At the 2025 National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA) Conference in Kansas City, the Phil Freelon Professional Design Awards reaffirmed the legacy of their namesake — a designer who saw architecture as a means of empowerment. Before an audience of more than 1,200 attendees, NOMA celebrated the best in built and unbuilt work across categories including Vision, Built Work, Unbuilt Work, Historic Preservation, Restoration, and Small Projects.
Jurors Deep Chaniara, NOMA, AIA (Corgan); Dayton Schroeter, NOMA, AIA (SmithGroup); and Eman Siddiqui, NOMA, AIA (GSBS Architects) praised this year’s submissions for “elevating architecture as a cultural force for equity.”
With 46 professional chapters, two international chapters, and more than 4,000 members, NOMA’s community continues to expand. The 2025 conference attracted over 60 sponsors and 70 participating firms and universities—evidence of a deepening pipeline of diverse talent transforming the built environment.
Visionary Design: The Grid Commons, New York, NY
The Vision Design Excellence Honor Award went to Pickard Chilton’s Michael Hensley, AIA, RIBA, for The Grid Commons in New York City. The project’s tower base “is designed to welcome the broader public and community,” the firm explains, with a grocery store and community center anchoring a civic entryway. A childcare center, residents’ lounge, fitness space, and roof garden reinforce the building’s mission as a social condenser — blending density with inclusivity.
Built Work: A Library Reborn in Houston
In the Built Work category, BRAVE/Architecture’s Fernando Brave, NOMA, FAIA, received the Honor Award for the Dr. Shannon Walker Neighborhood Library in Houston, TX. Transforming a forgotten post office into a vibrant civic space, the 23,260-square-foot library is “a community hub envisioned as a space for a modern community.”
An art-filled interior includes a café, flexible meeting rooms, study areas, and maker labs for podcasting and A/V production — a design that transforms learning into a social act. A citation was also presented to Hensley for T3 Rino in Denver, CO, underscoring Pickard Chilton’s strong showing at this year’s awards.
Unbuilt Work: Designing for Civic Cohesion
In the Unbuilt Work category, the Honor Award went to Vines Architecture, Inc. and EVOKE Studio Architecture for the Windsor Chavis Nocho Community Complex in Greensboro, NC. Designed by Victor Vines, NOMA, AIA (Vines Architecture), Edwin Harris, NOMA, AIA, and Teri Canada, NOMA, FAIA (EVOKE), the project “was envisioned as an innovative model for housing multiple city departments—libraries, parks, and recreation—under one roof.” The design aims to create “a multi-generational resource that addresses present and future needs by engaging with and listening to community input to directly inform the outcome.”
A citation was awarded to Gensler’s Roger Smith, NOMA, AIA, for the Newark Community Museum of Social Justice in Newark, NJ — a testament to architecture’s role in documenting and advancing civic history.
Preserving the Past: DREAM Charter School, Bronx, NY
In the Historic Preservation and Restoration category, the Honor Award went to Adjaye Associates’s Sir David Adjaye OBE, NOMA; Pascale Sablan, NOMA, FAIA; and Camaal Benoit, NOMA, for the DREAM Charter School in the Bronx, NY. The 200,000-square-foot adaptive reuse of a former ice warehouse “celebrates the original building’s industrial heritage whilst providing a dynamic new space for 21st century learning.”
“The new facility embraces fragments of its history,” the team notes, “retaining the exposed steel work, red brick, barrel vaulted ceilings, and large arched windows.” Citations were awarded to EVOKE Studio for Gordon Hall Renovation (Boston, MA) and Trivers for The Victor (St. Louis, MO).
Small Projects, Big Impact
The Small Projects Design Honor Award went to Moto Designshop’s Eric Oskey, NOMA, AIA, for Myers Hall Switchgear in Philadelphia, PA — a project praised for transforming utilitarian infrastructure into architectural sculpture.
A citation recognized Studio8 Architects’s Milton Hime, NOMA, FAIA, along with New Line Skateparks Inc. and RVi Planning + Landscape Architecture, for Mueller Southeast Greenway Skatepark, Pump Track Canopies & Restroom Building in Austin, TX — a small project that demonstrates how public space can nurture creativity and community.
Continuing the Legacy
NOMA’s annual Phil Freelon Awards continue to expand the definition of architectural excellence by centering projects that merge design rigor with cultural and social intent. “This year’s winners exemplify what it means to design with purpose,” said NOMA leadership at the ceremony, highlighting the awards’ namesake as “a reminder that design can, and must, build belonging.”
The 2026 NOMA National Conference — hosted by SoFloNOMA — will take place in Miami, Florida, October 14–18, where the next cycle of the Phil Freelon Professional Design Awards will again celebrate architecture as a catalyst for change.
For more information and to view this year’s award gallery, visit leadingedge.noma.net.
