Ayers Saint Gross Projects Honored with Top AIA Baltimore Excellence in Design Awards

For the second year in a row, the Baltimore chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) honored two Ayers Saint Gross projects with 2025 Excellence in Design Awards as well as the Grand Design Award, the chapter’s top award. The awards recognize projects with overall distinctive character and outstanding quality by AIA Baltimore members and AIA members with projects in the AIA Baltimore region.

Both 100 Forge for Boylston Properties and the Center for Media Arts, Computing, and Design at Clark University were recognized with Excellence in Design Awards, which honor projects with overall distinctive character and outstanding quality. 100 Forge was also recognized with the evening’s Grand Design Award, the chapter’s top award that is given to one exceptional built project each year.

A landmark building destination for life science research, 100 Forge is a nine-story laboratory and office building designed to be a magnet for leading biotech companies and talent in Watertown, Massachusetts. Located along a mature woodland and the Charles River, the building offers western views to the park and dramatic eastern views to the Cambridge and Boston city skylines.

Designed to prioritize visibility and connectivity to the adjacent woodland and river, the building features balconies with gracious outdoor decks, a ninth-floor outdoor terrace, and floor-to-ceiling windows.

The award jury praised the project for emphasizing well-being in its design and noted that “the spaces support people in showing up as their best selves.” They described the lobby and greenspace as “inviting and well-executed, contributing to a positive user experience,” and praised the building’s form and subtle glazing details for being interesting, while understated. Overall, the celebrated the project for “its holistic approach — blending environmental stewardship, wellness-focused design, and architectural refinement into a cohesive and impactful project.”

The Center for Media Arts, Computing, and Design is an academic facility envisioned to be a hub for interdisciplinary learning and research at Clark University, uniting the Becker School of Design & Technology with the departments of Computer Science and Visual and Performing Arts to create an environment focused on immersive technology. Located on the edge of campus, the 70,000 GSF, five-story facility is transparent and inclusive, housing a video game library, makerspace, robotics lab, AR/VR lab, virtual production lab, video production lab, screening room, and active-learning and flexible classrooms.

Its design features a field of matte black composite metal panel with high gloss accents. Copper soffit panels and vertical accents frame the entries and add warmth, while the honed limestone base connects back to campus, adding a sense of permanence. The Center for Media Arts, Computing, and Design was previously honored with a 2025 IIDA MAC Achievement Award for Technology Advancement.

Jurors described the project’s architecture as “deliberate without being overdone,” and said the building “stood out for its quiet sophistication, thoughtful equity strategies, and strong environmental performance.”

Learn more about the AIA Baltimore awards and see the complete list of winners.