2026 Architect of the Year • Adam Harding, AIA
Congratulations to 2026 Architect of the Year
Adam Harding, AIA

The Award
This award recognizes an individual architect who has made significant impact on the profession of architecture in Colorado. The criteria state they have developed a portfolio of notable, creative, and meaningful architecture that has positively impacted Colorado, they have pushed architecture toward the future while also honoring its past, become widely known for the quality of their work by architects, designers, educators, and the public, have advocated for fellow architects and advanced the community through their service and leadership, and have helped to address current issues in Colorado by using their expertise as a design professional.
Presented by Kevin Nguyen, AIA
Owner, Regular Architecture
2025 AIA Colorado Architect of the Year

Adam Harding, AIA, Founder & Design Principal at Adam Harding Architecture
Adam Harding represents the architect as designer, mentor, advocate, and public servant, and demonstrates how those roles can strengthen one another.
As a partner and design principal, Adam has developed an award-winning portfolio of hospitality, civic, adaptive-reuse, and mixed-use work that elevates everyday experience and contributes meaningfully to Colorado’s built environment. His projects reflect clarity of concept, careful craft, and a belief that architecture is a civic act capable of fostering culture, belonging, and long-term community value.
Adam’s influence extends well beyond his own projects. He has led AIA Colorado, helped guide the organization through strategic change, supported architectural education through the Architectural Education Foundation, and invested consistently in students and emerging professionals. His service on Colorado’s architecture licensing board carries significant responsibility and helps shape the standards, public trust, and future pathways of the profession.
For the breadth of his design work and his sustained commitment to the systems, institutions, and people that support architecture in Colorado, the jury is honored to recognize Adam Harding as the 2026 AIA Colorado Architect of the Year.
Congratulations!
Why the jury selected Adam:
- Built a sustained, award-winning Colorado portfolio across hospitality, civic, adaptive-reuse, and mixed-use work.
- Approaches architecture as a civic act that can strengthen culture, belonging, and quality of life.
- Combines design ambition with careful craft, technical rigor, and long-term community value.
- Has practiced continuously at Roth Sheppard Architects since 2004 and now serves as partner and design principal.
- Led AIA Colorado as president-elect, president, and past president during a period of strategic organizational development, serving as President in 2020.
- Serves on Colorado’s architecture licensing board, taking on substantial responsibility for professional standards and public protection.
- Connects Colorado to broader regulatory conversations and emerging approaches to architectural practice and licensure.
- Co-leads the Architectural Education Foundation, expanding support for scholarships, mentorship, and future architects.
- Invests consistently in students and emerging professionals through teaching, juries, lectures, and direct mentorship.
- Presented the strongest overall balance of distinguished design, service to AIA, education, advocacy, and public leadership.












The annual AIA Colorado Awards honor the outstanding work of members and their firms, reinforce the value of great architecture, and highlight member contributions to positive change.
2026 Young Architect of the Year • Katie Coyle, AIA
Congratulations to 2026 Young Architect of the Year
Katie Coyle, AIA

The Award
The AIA Colorado Young Architect Award recognizes the individual achievements of a young architect licensed to practice architecture fewer than 10 years. This individual will have demonstrated exceptional leadership and made significant contributions to the architecture profession early in their career.
Presented by Kaylyn Kirby, AIA
Associate Principal, Semple Brown
2025 AIA Colorado Young Architect of the Year

Katie Coyle, AIA, NCARB, WELL AP, Senior Associate, Senior Architect, HOK
This year’s Honors Award Jury had the privilege of reviewing an incredibly talented group of emerging architects but are delighted to recognize Katie Coyle for her technical excellence and her meaningful impact to her community and the architectural industry.
Katie is a Senior Associate with HOK, where she helps lead major sports projects including the Denver Broncos Training facility and the North Carolina Panthers Stadium. With a background that spans many project types, including sports, education, and office, she has a clear passion and aptitude for designs that build community connections.
One aspect of Katie’s application that really stood out was how her letters of recommendation, across clients, colleagues, and contractors, all highlighted the same qualities: her ability to listen authentically, balance the complexities of the project while maintaining the bigger vision, and her ability to lead forward through creative design solutions. She does all of that with humility, leading through curiosity and respect for others.
Her impact goes far beyond the buildings, as she is a champion of sustainability, equity and inclusive design, and mentorship through her professional work and as a dedicated member of many industry organizations.
For her technical excellence, her commitment to the industry, and the meaningful leadership she is already bringing to our profession, it is our honor to recognize Katie Coyle as the 2026 AIA Colorado Young Architect of the Year.
Congratulations!
Why the jury selected this recipient
- Demonstrates exceptional technical leadership alongside strong design judgment.
- Contributes to major public, recreation, collegiate, sports, and community-focused projects.
- Leads important work on the Denver Broncos training facility and team headquarters.
- Connects exterior design, interior planning, documentation, building systems, sustainability, and construction execution.
- Clearly articulated her personal responsibilities and contributions on complex, multidisciplinary projects.
- Presented an especially well-organized packet using drawings, wall sections, graphics, and project narratives to show both thinking and execution.
- Mentors colleagues and connects staff with professional-development opportunities.
- Advances sustainable and wellness-focused design through professional engagement and project work.
- Helps build an inclusive studio culture in which team members are encouraged to contribute their voices and expertise.
- Offered the jury the strongest overall combination of project quality, technical depth, mentorship, community impact, and clarity of submission.




































The annual AIA Colorado Awards honor the outstanding work of members and their firms, reinforce the value of great architecture, and highlight member contributions to positive change.
2026 Firm of the Year • HDR
Congratulations to 2026 Firm of the Year
HDR

The Award
This award recognizes the outstanding achievement of a firm that has produced notable architecture for at least a decade. Award-winning firms have set an example both in design and leadership in the state. Criteria include an outstanding portfolio as a product of the firm’s collaborative environment. Through its work it has made a significant impact on its community and/or the architecture profession. Demonstrates a commitment to training future architects. Additionally, they exhibit a culture that embraces diversity and is widely known for the quality of its work, ability to work with clients and collaboration as a team by architects, designers, educators, and the public. They are known for the application of innovative technologies and/or progressive methodologies and developed works to achieve resilient and sustainable design goals.
Presented by Jim Childs, AIA
AVP – Project Director, HNTB
2026 AIA Colorado President-Elect

HDR
HDR demonstrates how a firm with global reach can remain genuinely invested in Colorado’s people, places, and professional community.
Across six Colorado offices, HDR pairs broad interdisciplinary expertise with a strong local presence. Its work supports communities through healthcare, research, civic, educational, transportation, and public-service projects, while its design culture emphasizes listening, collaboration, and respect for the people each project serves. The jury recognized a substantial body of high-quality work, a long-standing commitment to sustainable design, and an ability to bring national resources to distinctly local challenges.
Equally important is the firm HDR has built around that work. Its employee-owned model, mentorship culture, support for AIA participation, investment in emerging professionals, and commitment to inclusive practice create meaningful pathways for architects to grow and lead. By combining design excellence with professional development, community engagement, and future-focused practice, HDR sets a strong example for firms throughout Colorado.
The jury is proud to recognize HDR as the 2026 AIA Colorado Firm of the Year.
Congratulations!

Why the jury selected HDR
- Maintains a meaningful Colorado presence through six offices and decades of service in the state.
- Pairs local knowledge with integrated national and global expertise across architecture, engineering, planning, interiors, landscape architecture, and research.
- Demonstrates a broad, high-quality portfolio serving civic, healthcare, research, education, transportation, and community needs.
- Has pursued high-performance and sustainable design for decades and actively supports the AIA 2030 Commitment.
- Uses an employee-owned model that encourages shared responsibility, collaboration, and long-term investment in the firm.
- Supports AIA involvement by reimbursing membership dues and encouraging staff participation and leadership.
- Invests in mentorship, internships, education, and professional development for emerging architects.
- Builds multidisciplinary teams around each project while centering local context and stakeholder voices.
- Demonstrates community engagement, including pro bono support and partnerships grounded in lasting trust.
- Meets the award’s expectations for design quality, firm culture, sustainability, client service, and professional leadership.




















The annual AIA Colorado Awards honor the outstanding work of members and their firms, reinforce the value of great architecture, and highlight member contributions to positive change.
2026 Young Firm of the Year • UNUM Collaborative
Congratulations to 2026 Young Firm of the Year
UNUM Collaborative

The Award
This award recognizes the outstanding achievement of a firm that has produced notable architecture for at least a decade. Award-winning firms have set an example both in design and leadership in the state. Criteria include an outstanding portfolio as a product of the firm’s collaborative environment. Through its work it has made a significant impact on its community and/or the architecture profession. Demonstrates a commitment to training future architects. Additionally, they exhibit a culture that embraces diversity and is widely known for the quality of its work, ability to work with clients and collaboration as a team by architects, designers, educators, and the public. They are known for the application of innovative technologies and/or progressive methodologies and developed works to achieve resilient and sustainable design goals.
Presented by Will Otte, AIA
Principal at Rowland+Broughton Architecture / Urban Design / Interior Design
2026 AIA Colorado West Director

UNUM Collaborative
In fewer than ten years, UNUM Collaborative has created a compelling body of work while building a studio culture rooted in curiosity, craft, and shared authorship.
The firm’s project types range across restaurants, homes, hospitality, and adaptive-reuse developments and throughout that range, UNUM brings an uncompromising commitment to material exploration, technical resolution, and the human experience of space. Projects such as Lady Jane, York Street Yards, and ChoLon Lakehouse demonstration a holistic design approach that connects architecture, interiors, acoustics, environmental thinking, and human behavior into beautiful design solutions that are cherished by their communities.
The jury was also impressed by the collaborative practice behind the portfolio. UNUM operates
as an open studio where team members participate in project conversations, charrettes, and
design decisions across all scales. The firm invests in its people through workplace flexibility,
strong benefits, educational experiences, and a culture that treats experimentation as essential
to meaningful work.
For showing what a small, young practice can accomplish through rigor, collaboration, and a clear
design point of view, the jury is pleased to name UNUM Collaborative as the 2026 AIA Colorado
Young Firm of the Year.
Congratulations!
Why the jury selected UNUM Collaborative
- Produced a remarkably strong and varied portfolio within the firm’s first decade.
- Distinguished its work through material craft, inventive detailing, and memorable spatial experiences.
- Demonstrated design strength across hospitality, residential, adaptive reuse, retail, entertainment, and community gathering spaces.
- Created well-loved Colorado projects including ChoLon LoDo, Lady Jane, and York Street Yards.
- Uses a holistic design approach that connects architecture, interiors, engineering, acoustics, environmental thinking, and human behavior.
- Builds collaboration into daily practice through an open studio, whole-team charrettes, and transparent project conversations.
- Gives staff exposure to projects as a whole rather than limiting team members to narrowly defined roles.
- Invests in employees through competitive benefits, flexibility, retreats, and design-focused learning experiences.
- Prioritizes adaptive reuse, longevity, high performance, and spaces that foster social interaction and belonging.
- Presented the most complete combination of design ambition, technical execution, studio culture, and emerging influence among the nominees.


















The annual AIA Colorado Awards honor the outstanding work of members and their firms, reinforce the value of great architecture, and highlight member contributions to positive change.
2026 Citizen Architect of the Year • Jordan Lockner, AIA
Congratulations to 2026 Citizen Architect of the Year
Jordan Lockner, AIA

The Award
Recognizes the individual achievements of an AIA member in Colorado who has made a positive impact on Colorado communities and has significantly contributed to the public good through sustained volunteer efforts.
Presented by David Tryba , AIA
Founder, Tryba Architects
2025 AIA Colorado 25-Year Award Recipient

Jordan Lockner, AIA, Owner/Principal Architect at Collab Architecture Studio
Jordan Lockner has built his practice around a clear conviction: architecture is a form of public service.
As founding principal of Collab Architecture, Jordan has aligned design work, firm culture, and civic responsibility around strengthening Colorado communities. Under his leadership, Collab has supported more than 26 nonprofit and community organizations through architectural services, donated goods, mentorship, and volunteer time—contributions valued at more than $700,000. The work addresses affordable housing, child advocacy, domestic violence, food insecurity, recreation, and access to essential services.
Jordan’s impact is especially evident in partnerships with CASA of Larimer County and Greeley-Weld Habitat for Humanity. Whether expanding a historic home for child advocacy services or helping advance Hope Springs and an innovative 3D-printed Habitat home, he contributes far beyond a conventional project scope by strengthening engagement, fundraising, partnerships, and long-term organizational capacity.
Through nonprofit board service, mentorship, and a practice model that treats community investment as core work, Jordan shows how architects can use their skills and influence to build belonging, dignity, and opportunity. The jury is proud to recognize Jordan Lockner as the 2026 AIA Colorado Citizen Architect of the Year.
Congratulations!
Why the jury selected Jordan
- Built Collab Architecture around the mission to “design for good” and the belief that architecture carries a civic obligation.
- Supported more than 26 nonprofit and community-based organizations across Colorado.
- Helped direct more than $700,000 in in-kind and community-impact contributions, including donated goods, mentorship, and volunteer service.
- Uses architectural expertise to address affordable housing, child advocacy, domestic violence, food insecurity, recreation, and essential services.
- Serves on the boards of CASA of Larimer County and NOCO Unify and contributes to additional community and mentorship organizations.
- Led work that expanded CASA’s historic Harmony House while keeping the organization’s mission and community at the center.
- Helped advance Greeley-Weld Habitat for Humanity’s Hope Springs community and exploration of Colorado’s first 3D-printed Habitat home.
- Extends his role beyond design by supporting stakeholder engagement, fundraising, events, and strategic partnerships.
- Creates meaningful project and leadership opportunities for interns and emerging professionals.
- Fully met the jury’s understanding of a citizen architect by consistently aligning professional practice, volunteer leadership, and the public good.






















The annual AIA Colorado Awards honor the outstanding work of members and their firms, reinforce the value of great architecture, and highlight member contributions to positive change.
2026 Associate of the Year • Margarita Gonzalez, Assoc. AIA
Congratulations to 2026 Associate of the Year
Margarita Gonzalez, Assoc. AIA

The Award
Recognizes the individual achievements of an AIA member in Colorado who has made a positive impact on Colorado communities and has significantly contributed to the public good through sustained volunteer efforts.
Presented by Rebekah Wagoner , AIA
Senior Associate at Gensler
2023 AIA Colorado Young Architect of the Year

Margarita Gonzalez Assoc. AIA, LEED AP BD+C, Founder and Principal, Minidwell
Margarita Gonzalez brings an extraordinary global perspective to Colorado architecture and uses it to expand access, representation, and opportunity within the profession.
Her path has crossed Colombia, Spain, France, Saudi Arabia, and Colorado, encompassing architectural practice, urban studies, research, and more than two decades of teaching. In Denver, Margarita applies that experience through design practice and through her work with high school students earning concurrent college credit. By introducing young people to design thinking, technical skills, sustainability, and career pathways, she is helping students see a place for themselves in architecture before they enter college.
Margarita also contributes actively to AIA Colorado through its JEDI Committee, Regional and Urban Design Knowledge Community, and Practice and Design Conference. Her presentations and programs on equitable practice invite the profession to examine how design and workplace culture can better serve diverse communities.
The jury was inspired by the breadth of her experience, the clarity of her commitment to education, and the resilience required to build a new professional path in Colorado. For demonstrating the distinctive impact an Associate member can have through teaching, design, and service, the jury is pleased to recognize Margarita Gonzalez as the 2026 AIA Colorado Associate of the Year.
Congratulations!
Why the jury selected Margarita
- Brings a distinctive international background spanning practice, research, and education in Colombia, Spain, France, Saudi Arabia, and Colorado.
- Holds advanced education in architecture, architectural design, history, and urban studies, including a PhD.
- Has taught architecture for more than two decades across several countries and educational settings.
- Introduces Denver high school students to architecture while helping them earn concurrent college credit.
- Expands access to design thinking, sustainable design, technical skills, and architecture career pathways.
- Founded Minidwell to bring a diverse global perspective and small-scale design solutions to the Denver community.
- Contributed to the Notre Dame Parish and School Plaza, shaped through community engagement as a gathering and learning space.
- Has served AIA Colorado through the JEDI Committee, Regional and Urban Design Knowledge Community, and Practice and Design Conference Committee.
- Organizes and presents programs that advance equitable and inclusive professional practice.
- Distinguished herself through the cumulative impact of education, service, resilience, and a nontraditional path toward U.S. licensure.












The annual AIA Colorado Awards honor the outstanding work of members and their firms, reinforce the value of great architecture, and highlight member contributions to positive change.
2026 Educator of the Year • Mark Broyles, AIA
Congratulations to 2026 Educator of the Year
Mark Broyles, AIA
The Award
Recognizes an individual with at least a decade of experience in architectural education who made significant impact on the profession.
Presented by Erik Sommerfeld, AIA
ColoradoBuildingWorkshop at the University of Colorado Denver
2025 Educator of the Year


Mark Broyles AIA, Architect, Chair and Associate Professor, Architectural Technology at Community College of Denver
For more than a decade, Mark Broyles has helped students at the Community College of Denver turn an interest in buildings into a meaningful path toward architecture.
As Department Chair and Associate Professor of Architectural Technology, Mark teaches across the full arc of architectural learning—from drawing theory, history, and visual thinking to digital tools, commercial construction documents, and design development. He helps students understand not only how buildings are imagined, but how they are assembled, communicated, and made real. Drawing on 35 years of practice as an architect and urban designer, he connects classroom lessons to the judgment, collaboration, and technical responsibility the profession requires.
Mark’s impact is especially significant because he creates accessible pathways into architecture. Under his leadership, students can prepare for direct employment, develop stackable technical skills, pursue internships, or transfer into a four-year architecture program. His teaching balances design thinking with building science, sustainability, hand drawing, digital fluency, and professional readiness—giving students multiple ways to see themselves in the built-environment professions.
The jury recognized an educator whose influence is felt steadily and often quietly through the careers he has helped launch. For expanding opportunity, connecting education with practice, and preparing students to lead a changing profession, the jury is honored to recognize Mark Broyles as the 2026 AIA Colorado Educator of the Year.
Congratulations!
Why the jury selected Mark
- Has taught architectural technology at the Community College of Denver since 2013.
- Leads the program as Department Chair and Associate Professor of Architectural Technology.
- Teaches a broad curriculum spanning architectural drawing theory, construction documents, history, SketchUp, and design development.
- Brings 35 years of professional experience as an architect and urban designer into the classroom.
- Connects design ideas with the technical knowledge required to assemble, document, and deliver buildings.
- Helps students prepare for direct employment as architectural technologists and other built-environment professionals.
- Supports an articulated transfer pathway into the University of Colorado Denver’s architecture program.
- Advances an accessible, community-college pathway into a profession that can otherwise be difficult to enter.
- Balances building science, sustainability, digital technology, collaborative design thinking, hand drawing, and visual communication.
- Has made a sustained, quietly influential contribution by mentoring students and helping launch the next generation of Colorado practitioners.
A note from Mark shared at the Awards Celebration:
The annual AIA Colorado Awards honor the outstanding work of members and their firms, reinforce the value of great architecture, and highlight member contributions to positive change.
2026 Impact Award • Institute for the Built Environment at CSU
Congratulations to 2026 Impact Award recipient
Institute for the Built Environment at Colorado State University
The Award
This award recognizes a group or organization in Colorado that has made a positive impact on Colorado communities and significantly contributed to the advancement of architecture and/or enhanced the role of practitioners.
Presented by Chris Aronson, AIA
Principal at Vaught Frye Larson Aronson Architects
2026 AIA Colorado North Director

Institute for the Built Environment at Colorado State University
Brian Dunbar, Executive Director
Josie Plaut, Co-Director
For more than three decades, the Institute for the Built Environment at Colorado State University has helped Colorado imagine and create, healthier, more sustainable, and more resilient places.
Established in 1994, the Institute serves as a bridge between university research, professional practice, and the communities that architecture is meant to support. It brings together faculty, students, practitioners, owners, and public partners to turn complex ideas into practical progress. Through healthy green building guidance, community engagement, sustainability programs, and applied research, the Institute has strengthened hundreds of projects, organizations, and teams.
Its impact is also measured in people. The Institute includes CSU students in every project, giving emerging professionals meaningful, paid experience while connecting them with mentors and real-world challenges. That model prepares future leaders who understand that sustainability is not a specialty added at the end of a project, but a collaborative responsibility woven through design, construction, operations, health, equity, and community life.
By translating research into action and helping practitioners work across disciplines toward shared goals, the Institute has elevated sustainable practice throughout Colorado and beyond. The jury is proud to present the 2026 AIA Colorado Impact Award to the Institute for the Built Environment at Colorado State University.
Congratulations!
Why the jury selected The Institute for the Built Environment
- Has advanced healthy, thriving, and sustainable places since its establishment at Colorado State University in 1994.
- Connects university research with professional practice and community needs.
- Builds interdisciplinary teams of faculty, students, industry professionals, owners, and public partners.
- Has strengthened hundreds of projects, organizations, and teams through research, facilitation, and technical guidance.
- Supports project teams and communities through healthy green building expertise, place-based sustainability, climate-transition, equity, and resilience strategies.
- Translates applied research and social science into useful strategies, resources, and better project outcomes.
- Engages at least one CSU student in every project, providing meaningful paid experience and direct mentorship.
- Prepares future practitioners to lead by making collaboration, evidence, and whole-systems thinking central across architecture, construction, sustainability, public health, and community development.








The annual AIA Colorado Awards honor the outstanding work of members and their firms, reinforce the value of great architecture, and highlight member contributions to positive change.
AIA Colorado Announces 2026 Design Award Winners
Seventeen projects recognized for
Design Excellence
DENVER — September 18, 2026 — AIA Colorado announced the recipients of its 2026 Design Awards at the Design + Honor Awards Celebration on September 17 in Denver. Seventeen projects received recognition across three award levels: three Awards of Excellence, six Awards of Merit, and eight Honorable Mentions. Bluff Lake Nature Center also received Sustainability Recognition.
The winning projects reflect the breadth of work by Colorado’s architecture community, encompassing homes, educational facilities, community destinations, preservation projects, and unbuilt proposals. Located across Colorado and beyond, the projects demonstrate the many ways architecture responds to place, serves communities, and shapes everyday experience.
The annual Design Awards honor the most outstanding work of AIA Colorado members and their firms, reinforce the value of great architecture, and highlight members’ positive contributions to the community.
Watch the 2026 Design Awards Video
Explore all 17 winning projects in the full-length awards video.
Awards of Excellence
Sentinel Rock
- Firm: Piché Architecture
- Architect of record and design architect: Mike Piché, AIA
- Location: Boulder, Colorado
- Category: Historic Preservation and Restoration under 5,000 square feet
Vonnegut Cabins
- Firm: ColoradoBuildingWorkshop at the University of Colorado Denver
- Architect of record: Erik Sommerfeld, AIA
- Design architects: The students of the University of Colorado Denver
- Location: Thoreau, New Mexico
- Category: Historic Preservation and Restoration under 5,000 square feet
Colorado School of Mines East Classroom Building
- Firm: OZ Architecture
- Architect of record and design architect: David Schafer, AIA
- Location: Golden, Colorado
- Category: New Construction over 15,000 square feet
Awards of Merit
Camp Meeker
- Firm: Renée del Gaudio Architecture
- Architect of record and design architect: Renée del Gaudio, AIA
- Location: Allenspark, Colorado
- Category: New Construction under 5,000 square feet
MOLLIE Aspen
- Firm: CCY Architects
- Architect of record: John Cottle, FAIA
- Design architect: Todd Kennedy, AIA
- Location: Aspen, Colorado
- Category: New Construction over 15,000 square feet
Aspen Distillers
- Firm: Anderson Mason Dale Architects
- Architect of record: David Pfeifer, AIA
- Design architects: David Pfeifer, AIA; Stephan Hall, AIA; Luc Bamberger, AIA
- Location: Aspen, Colorado
- Category: New Construction 5,000–15,000 square feet
Riverbank House
- Firm: F&M Architects
- Architect of record: Flynn Stewart-Severy, AIA
- Design architect: Eric Sechrist, AIA
- Location: Aspen, Colorado
- Category: New Construction 5,000–15,000 square feet
Denchu Den
- Firm: Roth Sheppard Architects
- Architect of record and design architect: Adam Harding, AIA
- Location: Denver, Colorado
- Category: Interior Architecture
Parkside Villa
- Firm: Studio B Architecture + Interiors
- Architect of record: Mike Piché, AIA
- Design architect: Robby Cuthbert, AIA
- Location: Boulder, Colorado
- Category: Renovation and Remodel 5,000–15,000 square feet
Honorable Mention
Bluff Lake Nature Center
Also receiving Sustainability Recognition
- Firm: Shape Architecture Studio
- Architect of record: Steve Scribner, AIA
- Design architect: Bunny Tucker, AIA
- Location: Denver, Colorado
- Category: New Construction over 5,000 square feet
The Legacy at the National Western Center
- Firm: Tryba Architects
- Architect of record and design architect: David Tryba, FAIA
- Location: Denver, Colorado
- Category: New Construction over 15,000 square feet
Georgia State University Convocation Center
- Firm: Perkins&Will
- Architect of record and design architect: Don Dethlefs, FAIA
- Associate architect: The S/L/A/M Collaborative
- Location: Atlanta, Georgia
- Category: New Construction over 15,000 square feet
the.PAVILION
- Firm: BOSS.architecture
- Architect of record and design architect: Kevin Stephenson, AIA
- Location: Lakewood, Colorado
- Category: New Construction under 5,000 square feet
Johnson’s Station
- Firm: F9 Productions
- Architect of record: Alex Gore, AIA
- Design architect: Alex Gresh, AIA
- Location: Longmont, Colorado
- Category: Historic Preservation and Restoration 5,000–15,000 square feet
WeStreet Ice Center
- Firm: Perkins&Will
- Architect of record and design architect: Don Dethlefs, FAIA
- Location: Tulsa, Oklahoma
- Category: Renovation and Remodel over 15,000 square feet
Where the Earth Breathes
- Firm: CCY Architects
- Architect of record: Will Young
- Design architects: Alexis Campion, Assoc. AIA; Joy Mullappally, Assoc. AIA; Mason Limke
- Location: Hverfjall, Iceland
- Category: Unbuilt
Pitkin County Solid Waste Center – Scale House
- Firm: HDR
- Architect of record: Richard McKinley, AIA
- Design architect: James Braam, AIA
- Location: Aspen, Colorado
- Category: Unbuilt
About
AIA Colorado
AIA Colorado is the Colorado chapter of the American Institute of Architects, working to elevate the architecture profession to design a more equitable, sustainable, and beautiful Colorado.
Fall 2026 • Signature Updates

Early registration is now open for AIA Colorado’s 2026 Practice + Design Conference, and tickets are available for the Design + Honor Awards Celebration.
2026
Practice + Design Conference

Share Your Expertise
The 2026 Practice + Design Conference Call for Presentations submission window closes this Friday!
This year’s theme, The Work of Tomorrow, explores how architects embrace uncertainty with optimism, shaping the future through innovative ideas, evolving practices, and forward-thinking design.
Share your expertise and shape the profession. Presenting at the Practice + Design Conference is an opportunity to share the lessons, ideas, and innovations you’ve gained through practice while helping fellow architects navigate the challenges and opportunities ahead. Selected presenters will also receive a featured recap article shared with AIA Colorado’s membership and imagery for future use, extending the impact of your session well beyond the conference.
Submit your presentation by Friday, July 31, 2026, at Noon, here.

Early Conference Registration Now Open
Early Registration is now open for the 2026 Practice + Design Conference, The Work of Tomorrow, taking place November 11–13 in Keystone.
We’re thrilled to welcome this year’s keynote speakers:
- John Ronan, FAIA
- Stephen Kieran, FAIA
- Robert Ivy, FAIA
- Florian Idenburg, Intl. Assoc. AIA and Jing Liu, AIA
- Angela Brooks, FAIA and Larry Scarpa, FAIA
The conference schedule will continue to grow in the coming weeks, so check back often as new sessions are announced.
Planning to attend or exhibit? Conference pricing is now available, Expo Hall booths are open, sponsorship opportunities await your brand, and the conference hotel room block is accepting reservations. We encourage you to book early as the discounted room block has sold out in previous years.
Practice + Design Conference info and updates can always be found at aiacolorado.org/conference. Reserve your conference registration, at Early Registration prices, here.
Wednesday’s session
New this year is The State of the State of Colorado, a Wednesday kickoff session included with conference registration, starting at 3pm and followed by a happy hour.
Featuring experts in economics, demographics, resilience, and public policy, this timely program offers a data-driven look at the trends influencing Colorado’s built environment and the future of architectural practice.
Learn more about this session and the presenters here.

AIA Colorado Design + Honor Awards Celebration
More than an awards ceremony, this is a celebration of Colorado’s architecture community and the people, ideas, and partnerships that continue to shape the built environment across our state.
Thursday, September 17, starting at 5:30pm, join colleagues, clients, collaborators, emerging professionals, and industry partners for an unforgettable evening at Mile High Station as we recognize the recipients of the 2026 Design + Honor Awards while celebrating the collective creativity, leadership, and impact of the architectural profession.
Enjoy craft curated cocktails, an exceptional culinary experience, and a live performance by Extreme Strings, creating an energetic backdrop for reconnecting with old friends, making new connections, and celebrating together.
Grow your impact by sponsoring the event. More info available here.
Tickets include catered cuisine and your first two craft beverages. We look forward to celebrating with you!