Best residential architecture of 2026 honored at AIA Housing Award

The American Institute of Architects has announced the winners of its 2026 AIA Housing Award. Ten projects were honored in this year's edition, whose mission is to recognize the best in home design and showcase how “beauty, safety, sustainability, and comfort can come together.”

The awards come days after the AIA also selected the best in contemporary architecture at the 2026 AIA Architecture Awards. Meanwhile, the best new interiors of the year were honored at the AIA Interior Architecture Awards, and the Philip Merrill Environmental Center by SmithGroup was awarded the 2026 AIA Twenty-five Year Award. You can compare the projects recognized this year to those of previous years by following our ongoing coverage of the series here.  

In the meantime, the winners of the AIA Housing Award 2026 are as follows: 

Albina One in Portland, Oregon, by LEVER Architecture

Project excerpt: "Albina One is the first project in the Albina Vision Community Investment Plan —the nation’s largest restorative justice development project. The project reimagines what restorative redevelopment looks like by centering belonging, culture, and joy. With affordable homes for families of all sizes, open spaces, porches, and gathering areas it rebuilds the ecosystem that sustains community life. Its architecture draws inspiration from the neighborhood's legacy of creativity and resilience, featuring community artwork and details reflecting the spirit of the place. Vibrant colors and art integration make this project aspirational and future-oriented aligning with Afro-futuristic ideas of Black agency, visibility and thriving."

Beach Green Dunes III in Queens, New York, by Bernheimer Architecture

Project excerpt: "Beach Green Dunes III is an all-affordable, intergenerational, 146-unit multi-family housing development in Queens. Designed to withstand flooding and shifting groundwater, the all-electric Passive House building draws energy for heating, cooling, and domestic hot water geothermally and is crowned by a large rooftop solar array. Its envelope, form, and landscape perform as one system—filtering stormwater, reducing energy use, and maintaining comfort—capable of withstanding the many challenges posed due to increasing storm intensity and long-term sea level rise. Serving families, seniors, and formerly unhoused residents, the project transforms a once-disinvested site into a civic landmark for sustainable, equitable urban living."

Betty Greene Apartments in Boston, Massachusetts, by Utile, Inc. 

Project excerpt: "Located in Boston's Jackson Square, the Betty Greene Apartments bring 65 new affordable homes to a neighborhood where access to housing is critically needed. Developed by Urban Edge and named for longtime community advocate Betty Greene, the project honors her commitment to housing, education, and youth opportunity while offering individuals and families a place to live with dignity and stability. The project is 100% affordable, providing one, two and three-bedroom apartments for households earning 30–60% AMI. Certified through the PHIUS+2018 Passive House standard, the building demonstrates how affordable housing can set a new benchmark for performance and resilience."

Bozeman Cohousing in Bozeman, Montana, by Studio Co+Hab

Project excerpt: "Bozeman Cohousing is the first net-zero energy cohousing community in the United States and Montana’s first cohousing development. Designed through a participatory process with future residents, the 43-home community integrates compact, high-performance dwellings with vibrant shared spaces that foster connection, collaboration, and environmental stewardship. The pedestrian-oriented site prioritizes walkability and social interaction while achieving all-electric, net-zero energy performance through passive design and efficient systems. Built during the COVID-19 pandemic amid rising costs, the project remained affordable through community-led decision-making. Bozeman Cohousing exemplifies how thoughtful, inclusive design can merge sustainability, affordability, and social resilience within a replicable development model."

Isla Intersections Supportive Housing & Paseo in Los Angeles, California, by Lorcan O'Herlihy Architects

Project excerpt: "Isla Intersections is organized as series of sixteen staggered boxes assembled out of three 20x8ft modular containers. The units are stacked and arranged into towers that are connected by a series of walkways to create a single unified building. We used modular containers shortening construction time to 30 months instead of 45. While the project is predominantly residential and green space, the ground level along the paseo will provide storefront spaces for retail, job training and support services. This marketplace and paseo will also serve as a “living lung,” helping to filter diesel particulates and air pollutants."

OFFbeat in Austin, Texas, by Nick Deaver Jes Deaver Architecture

Project excerpt: "A derelict, asymmetric 1930’s cottage in a local historic district, was challenged by a 4-foot slope with two heritage oaks in the middle of the property. Reinventing the home embraced whimsey, adding a shed-inspired, cypress, concrete, and glass addition with a curved metal roof, skewed to the original house, to bond owners to nature and the modern life they desired. Set between narrow and wide gardens, the architecture offers minimal thresholds and a cantilevered 36-foot-long concrete bench to sit under the trees while protecting their roots. OFFbeat represents a future where modern design is elevated alongside history, idiosyncrasies and craftsmanship."

Palm Springs Homeless Navigation Center in Palm Springs, California, by John Friedman Alice Kimm Architects, Inc

Project excerpt: "Palm Springs Homeless Navigation Center transformed a dilapidated commercial property into a holistic campus that supports unhoused individuals and families. Two existing warehouses were renovated into a 50-bed overnight shelter and 24-7 service facility containing offices, dining and multipurpose spaces, and care programs. 80 transitional residences occupy new modular buildings over two levels. The Center is extroverted and welcoming, with a wide central promenade and generous public spaces that complement dignified individual living sanctuaries. Intelligent site planning, focus on natural light and views, and vibrant environmental graphics support the designers’ belief in architecture as a social service that improves lives."

Pine Flat in Portland, Oregon, by Faulkner Architects

Project excerpt: "Remotely accessed via a former stagecoach road, the 2019 Kincade Fire saw the destruction of the previous off-grid house. Surviving concrete foundations and walls have been reinhabited. Portions of the pre-existing angular footprint project from the new rectangular form and build the sculptural light well, entry steps and porch. Enhanced construction assemblies, the concrete ground form, non-combustible materials, and sliding ember screens respond to the risk of repeat wildfire events. The clients’ preference for future wheelchair accessibility led to the integration of an expressive entry ramp and wheelchair maneuvering clearances. Off-grid site utilities support a home that embraces passive survivability."

Spoonbill Ranch in Braddock, North Dakota, by Johnsen Schmaling Architects

Project excerpt: "Spoonbill Ranch is a solitary dwelling nestled within an 8,000-acre tallgrass prairie restoration in North Dakota’s Prairie Pothole Region. Partially embedded in the sloping terrain, its emphatically horizontal form centers on a sheltered courtyard that fosters intimacy and protection from the prairie’s harsh, shifting winds. Large apertures with high-performance glazing frame panoramic views of the endless horizon, while a continuous green roof extends the prairie across the structure, allowing the house to merge gently with its surroundings. Crafted from concrete, black-oxide stainless steel, and glass, the building envelope endures scorching summers and frigid winters with quiet resilience."

UC San Diego Theatre District Living & Learning Neighborhood in La Jolla, California, by HKS and Ehrlich Yanai Rhee Chaney Architects

Project excerpt: "Theatre District Living & Learning Neighborhood is an integrated mixed-use community designed to foster student success and community connections at UC San Diego. It features evidence-based design strategies intended to foster physical health, mental well-being, and academic achievement. Driven by the university’s commitment to climate action, the high-performance project also emphasizes a restored ecology, sustainability and resilience through thoughtful integration of the natural and built environments. Spanning a 10-acre site, the coastal neighborhood features five mixed-use buildings with 2,000 undergraduate beds, a 1,200-car subterranean parking garage, classrooms, a meeting center, a market hall, retail and a tranquil meditation pavilion."