Allford Hall Monaghan Morris Named as AAP - Architectural Firm of The Year 2017

The American Architecture Prize – a global platform with an esteemed jury of over 30 architecture experts and professionals – has a mission of celebrating and endorsing creativity, innovation and great achievements across the fields of architecture, interior design, and landscape architecture. With entries from all over the globe, the AAP winners represent some of the best architects of the world.

In addition to the American Architecture Prize, which evaluates individual projects, this year the AAP introduced a comprehensive new award: the AAP – Firm of the Year Award. This allowed the AAP to honor firms’ total body of work, taking into consideration their respective resources and specializations. Small, medium, and large companies were evaluated on their own terms based on the dimensions of Design Excellence, Innovation & Contribution, and Expertise.

With applications from over 40 countries, global interest was high for the inaugural award with hundreds of submissions. In the disciples of architecture, interior design and landscape architecture, AAP’s jury recognized the work of 20 companies that excel in their respective specializations.

Three firms have been chosen as the main category winners in 2017 for their accomplishments and vision:

• Allford Hall Monaghan Morris from London, United Kingdom – Architectural Firm of The Year
• PFS Studio from Vancouver, Canada – Landscape & Urban Design Firm of the Year
• Kossmann.dejong from Amsterdam, The Netherlands – Interior Design Firm of The Year

The complete list of winners – including the 19 subcategory winners and 31 shortlisted firms - is available here.

The Winner of the Architectural Firm of the Year award is Allford Hall Monaghan Morris. Established in 1989, based in London, but with offices in Bristol and Oklahoma City, the firm focuses on creating buildings that are easy to understand for the users, as well as are aesthetically pleasing.

They are receiving the prize for their repeatedly demonstrated understanding of the needs and limitations of the challenges they encounter – an approach they call strategic architecture. Excellence and subtle, mature expertise characterize their work. The practice employs nearly four hundred people who are working on projects in conservation, healthcare, education, housing and offices, and sometimes even a fusion of these. Don’t be surprised if you find their logo - even on bus stops.

The Jury of AAP is not the first to honor and endorse the work of AHMM. Having received awards across a wide variety of themes in their 28 years, AHMM has received a plethora of public and media acclaim – and not without a reason. Usability and comprehensibility are an outmost importance in their designs. Accessible and visually pleasing – a great combination for any project. In 2015 their work on Burntwood School was awarded with the prestigious RIBA Stirling Prize. A collaborative project to reimagine what makes a good school – showcasing a fresh, but professional and mature approach to an age old question.

They are renowned for their renovation projects – most notably in London including The Barbican, The Tea Building and the New Scotland Yard. Reimagining existing buildings or returning some to their former glory while having a brand new vision - these are the approaches that good architecture should have. The firm’s work was certainly well received by the new users of these bespoke structures.

Key new commercial, educational and residential developments spring up throughout the world, in London, around the UK and internationally, bearing the firm’s experienced and visionary mark on them.

AHMM is also on its way to publishing books, partakes in initiatives for the younger generations of architects, and is known to be a great place to work at – all the more reason to honor their efforts with the AAP’s Firm of the Year award in 2017.