AIA Design Awards 2026
Shaping communities through design excellence. This article recognizes the winners and entrants in the AIA Honolulu 68th Annual Design Awards.
Table of Contents
Aloha,
Welcome to the 68th Annual AIA Honolulu Design Awards, a celebration of the people and projects that continue to shape Hawai‘i through thoughtful, innovative design. This year’s awards are especially meaningful as we also celebrate the Centennial of AIA Hawai‘i—100 years of architects serving our communities and creating places that enrich the lives of those who call these islands home.
The projects recognized in these pages demonstrate the extraordinary talent of our local architects and the lasting value that great design brings to Hawai‘i. From homes and schools to workplaces and public spaces, each project reflects a commitment to design excellence and the unique character of our islands.
As we honor this year’s recipients, we also celebrate every architect, client, consultant, contractor, and community partner who helped bring these visions to life. Together, they remind us that investing in design is an investment in Hawai‘i’s future.
Mahalo to our distinguished jury for their thoughtful review of this year’s submissions, and congratulations to all of our Design Award recipients. We hope these exceptional projects leave you with a sense of the impact local architects have had over the past century—and the contributions they will make in the century ahead.
Lance Hirai, AIA
2026 AIA Honolulu president
Design Awards Committee Chairs
Ryan Sullivan, AIA
Stephanie Ing, Assoc. AIA
Calvin Bulan
Katalina Kim, Assoc. AIA
AIA Honolulu Staff
Julia Fink, EVP
Camilla Nicholas, Assistant Director
Jessica Bandol, Admin & Events
Design Awards Committee
Juliann Chen, Assoc. AIA
Bryan Fujiwara, AIA
John Fullmer, AIA
Lisa van den Heuvel, Allied Member
Liana Odanaka, AIA
Award Levels
Award of Excellence
Requires unanimous vote of the jury that a project excels in all aspects. Reserved for those projects which stand out from all of the meritorious award winners. This highest honor recognizes projects which are deemed to exemplify excellence of architectural design on all levels of analysis, and exemplify the highest standards to which AIA members aspire.
Award of Merit
Requires consensus from the jury that a project is deserving for a high quality of work overall. Granted to projects which display a high standard of architectural quality and design.
Honorable Mention
Responds to notable achievements in one or more particular project aspects; area(s) that stood out, as agreed through consensus by the jury.
Project Categories
Projects are submitted and judged in one of our six categories. The number of projects awarded in each category and the award level (Excellence, Merit, Honorable Mention) shall be determined by the jury.
Residential
Completed projects including single-family residential, multi-family residential, residential housing community planning, and residential renovations, additions and historic preservation. Residential projects of various sizes and scope are welcome as long as the project involved substantial exterior alterations.
Commercial/Industrial
Completed projects including public and private developments of a commercial nature comprising retail, industrial, manufacturing and hospitality. Commercial renovations, historic preservation, adaptive reuse as well as new construction projects are eligible.
Institutional
Completed projects including public and private developments of an institutional nature: K-12 and higher education, recreational facilities/parks, hospitals and medical facilities, and utilities.
Interior architecture
Completed projects involving substantial interior and minimal exterior alterations. Examples of projects in this category include, but are not limited to, tenant improvements and new tenant spaces within an existing (or by others and/or previously completed) exterior shell/space. Also includes residential interior renovations with minimal exterior improvement.
Unbuilt
Unbuilt entries may include any project that is commissioned (client sponsored) or intended for construction, purely theoretical work not intended for construction, submitted individually (by AIA or Assoc. AIA), as a team. The jury will review and select entries in this category based on creativity, originality, power and potential of the ideas presented.
Community impact award
Recognizes projects that are designed to remove barriers and burdens, physical or abstract, empowering and enabling people to gather, connect, live and function to their highest potential, ultimately bringing a community together. This award is unique in that it relies on the experiences of end users. Entries must demonstrate significant social impact.
Meet the Jurors
Awards of Excellence
Kona Farm Distillery
Commercial/Industrial
Photos: Jason O’Rear
Firms WRNS Studio
Additional design firmsEngineering Partners Inc. (Civil and Structural Engineer), Interface Engineering (Mechanical, Plumbing Engineer), Ronald N.S. Ho & Associates, Inc. (Electrical, Energy Engineer), Jordan Consultants, LLC (Specifications), Coffman Engineers, Inc. (Code and Fire Protection), Hirata & Associates (Geotechnical), Sherwood Design Engineers (Water Recycling), Umemoto Cassandro Design Corporation (Landscape Architect), Salter, Inc. (AV, Telecom, and Acoustic), Vitok Engineers (Distilling), Marshall Associates (Food Service)
Contractors KPRS
Location Kailua-Kona, Hawai‘i Island, Hawai‘i
Kona Farm Distillery aims to take the traditional coffee farm and tasting room experience to the next level.
The 71-acre property is a working farm with a 10,000-square-foot production facility, and tasting room in Kailua-Kona, designed to bring the visitor on a seamless journey from the farm to the tasting room.
For inspiration, the design team at WRNS Studio looked to wine tasting rooms in Napa and Sonoma counties in California, where the aim is to connect with the land, “the terroir,” says Adam Woltag, AIA, partner at WRNS. “This is a hospitality-forward space where the level of finish and craft is on display.”
The tasting room is encased in glass with panoramic views framed by oversized hangar doors, and the copper still, encased in glass, is placed front and center. WRNS designed the furniture as well, which is carved from locally sourced ‘ōhi‘a and monkeypod, with exposed wood beams to create an overall warmth.
The outside of the building “flows” inside to the hospitality space, which features dark wood that’s been charred and treated. Along with creating a heavily textured aesthetic, the treatment also serves to preserve and protect the wood. Surrounding lava rock was also incorporated, tying in additional natural elements.
The facility was completed in 2025. Certified LEED Silver, the production facility captures rainwater and processes it for gray water irrigation. It also has rooftop, side and ground-level photovoltaic panels.
“The mechanical complexity, including the lighting and electrical works, the finishes, it was incredibly intense, and the coordination around it all was a challenging and wonderful experience,” Woltag says. “We had never done anything like this before and learned a lot.”
“The project reduces traditional boundaries between growing, making, and consuming in elegant ways that balance the competing needs of an industrial and hospitality project.” — Juror’s comment
Hugh and Mary McCormick Innovation & Discovery Center
The Hawai‘i Energy Award for Excellence in Energy-Efficient DesignThe Mayor’s Choice Award
Institutional
Photos: Olivier Koning
Firm G70
Client Hawaii Baptist Academy
Contractor Allied Builders Systems
Location Honolulu, O‘ahu, Hawai‘i
Highly imaginative in concept, the Hugh and Mary McCormick Innovation & Discovery Center at Hawai‘i Baptist Academy in Nu‘uanu honors the school’s founders, its distinct architecture and unique setting.
“The elementary school is tucked away in an incredible environment,” says Charles Kaneshiro, AIA, chairman of G70 Design.
G70 designed the 7,000-square-foot facility to flow between two humongous Monkey Pod trees, and rather than overshadowing the historic building and its unique details, the new building is interwoven and connects with the land around it.
“It’s organic, like a landform,” Kaneshiro says. “It’s almost as if we raised part of the ground, slid the building into it, and put the ground back on top of it.”
The entrance, a single porthole in the concrete wall, leads through to the other side of the building, facing the stream and courtyard with floor-to-ceiling glass. Plants grow on the roof and sculptures that look like the roots of trees, with little lights in them that resemble plants, are visible on the ceiling.
The library and maker spaces are now connected by a flexible classroom, creating two spaces of discovery, collaboration and innovation.
“If you are a kid walking in, it’s like wow,” Kaneshiro says. “They are enjoying the use of the building for sure.”
Having opened in 2025, the school will soon achieve certified Gold LEED status, Kaneshiro says, just like HBA’s middle and high schools, which G70 previously redesigned.
“It’s a unique structure, in tune with the environment around it. It flows with the values of the school: humility, curiosity and love,” he says. “It was a really fun project to be involved in, and rewarding for the entire team. And the school is just enamored with it.”
“The reveal of academic and spatial discovery in this building evokes a sense of wonder and delight. From the passage through the entry wall into the learning classrooms set against the verdant environment beyond, the building’s design prompts interactive and open-ended learning opportunities at each moment.” — Juror’s comment
About the Hawai‘i Energy Award for Energy-Efficient DesignThe Hawai‘i Energy Award recognizes buildings that help Hawai‘i toward our 100% clean energy goals by incorporating energy efficiency as a foundational value.
Haleola‘ili‘āinapono
Residential
Photos: Aaron Yoshino
Firm Bowers + Kubota Consulting
Additional Design Firms NOEI (Structural Engineer of Record for the Building), Buehler Engineering (Structural Engineer of Record for the PV Array), CADE Engineers LLC (Electrical Engineer of Record for the PV system), JPB Engineering (Geotechnical Engineer), S.S. Dannaway Assoc. (Fire Protection Engineer), Dennis Poma (Wastewater Engineer)
Client Aaron & Jessica Ackerman
Contractor Bryan Allen Construction
Location Honolulu, O‘ahu, Hawai‘i
To date, only 35 certified “living buildings” exist worldwide. One of them, the Haleola‘ili‘āinapono residence, is located in Pālolo Valley on O‘ahu.
Launched in 2006 by the International Living Future Institute, the building challenge “sets a very high bar,” says Bowers + Kubota architect Aaron Ackerman, who specializes in sustainable building design and also lives in the residence with his family.
To earn living building certification, designers must meet 20 “almost impossible” requirements, “which blows more common sustainable building programs like LEED out of the water,” Ackerman says.
Among them, the home must generate more energy than it uses, and is the first building in Hawai‘i where 100% of wastewater is legally recycled on-site, including black and gray water.
Other requirements to be certified as a “living building”: The entire carbon footprint of the construction project must amount to about zero; 70% of the building must consist of salvaged building materials; 100% of raw materials must be third party certified for responsible industry harvesting and extraction practices; and the landscape includes more than 30 edible plants.
“Bowers + Kubota did this to offer real world solutions to global and regional challenges that require walking the walk vs. talking the talk, leading by example,” Ackerman says.
“When you overlay all these requirements on top of one another it’s extremely challenging to accomplish.”
The living building program is meant to challenge the status quo. “It’s about market transformation and questioning the way things are built,” Ackerman says, from the way material supply chains are handled to environmental impacts. “It puts into question building codes, regional ordinances, and things that can make some of these goals out of reach.”
The project also has to serve as a living case study – its doors must open to the public on an annual basis, plus the building must have a death plan stating how it will be disassembled and repurposed.
“Knowing what I know about how dwellings affect people and wellness, and that humans spend 90% of our time indoors, it’s incredibly rewarding to provide this for my family and people who come to visit.”
“The jury unanimously recognized the significant effort and rigor of examining the fullest range of resource preservation and regenerative design within a single dwelling. One imagines the daily ritual of living in this house prompting an increased awareness of resource mindfulness, living up to the aspirations of the project’s name.” — Juror’s comment
Awards of Merit
Mystical Rose Oratory Pavilion
People’s Choice Award
Institutional
Photo: Mariko Reed
Firms Guerin Glass Architects PC and Geoffrey Lewis Architect, Inc
Additional Design Firm Wolf Landscape Architecture (Landscape Architect)
Client The Marianist Center of Hawaii
Contractor Hanson Construction, LLC
Location Honolulu, O‘ahu, Hawai‘i
“The refreshing simplicity and geometric clarity of this addition to the spiritual center of this school’s campus is wonderfully complementary to the original building, and restrained in gesture without overwhelming it.” — Juror’s comment
Hale Mau‘u
Award of Merit
Residential
Photo: William Jess Laird
Firm Walker Warner
Additional design firms Catherine Kwong Design (Interior Designer), David Y. Tamura Associates (Landscape Architect)
Contractor Metzler Contracting Co.
Location Hawai‘i Island, Hawai‘i
“The four elemental single-story volumes are seamlessly fused with the rugged volcanic site fusing built form and landscape.” — Juror’s comment
Honorable Mentions
‘Iolani School Arrillaga Student Center
People’s Choice Award
The Mayor’s Choice Award
Institutional
Photo: Adam Taylor
Firm WCIT Architecture
Additional Design Firm Gensler (Co-Design Architect)
Client ‘Iolani School
Contractor Albert C. Kobayashi, Inc.
Location Honolulu, O‘ahu, Hawai‘i
“The project offers diverse and overlapping spaces that reflect a commitment to social exchange, mentorship, peer learning, work, and play, across an array of interior and exterior spaces.” — Juror’s comment
About the People’s Choice Award The People’s Choice Award is selected following a two-week online voting process that is open to AIA members and the public at large.
About the Mayor’s Choice Award The Mayor’s Choice Award was selected by Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi among all the entries.
President Theodore Roosevelt High School Gymnasium
Institutional
Photo: Anton Kisselgoff
Firms Ferraro Choi and Associates Ltd.
Client State of Hawai‘i Department of Education
Contractor Nan, Inc.
Location Honolulu, O‘ahu, Hawai‘i
“The handling of building program, enclosure, structure and daylighting in this project displays planning and technical skill in resolving a complicated program within a tightly constrained and challenging site. What was formerly an opaque campus space now activates the surrounding campus with an agile lightness.” — Juror’s comment
Downtown Branch, American Savings Bank
Interior Architecture
Photo: Andrea Brizzi Photography
Firm Dean Sakamoto Architects LLC
Additional Design Firms Coffman Engineers Inc. (Mechanical Consultant), Nakamura, Oyama & Assoc Inc. (Electrical Consultant), Censeo AV+Acoustics (Acoustic Consultant), Albizia Project and Four Square Solutions (Millwork)
Client American Savings Bank
Contractor Ralph S. Inouye Co Ltd.
Location Honolulu, O‘ahu, Hawai‘i
“Located on the ground floor of the American Savings Bank Tower, the downtown bank branch interior is a sensitive modern insertion into and existing brutalist concrete building. The prototypical branch bank design prioritizes visual connections between inside and outside and utilizes locally harvested Albizia wood to create an inner warmth.” — Juror’s comment
Kaiāulu o Kuku‘ia
Residential
Photo: Design Partners Incorporated
Firm Design Partners Incorporated
Additional design firm D & T Designs (Interior & Non-architectural)
Client Ikaika ‘Ohana
Contractor Maryl Group Construction Inc.; Goodfellows Bros
Location Lahaina, Maui, Hawai‘i
“This project takes on challenging goals to provide accessible housing in a not-for-profit world. One can envision this growing into a well-lived-in community over time. It uses an effective floor plan, including how the offset stair allows for an equal mix of two- and 3-bedroom units. Congratulations on LEED Gold.” — Juror’s comment
The Park on Ke‘eaumoku
Residential
Photo: Adam Taylor
Firm Design Partners Incorporated
Client Keeaumoku Development Owner LLC
Contractor Nan, Inc.
Location Honolulu, O‘ahu, Hawai‘i
“The programming of the project reflects a commitment to public open space, a pedestrian-oriented ground level, and community amenities that contribute to the activation of the neighborhood.” — Juror’s comment
Māhualauhīnano – Keaukaha Resiliency Center for Learning
Honorable Mention
Unbuilt, Commissioned Work to be Built
Rendering: Ferraro Choi and Associates Ltd.
Firm Ferraro Choi and Associates Ltd.
Client Ka ‘Umeke Kā‘eo Public Charter School & Hui Ho‘oleimaluō
Location Hilo, Hawaii Island, Hawaiʻi
“The holistic approach demonstrates thoughtful planning, site design, architecture, and landscape design in alignment with the Framework for Excellence and local cultural values and practices.” — Juror’s comment
Lili‘uokalani Center
Institutional
Photos: Matthew Millman Photography
Firm Flansburgh Architects
Client Lili’uokalani Trust
Contractors Kiewit Corporation
Location Honolulu, O‘ahu, Hawai‘i
“Lively and theatrical, the adaptive reuse of the old Honolulu Club building into a more extroverted public amenity is an admirable and appropriate civic gesture for this site overlooking the Blaisdell Center district. The building’s façade is an activated visual invitation highlighting the activities and talents of the youth using the spaces within.” — Juror’s comment
Centennial Awards
The Centennial Award honors architectural projects of lasting significance that have stood the test of time. It recognizes exceptional designs completed at least 25 years ago by a current or former member of the AIA Honolulu Chapter (or its predecessors).
Hawaii Kai Corporate Plaza
Photo: CDS International
Firm CDS International
Location Honolulu, O‘ahu, Hawai‘i
Year Built 1987
“The project reflects an office typology uniquely suited for our local climate, with large open walkways, lanais, overhangs, and generous landscape areas that reflect a value system that is rare in commercial environments today.” — Juror’s comment
Hawai‘i State Capitol
Photo: Hawai‘i State Archives
Firm AHL
Location Honolulu, O‘ahu, Hawai‘i
Year Built 1965
“More than just a collection of abstracted tropical metaphors, the Capitol’s enduring architectural strength are the expressed ideals of our systems of government: open and accessible public space for gathering and dissent, trust in institutional stability, and representation of the landscape and its people.” — Juror’s comment
Honolulu Academy of Arts
Photo: Franzen Photography
Firm John Hara Associates Inc.
Location Honolulu, O‘ahu, Hawai‘i
Year Built 1978 & 2001
“The Honolulu Museum of Art is defined by its signature courtyards both historic and modern. The museum’s modern additions have made a positive contribution to this remarkable urban ensemble.” — Juror’s comment
Maui Community Arts & Cultural Center
Photo: Franzen Photography
Firm John Hara Associates Inc.
Location Kahului, Maui, Hawai‘i
Year Built 1994
“The design sets a timeless and understated background for Maui’s cultural arts community to occupy center stage. It is elemental and iconic without being overly monumental, and expresses the role of architecture to support civic forms of expression with modesty and simplicity appropriate to the Maui community.” — Juror’s comment
Student Design Awards
The Student Design Awards honor student achievements in the design studio and provide a forum for student design excellence to be celebrated beyond the academic setting.
The Hale
Award of Merit
Graduate
Students Edwin Sun, Dylan Martos and Jayden Uowolo
School University of Hawai‘i at Manoa School of Architecture
Fragment and Fold: A Pedestrian Market Park for Lahaina
Honorable Mention
Graduate
Student Noah Larson
School University of Hawai‘i at Manoa School of Architecture
Hale Nā Kōnāhuanui
Honorable Mention
Undergraduate
Student Joshua Luke Ishimine
School University of Hawai‘i at Manoa School of Architecture
Filtering Water
Honorable Mention
Undergraduate
Students Elijah Nadamoto and Zoe Huang
School University of Hawai‘i at Manoa School of Architecture
Ho‘ōla Kūpuna Center
People’s Choice Award
Graduate
Student Nevaeh Angel Nacion
School University of Hawai‘i at Manoa School of Architecture
About the People’s Choice Award The People’s Choice Award is selected following a two-week online voting process that is open to AIA members and the public at large.
