The American Institute of Architects has awarded its highest annual honor—the 2026 AIA Architecture Firm Award—to a practice that has spent nearly three decades rewriting the expectations of what architects can and should do.
Duvall Decker, the Jackson, Mississippi–based firm founded in 1998 by Anne Marie Duvall Decker, FAIA, and Roy Decker, FAIA, has long stood as a counterargument to the idea that architecture is merely about buildings. For them, design is inseparable from advocacy, community vitality, and the long, slow work of sustaining public life.
The AIA Firm Award recognizes offices that have delivered distinguished architecture for at least ten years. But longevity alone doesn’t explain this year’s selection. What sets Duvall Decker apart is the depth of its commitment to places that have historically received the least architectural investment. The firm’s work—spanning civic buildings, schools, and cultural institutions—demonstrates how thoughtful design can become a lever for equity, dignity, and economic resilience.
From the start, the firm has positioned itself at the intersection of architecture and public service. Whether renovating aging school facilities in Jackson or designing new civic landmarks across Mississippi, Duvall Decker consistently takes on the tasks most firms leave to others: leaking roofs, deferred maintenance plans, long-range finance strategies, historic tax credit navigation. Their expanded-services model is neither an add-on nor a marketing tool—it is the mechanism through which they fulfill their core mission of creating durable, community-centered environments.
The firm’s influence reaches far beyond Mississippi. Carol Ross Barney, FAIA, of Ross Barney Architects, says the depth of their integration between design and advocacy remains unmatched in contemporary practice. “Few firms so fully integrate advocacy into every aspect of their practice,” she notes. “Duvall Decker has established a nationally recognized practice defined by design excellence and profound community advocacy … their architecture stands as a physical expression of civic responsibility.”
Nowhere is that ethos clearer than in their recent portfolio.
At Tougaloo College, the Bennie G. Thompson Academic and Civil Rights Research Center merges academic space, historical stewardship, and cultural memory. The center not only houses key civil rights archives but also serves as a hub for research and community engagement—a programmatic blend that makes architecture an active participant in history, not just its container.
In Greenville, Mississippi, the firm’s U.S. Courthouse—designed in partnership with the General Services Administration—offers a dignified civic presence that reflects the region’s heritage. More than a federal building, it is an aspirational benchmark meant to restore confidence in public institutions while honoring local identity.
The work with Jackson Public Schools reveals another dimension of their practice: patient, layered transformation. Superintendent Errick L. Greene describes their approach to aging facilities as “careful, incremental renovations,” adding that such work has proven “both rare and invaluable.” Rather than chase flashy overhauls, Duvall Decker prioritizes small, strategic interventions that enhance safety, daylight, comfort, and long-term sustainability—improvements that materially affect daily educational experience.
But the firm’s significance lies in more than its built output. Duvall Decker has modeled a new architecture practice—one that embeds itself within the entire lifecycle of a place. They manage maintenance, oversee operations, and guide communities through complex development processes. They advocate as fiercely for funding and public value as they do for design quality. Their approach embodies a broader shift in the profession, as architects increasingly recognize the need to pair formal excellence with social responsibility.
Their projects often emerge from years of deep listening to residents and civic stakeholders. They fix the leaky pipe before they design the new classroom. They ensure the building will be maintained before they finalize the façade. They prioritize the longevity of both architecture and community.
The result is a portfolio defined by more than aesthetics—it is architecture operating as infrastructure for democracy. As overlooked towns work to rebuild civic trust and public amenities, Duvall Decker’s model demonstrates how design can catalyze economic benefits, cultural stewardship, and long-term community health.
The 2026 AIA Firm Award marks a milestone not just for the firm but for the profession’s evolving values. By elevating an office rooted in advocacy, maintenance, incremental improvement, and deep relational work, the AIA is signaling an expanded definition of architectural excellence—one that embraces empathy as strongly as it celebrates form.
Duvall Decker’s legacy is still unfolding, but the recognition underscores what many in architecture have observed for years: that the most meaningful design often begins with humility. Through their work, they have shown that architecture can repair, inspire, and empower—and that communities once overlooked can become models for the nation.
