2026 Urban Guild Awards

Defining Excellence in
Architecture and Urbanism

The Urban Guild Awards honor exemplary projects that advance the art and practice of great design. Selected by a distinguished jury, winning projects represent the highest achievements in creating enduring places, strengthening communities, and elevating the built environment.

To be recognized by the Guild is to join a body of work that defines excellence in architecture and urbanism.

Award submissions due Friday, July 10th.
Awards take place November 6th at the Guild Summit.

For questions, please contact us at awards@urbanguild.org

Submission Process

The awards submission process has two steps, and is intended to keep the identities of applicants hidden from the awards jury until after winners are determined. Applicants must follow the process below for each submittal:

STEP 1: Award Registration Fee

A $100 fee is required for each entry submitted. Multiple entries require a separate fee for each submission. You must submit your registration fee in order to submit your project.

Registration Fee

STEP 2: Project Information

Submit the project information outlined below, using a separate file for each item, taking care to omit any information that reveals the identity of the applicant, by July 10, 2026 deadline.

Project Description:

Identify the basic project information (type, size, location, description) and applicant’s role in the project, using 250 words or less. (Pages: 1 / Size: Letter / Orientation: Portrait /Format: PDF).

Project Design Information:

Submit project drawings and/or photographs to best communicate the nature of the design work. Highly suggested the designs provide site plans to understand the context of the project when appropriate. (Pages: 5 max / Size: Ledger / Orientation: Landscape / 4 images maximum per page / Format: PDF) DPI to be 300 or better.

IMPORTANT NOTE

To be considered for any award, submittals must be complete and follow the procedure outlined above. If you have questions about requirements before the deadline, please contact us at awards@urbanguild.org.

  • 2025 Design Excellence: Missing Middle Winner - Biltmore Row, de la GUARDIA VICTORIA ARCHITECTS & URBANISTS, Coral Gables, FL

  • 2025 Design Excellence: Residential Winner - VIZI, de la GUARDIA VICTORIA ARCHITECTS & URBANISTS, Coral Gables, FL

  • 2025 Design Excellence: Urban Design Winner - Avenue A, Nequette Architecture & Design Birmingham, AL

  • 2025 Barranco Award Winner: Tom Low

Award Categories

  • This award celebrates built design work that masterfully applies timeless design principles in a manner that refines them and best integrates them into their urban context. Submitted projects may be any type, scale, or program so long as they are successful in directly furthering the mission of the Guild to improve the design of communities. Submitted design work for this category must have been built within the past five years.

  • This award celebrates built or unbuilt work that demonstrates visionary innovation within an urban context. Exploration is understood as a conscious attempt to identify new and innovative design strategies for improving the urban built environment and has been designed within the past five years.

  • The Urban Guild’s student award category celebrates emerging talent in architecture and urban design. This category honors student projects that demonstrate a strong understanding of timeless design principles, creativity in solving real-world challenges, and a commitment to shaping places that are beautiful, functional, and enduring. It’s an opportunity to spotlight the next generation of designers who are advancing the future of our built environment.

  • The Barranco Award honors the memory of Jackson, Mississippi architect Michael Barranco. It is awarded to individuals who not only distinguished themselves in design but who also demonstrate a gift for building enduring relationships beyond architecture, and inspiring coalitions for transformative change in the lives of families and communities--- while unselfishly not caring who gets credit.

  • The Stewardship Award is chosen by The Guild Board of Directors and the Awards Task Force to acknowledge a developer, builder, patron, historic foundation, author, or person who has directly influenced the mission of the Guild.

Program Summary

  • The Guild establishes a task force each year to lead the planning for this program, and the task force chair is responsible for driving the process forward--either directly or via delegation to other members of the task force. The 2026 task force members are as follows:

    • Jeremy Sommer (Chair)

    • Jennifer Griffin

    • Megan Brown

    • Sabrina Rugg

  • The Jury will consist of between four and six members, at least two of which must be a Guild member in good standing. The program administration is structured such that the there is some jury member representation on the task force so that the juror perspective can be integrated into the planning process. The task force chair will facilitate the jury deliberation process, and in the event that a jury member is unable to participate as planned the task force chair may join the jury in their absence. Deliberation will occur remotely via teleconference and review of electronic submittals.

    The 2026 jury is composed as follows:

    • Marina Khoury

    • Louis Nequette

    • Casey Roloff

    • Frank Martinez

    *Additional members maybe added

    • June 3rd Call for Entries - Round 1

    • June 22nd Call for Entries - Round 2

    • July 10th Deadline for Awards Submittals

    • Aug Jury Conference Call - Broad discussion, identify finalists

    • Sept Notify award winners individually

    • Sept/Oct Prepare announcement marketing

    • Nov 7th Announcement of Winners- at Guild Summit and then over the course of the following week via e-mail and social media.