This blog is part of a series that highlights the winners of the 2025 Design Excellence Awards.

Thoughtful and purposeful design and architecture shape how we live, work, and connect. It influences our sense of belonging within a community and promotes better health, and environmental resiliency by creating neighborhoods and centers that are not only functional but inspiring for generations to come.

All communities strive to create a “sense of place.” When landscape and architectural designs are done right, great places are achieved. Through our design excellence awards, we want to recognize and promote those projects and their teams that make a difference. That’s why the Design Excellence Award program was created in 2015. Since then, we have brought in independent juries to review projects and make recommendations for the winners on a biennial basis. In 2025, the winning projects exemplified the best qualities of design to create complete communities under the bold vision established in the Thrive Montgomery 2050.

This past year, the highest award – the Gwen Marcus Wright Design Excellence Award – was awarded to the Strathmore Square development in North Bethesda.

Design was baked into the DNA of the project from the very beginning. Fivesquares, the developer, has fully integrated collaboration and the best design principles and precedents from throughout the region from day one. Their success was and continues to be achieved by partnering with the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA),  the Strathmore Music Center, and some of the region’s best architects and urbanists to realize their goals. Through the development process, agreements were made with WMATA, Montgomery Planning and the public initiated process to update the Grosvenor-Strathmore Metro Minor Master Plan to facilitate a walkable, arts-oriented, transit-oriented development with their team including urban designers Perkins Eastman.

From the start, urban design, placemaking, architecture, and construction were part of the language of the plan. Collaboration, iteration, and constant feedback all helped to move this project in the direction to where it received this year’s Award. By creating these partnerships early on, when the development was submitted for review, it was already reflecting a common vision of quality and integration in its relationship to adjacent neighborhoods and institutions, connections to regional corridors, and the quality of a vibrant public realm of tree-lined parks and streets. Design was a foundational investment to this project rather than a discretionary add-on. The value of this award-winning development will be how much residents will love living here and how much Metro riders and adjacent neighbors will enjoy visiting.

Strathmore Square transforms 15 acres of WMATA-owned land in North Bethesda into a vibrant, walkable community rooted in culture, connectivity, and sustainability. Adjacent to Strathmore and Rock Creek Park, the 2.2 million-square-foot mixed-use development includes 2,200 residential units and 51,000 square feet of curated retail across seven phases. Phase I, completed in May 2024, introduced two residential buildings—Ravel and Royale—featuring private terraces, biophilic design, and premium finishes by TenBerke Architects with Torti Gallas and Partners. The jury thought the two residential buildings were quite different from one another yet, complimentary. “Both designs are surprising and original – something we haven’t seen before.”  Phase II began in December as ground was broken for the new Experience Senior Living tower between the park and WMATA parking garage.

The new Experience Senior Living building will help frame the 1.25 acre park and will create an iconic, central tower along the regional Rockville Pike corridor.

At its heart is a 1.25-acre central park by Hargreaves Jones, blending horticulture with spaces for gatherings and celebrations. A unique partnership with Strathmore and CityDance makes this the region’s only transit-oriented development anchored by culture, offering residents memberships, artist programs, and performances that extend Strathmore’s campus into daily life.

The project overcame WMATA’s initial cap of 534 units through extensive community engagement and planning department urging, ultimately delivering 2,200 units which will frame a thriving public realm of the park, plazas and streets.  Over 20% of the units are reserved for households earning 50–70% AMI. Sustainability is central: LEED Gold certification and Fitwel certification in progress. Permeable pavers, biofiltration, native landscaping, and dark-sky lighting will all help to reduce environmental impacts and foster wellness.

As the jury noted, the site has long had an opportunity to make a truly significant civic impact in the county through a walkable, mixed-use vision; that is now coming alive. Strathmore Square exemplifies suburban placemaking by integrating design excellence, equity, and environmental responsibility to create a true landmark for Montgomery County.

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.