria, IL
• The Field School: Key Elementary School RenovationSMNG A Ltd.Chicago, IL
• The Sankofa Village Wellness CenterConverge ArchitectureChicago, IL

Student Merit Awards and the Napkin Sketch Contest

ALA also recognized its Student Merit Award and Napkin Sketch Contest winners at the Gala. Their stories and work are in the Design Awards Archive.

2026 Student Merit Award winners2026 Napkin Sketch Contest winners

The 2026 jury

Five jurors reviewed the entries: Juan Gabriel Moreno, President and Founder of JGMA; Eleanor Esser Gorski, Chief Executive Officer and President of the Chicago Architecture Center; Charles Smith, FAIA, Principal and Chicago Office Practice Leader at CannonDesign; Darcy Bonner of Darcy Bonner & Associates; and Michael Glynn, Architect and Professor at the Illinois Institute of Technology.

The jury and the selection process were blind. Jurors saw only the project name and the entrant's description. All of the judges except one are not ALA members.

Thank you

Thank you to the 2026 jury for their time and judgment.

Thank you to our Gala sponsors, Sierra Pacific Windows, Mid-America Carpenters Regional Council, Bricks Incorporated and PCI of Illinois and Wisconsin, and to Medinah Country Club and everyone who joined the winners that evening.

The call for entries for the 2027 ALA Design Awards opens next July.