Seventh Design Excellence Awards will be presented at the Marriott International Headquarters in Bethesda on October 16, 2025, co-hosted by Montgomery Planning and the AIA Potomac Valley Chapter
Wheaton, Md. – The Montgomery County Planning Department, part of The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC), announced tickets are available for purchase for the 2025 Design Excellence Awards honoring the county’s best architecture, urban design and housing. The awards reception and presentation will be held at the Marriott International Headquarters (7750 Wisconsin Avenue, Bethesda, Maryland) on Thursday, October 16, 2025 (6 to 9 p.m.), during Celebrate Design 2025, co-hosted by the AIA Potomac Valley Chapter. The community is invited to attend this regional event, which will also honor recipients of the AIA Potomac Valley Chapter’s Excellence in Design Awards.
Tickets are $75 each. Buy your tickets and get more information about what is included.
Montgomery Planning’s biennial Design Excellence Awards honor projects that make a difference in people’s lives and represent Montgomery County’s highest quality of design to the region, state, and nation. The selection of winners for the two Design Awards are made by an independent outside jury selected by Montgomery Planning with expertise in the fields of architecture, landscape architecture, planning and urban design. The newly named Gwen Marcus Wright Design Excellence Award honors the best building, urban design or landscape in the county. Gwen Wright, a former Montgomery Planning Director, initiated the Design Excellence initiative in 2014. The Exceptional Housing Award honors the best multi-family housing development in the county.
Celebrate Design 2025 will bring together urban designers, architects, landscape architects, planners, developers, builders, policymakers, elected officials, artists and interested community members from across Montgomery County and the region.
2025 Design Excellence Awards Jury
The jury is composed of nationally accomplished and highly regarded practitioners in the fields of architecture, landscape architecture, planning and urban design, as follows:
- Duncan Lyons, RIBA – Principal at Gensler
- Michael Watkins, FAIA, FAICP – Michael Watkins Architects
- Colleen Healey, AIA – Colleen Healey Architecture, LLC
- Kate Ries, ASLA – President of Clinton+Ries Landscape Architects
- Uwe Brandes – Brandes Partners, LLP., Director of Georgetown University Urban and Regional Planning Program
Read more about the jury members and their backgrounds.
For more information, contact Paul Mortensen at paul.mortensen@montgomeryplanning.org or 301-495-4523.
About Design Excellence
Montgomery County desires neighborhoods, public spaces and buildings of the highest-quality design to reflect our cultural health and maintain a competitive advantage within our region. Design excellence is increasingly important as available land for development in the county is shrinking, densities in our centers are increasing, and priorities for excellent equitable public spaces become more acute. These development challenges present a great need to create and enhance attractive, safe, and sustainable places to live, work, and play. Design excellence is an important tool for attracting the best and brightest to our county – residents, businesses, and visitors. To raise the quality of design throughout the county, the Montgomery County Planning Department has launched a comprehensive Design Excellence initiative focused on the themes of inspiration, collaboration, and clarity.