Small Project Award 2026

June 10, 2026

Explore the AIA Small Project Award 2026 recipients—recognized as the best in small project design.

Small Project Award
Augusta Quarry at Fort Dickerson Park, approach
Keith Issacs Photo

Recognizing the best in small project design

The AIA Small Project Award raises public awareness of the value and design excellence that architects provide regardless of the limits of size and scope.

These projects represent the big impact that small projects can have on their users and broader communities.

Augusta Quarry at Fort Dickerson Park, approach

Augusta Quarry at Fort Dickerson Park

In Knoxville, Tennessee, this transformation of a former marble quarry into a public swimming destination reconnects industrial history with landscape, using minimal pavilions, trails, and docks to create an accessible civic space for recreation, discovery, and shared summer life.
Bark Bar at Downtown Cary Park Arch

Bark Bar at Downtown Cary Park

At the northern edge of Cary, North Carolina’s Downtown Cary Park, this sinuous pavilion gathers people and pets beneath a sculptural roof, where concave and convex forms shape a sequence of bar, courtyard, and porch spaces that foster rest, connection, and play.
Pier 1 Entry Pavilion, Aerial with Brooklyn Bridge Park piers

Brooklyn Bridge Park Pier 1 Entry Pavilion

At the edge of the East River in Brooklyn, New York, this open-air pavilion transforms a former vehicular site into a civic gateway, integrating circulation, amenities, and landscape beneath a photovoltaic canopy to create a shaded, accessible place for gathering and connection.
Camp Meeker at twilight

Camp Meeker

In Allenspark, Colorado, this 2,100-square-foot, zero-carbon cabin reinterprets the vernacular of historic mountain retreats, creating a multigenerational gathering place defined by two simple volumes—one for communal living and one for rest—deeply connected to landscape and climate.
Land's Sake Farm,

Land's Sake Farm

Outside Boston in Weston, Massachusetts, a pair of timber pavilions reimagines the working farm as civic infrastructure and environmental model, where a net-zero farmstand and adaptable animal barn support food access, education, and a renewed connection to the landscape.
Luther George Park Performance Pavilion View from the Small Lawn

Luther George Park Performance Pavilion

In downtown Springdale, Arkansas, this sculptural pavilion transforms a former floodplain into a civic anchor, where a sweeping weathering steel canopy shapes sound, shade, and gathering space while connecting community life to the ecology of the Ozarks.
Pavilion Exterior View

Pavilion

At the Kyabirwa Surgical Center in Jinja, Uganda, this open-air pavilion draws on traditions of communal care, using passive cooling, local materials, and a porous, light-filled form to transform waiting into a dignified, shared experience of gathering and healing.
River Hub at Graco Park

River Hub at Graco Park

Set along the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, this net-zero community hub transforms a former industrial site into a flexible gathering space, using modular wood construction, a simple shed form, and ecological integration to connect neighborhood life with restored river habitats.
The Chapel of St. Ignatius and the Gayle and Tom Benson Jesuit Center: The main entry connects directly to the pathway of the existing quad. Clad with a large handmade bronze Cross, its texture and patina will evolve with the elements, expressing the sublimity of nature.

The Chapel of St. Ignatius and the Gayle and Tom Benson Jesuit Center

At Loyola University New Orleans in Louisiana, this serene, cylindrical chapel uses concentric, light-filled spaces and a warm palette of mass timber and handmade brick to foster spiritual reflection, interfaith dialogue, and inclusive community gathering.
The Cootie Catcher: A banquette provides a living nook off the kitchen; a relaxed space for conversation, reading and play, free from a TV. The dining bench serves double-duty, providing additional seating for the living nook.

The Cootie Catcher

On a tight urban lot in San Antonio, Texas, this inventive reworking of a 1930s bungalow unfolds like its origami namesake—transforming a modest home into a layered sequence of light-filled interiors and pocket courtyards that expand daily life outdoors.
Tinyleaf SE Approach Drive

Tinyleaf

Nestled into a forested slope in Mazama, Washington, this 330-square-foot cabin uses bermed concrete, a roof deck, and precise detailing to create a compact retreat that maximizes light, efficiency, and a deep connection to landscape and seasonal change.
Explore all award recipients

Browse all AIA award recipients, highlighting standard-setting work across architecture and design.

View all recipients
See 2025 recipients

Explore the 2025 recipients of the AIA Small Project Award.

View 2025 recipients
Want to see your work recognized?

An AIA award is the ultimate acknowledgment of impactful, exemplary work in architecture and design.

Submissions are now open.

Apply now
More award winners
A carbon negative solution to mass-produced compact dwellings that adapt to their social. climatic, and geographic context.
Small Project Award
Small Project Award 2025
June 5, 2025

AIA Small Project Award 2025 celebrates excellence in design across projects of all sizes. These winning works prove that impactful architecture isn’t limited by scale, showcasing innovation, quality

Steel bridge and entry "bite"
Small Project Award
Small Project Award 2024
June 6, 2024

Explore the projects that won an AIA Small Project Award 2024, which recognizes the best in small project design regardless of the limits of size and scope.

Camouflaging into the context, the building's form emulates its surroundings. Four varieties of local limestone wrap the exterior in stratified bands, emulating the layers of stone peaking from the surrounding hillsides.
Small Project Award
Youngmeyer Field Station
February 4, 2024

The award-winning design for Youngmeyer Field Station in Elk County, Kan. enriches university-affiliated prairie research initiatives by allowing students to conduct studies, convene and stay directly