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Seattle-based projects shone bright this year in the AIA Committee on the Environment (COTE)’s annual Top Ten Awards, with a climate-sensitive maritime education facility, the University of Washington’s first fully mass timber structure, and a new building at a K-12 day school that ranks as the largest Passive House academic project in the Western United States all being recognized for sustainable design excellence. Now in its 28th year, the COTE Top Ten Awards, which showcases buildings that set a high bar for “social, economic, and ecological value” were announced along with a slew of other project-based honors—the Healthcare Awards, Housing Awards, Small Project Awards, the AIA/ALA Library Building Awards, and the multi-typology Architecture Awards among them—during an awards gala held during this year’s AIA Conference on Architecture and Design in Boston. This is the second year the COTE Top 10 Award winners have been announced during the AIA’s annual gathering. In the past, they were revealed on or around Earth Day.

Joining three superlatively green projects in the Emerald City—designed by local firms Olson Kundig, LMN, and Mithun, respectively—were a typically diverse mix of buildings, including corporate and non-profit headquarters, an affordable housing complex, and additional schools and academic buildings in locales ranging from San Antonio to Washington, D.C. to Bar Harbor, Maine. None of the firms recognized this year were recognized in 2024 although the 2025 AIA awards cycle does mark a return to the COTE Top Ten for Mithun, which was honored for projects in 2022 and 2023. Perennial COTE winner Lake|Flato walked away empty handed this year. (Although the firm did was recognized in multiple other award categories.)

Below is a list of the 2025 COTE Top Ten winners. You can learn more about each of the projects here.

Boardwalk Campus
Arrowstreet, Inc. | Acton, Massachusetts

Boardwalk Campus. Photo © Robert Benson Photography

Coliseum Place Affordable Family Housing
David Baker Architects | Oakland, California

Coliseum Place Affordable Family Housing. Photo © Bruce Damonte

College of the Atlantic, Davis Center for Human Ecology
Susan T. Rodriguez | Architecture • Design and OPAL | Bar Harbor, Maine

College of the Atlantic, Davis Center for Human Ecology. Photo © Trent Bell Photography

Credit Human Headquarters
Kirksey Architecture, Don B. McDonald Architects | San Antonio

Credit Human Headquarters. Photo © Dror Baldinger

Founders Hall, Foster School of Business, University of Washington
LMN Architects | Seattle

Founders Hall, Foster School of Business, University of Washington. Photo © Tim Griffith

Irving Institute for Energy and Society
Goody Clancy | Hanover, New Hampshire

Irving Institute for Energy and Society. Photo © Above Summit

John Lewis Elementary School
Perkins Eastman DC/Perkins Eastman Architects | Washington, D.C.

John Lewis Elementary School. Photo © Joseph Romeo, courtesy Perkins Eastman

Stanley Center for Peace and Security
Neumann Monson Architects | Muscatine, Iowa

Stanley Center for Peace and Security. Photo © Integrated Studio

The Bush School New Upper School
Mithun | Seattle

The Bush School New Upper School. Photo © Lara Swimmer

Wagner Education Center at the Center for Wooden Boats
Olson Kundig | Seattle

Wagner Education Center at the Center for Wooden Boats. Photo © Nic Lehoux

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