All of us at Montgomery Planning are excited to once again celebrate the best architecture, landscape, and/or urban designs in Montgomery County this fall. The 2025 Design Excellence Awards presentation on Thursday, October 16, 2025, will be held in conjunction with the AIA Potomac Chapter’s Celebrate Design event in Bethesda at the Marriott International Hotels Headquarters (a 2023 Design Excellence Merit winner).
One award will be the newly named Gwen Marcus Wright Design Excellence Award in Architectural, Urban Design, and Landscape design. The second award, Exceptional Housing, will honor multi-family residential projects built in the county over the past ten years. Award submissions are being accepted through Monday evening, July 21, 2025.
For each Design Excellence Awards celebration, Montgomery Planning selects a nationally known, independent jury of developers, planners, and architects to choose our county’s best creations. This five-member jury is extremely well respected within the regional and national public, and academic and development circles. The jury will judge submissions without input from Montgomery Planning or county government and includes some of our region’s best designers and implementers who all understand the impacts of great design on community well-being. Some of them are past winners of these prestigious awards.
The 2025 Design Excellence Awards jury
Duncan Lyons, RIBA, LEED AP BD+C – Principal, Design Director – Gensler
Duncan serves as a Global Office Developer Practice Leader for Gensler’s 49 offices across the globe and as a design director for architecture in the Washington, DC office. In a career spanning more than three decades, he has designed office, residential, and mixed-use projects for a variety of institutional and commercial clients in the Mid-Atlantic region, Europe, Asia, and Australia. He has won awards from the AIA, NAIOP, Urban Land Institute (ULI) and Arlington County, among others, for his outstanding work. Duncan’s passion for high-performance buildings and sustainable design has led to LEED® certification for many of his projects, including five at the platinum level. He’s been a featured speaker at conferences for the ULI, the AIA Academy of Architecture for Justice, and Bisnow Washington, DC. Duncan was the lead designer of The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission’s Wheaton Headquarters building and the Marriott International Headquarters in Bethesda, both past Design Excellence Award winners. Duncan earned a bachelor’s degree in architecture from the University of Bath in England and is a member of the Royal Institute of British Architects.
Michael Watkins, FAIA, FAICP, LEED AP, CNU-A – Principal – Michael Watkins Architects
Mike is the founder of Michael Watkins Architect, LLC, an urban design and architecture firm dedicated to designing and implementing a walkable, lasting, and beautiful public realm that fosters community. The firm’s work includes the preparation of master plans for towns, neighborhoods and hamlets, revitalization and extension plans for existing communities, preparation of design guidelines, various town architect services for new and existing communities, and leading and participating in urban design charrettes. The firm serves as the town architect for Norton Commons in Louisville, KY, and other communities in Louisiana, South Carolina, Ohio, and elsewhere. In 1988, Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company hired Watkins to open its Washington, DC office where he led the master planning of Kentlands and served as the town architect for the 352-acre neo-traditional neighborhood in Gaithersburg. Watkins is one of several contributors to Andres Duany’s SmartCode, and he speaks about traditional architecture and urban design at universities and conferences in the U.S. and abroad. He is a member of the Congress for the New Urbanism and the Institute of Classical Architecture and Art. He was the 2018 recipient of the New Urban Guild’s Barranco Award.
Colleen Healey, AIA – Principal – Colleen Healey Architecture
Colleen is a national award–winning designer who focuses on timeless modern residential design that represents each individual client. She strives to energize spaces through creative design solutions that are well-crafted, functional, and filled with light. Her work often features complete architectural services from schematic home design through construction administration, furniture, and finishes. Colleen has 20 years of architectural experience in the Washington, DC region and throughout the East Coast. She has won 75 local and national awards for design. Her work is published in Dezeen, Home and Design, Interior Design Magazine, Enki, Washingtonian Magazine, Dwell, Architecture DC, Residential Design Magazine, AD, Living Etc., and The Washington Post. Colleen earned her master’s degree in architecture from the University of Maryland and has taught at local schools of design including the University of Maryland and Corcoran College of Art and Design. Currently she is the co-chair of the DC-area CRAN (Custom Residential Architects Network) Committee.
Kate Ries, PLA, ASLA – President – CLINTON+RIES Landscape Architects
With 16 years of experience, Kate leads the firm in designing and implementing sustainable, practical, and sculptural landscapes. With a passion for natural systems, art and sociology, the firm’s designs exude the human touch overlaid with a richness of nature and artistic moments. Her firm was the lead designer of the Pike and Rose landscape plan, a 2023 Design Excellence Merit Award winner. Kate earned her bachelor’s degree in landscape architecture from Philadelphia University. She holds landscape architecture licenses in Maryland, Washington, DC, Virginia, and New Jersey and is licensed as a home improvement contractor in Maryland, Washington, DC, and Virginia.
Uwe Brandes – Principal – Brandes Partners LLP
Uwe is an award-winning urban planner with 30 years of experience designing new neighborhoods, buildings, public infrastructure, and the partnerships necessary to develop sustainable communities. He has prepared urban development plans across the United States and throughout the world. Many of these plans have won awards through the American Planning Association, the American Institute of Architects, the American Society of Landscape Architects, and the Urban Land Institute. Brandes is professor of practice and director of the Urban and Regional Planning program at Georgetown University, and chair of the District of Columbia Commission on Climate Change and Resiliency. He advises public and private clients as principal of Brandes Partners LLP.
About the author
Paul Mortensen is the Senior Urban Designer in the Director’s Office at the Montgomery County Planning Department and leads the Design Excellence program. He is a registered architect in California, Washington, and Maryland, is a LEED-Accredited Professional, and is a member of the Congress for New Urbanism.
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