2025 Design Excellence Awards
The Montgomery County Planning Department seeks to recognize exceptional architecture, landscape architecture, and urbanism that makes a difference in people’s lives and represents the County’s highest quality of design to the region, state, and nation. The winning projects will exemplify the best qualities of design within Complete Communities as articulated in the Thrive Montgomery 2050 General Plan. Winning projects will engender more equitable, sustainable, healthy, and connected communities. Award-winning designs also succeed through the beauty and skill exhibited by the designer and developer. This year, the Department will hold its seventh Design Excellence Award competition to honor this work.
Design Excellence Award categories
- The Gwen Wright Design Excellence Award for exceptional urban design, architecture, and/or landscape design
- Exceptional Housing Award for multi-family condo, apartment, and/or townhouse developments
The top award, now named after Gwen Wright, our previous Planning Director and the founder of the Design Excellence Award program, recognizes an exceptional building, urban design, and/or landscape that represents beauty and built excellence that enhances the public realm. Winning projects promote stronger community through physical design, and foster social, environmental, and economic enhancement to the owner, users, and surrounding community.
A second top award will be given to honor extraordinary housing that exemplifies design excellence and enhances the lives of those who live there. This building and its site enrich the adjoining neighborhood, promote human connections, and bring a sense of pride to the residents and community. The winning designs help promote great urbanism and walkability no matter where their location is within the County.
Award Criteria
The two winning projects should demonstrate the essential qualities of thriving, walkable, and sustainable places at the scale of the neighborhood, block, and/or building. Winning projects will enhance their context and be integral to the surrounding public realm of the pedestrian, bike, and street networks. They should be the buildings and places that people love. Both Award winners will illustrate how beautiful, impressive design contributes to the community in terms of character, identity, and economic value. These awards provide an opportunity for the winning projects to be seen widely, particularly in business and professional settings where the best qualities of Montgomery County are promoted.
Entries will be accepted starting Wednesday, May 14, 2025. The deadline for submission is Monday, July 21, 2025, 11:59 p.m. The selection of the two winners, one for buildings, sites, and/or urbanism and one for exceptional housing, will be made by an outside independent jury with expertise in the fields of architecture, landscape architecture, planning, and urban design. Applicants can apply for one or both categories with their submission.
Criteria for project eligibility:
- Private or Public projects built within Montgomery County.
- Built within the last ten years.
- Exceptional high-quality design that enhances the public realm.
- Project engenders more equitable, sustainable, connected, healthy and prosperous communities.
2025 Design Excellence Award Jury:
- Duncan Lyons, Gensler architects
- Mike Watkins, Michael Watkins Architects, former Kentlands Town Architect
- Colleen Healey, Colleen Healey Architects, nationally recognized and Award winning architect
- Kate Ries, Clinton+Ries Landscape Architects – Merit winning landscape architect who did the Pike and Rose landscape master plan
- Uwe Brandes, Director of the Georgetown University Urban and Regional Planning Program
Celebrate Design 2025
The two Award winners will be announced on Thursday, October 16, at an awards celebration at the Marriott International Global Headquarters, 7750 Wisconsin Avenue, Bethesda, MD 20814. This event will be held in conjunction with the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Potomac Valley Chapter annual design awards celebration.
Staff contact
Paul Mortensen
301-495-4523
Email