AIA New York Design Award
American Institute of Architects New York Design Merit Award 2025
Equatorial School of Architecture
AIA New York’s annual Design Awards program recognizes outstanding architectural design by AIA New York members, New York City-based architects in any location, and work in New York City by architects around the globe. The purpose of the awards program is to honor the architects, clients, and consultants who work together to achieve design excellence.
The Equatorial School of Architecture is a net-zero energy, super-low embodied carbon, adaptive-reuse project that embeds integration as a central ethos of the design. Integration occurs structurally by repurposing the existing concrete frame, extending the campus’s carbon investment from the 1970s while being reconfigured to serve the needs of future architectural education. A series of surgical substructions improve the spatial quality of the building while amplifying social interaction and exchange. The revised spatial layout integrates with novel hybrid comfort systems to improve the indoor environment while driving net-zero operational energy. An external deep veil ties the two buildings together while integrating the design into its equatorial climate and campus context. Glare, shade, daylight, and acoustic performance are integrated through the envelope while creating a dynamic and dignified expression for the two buildings. The landscape is integrated by inserting a verdant jungle as the architecture’s heart, coupled with a green wall, and surrounding naturalistic plantings that weave the buildings to the equator. The design serves as a sustainable prototype by centering decarbonization, biophilia, and climate as integrated pedagogical tools where everything is visible, open, and accessible to learn and teach from while creating a scaffolding for the future of architectural education.