The architectural design category of Fast Company’s Innovation by Design Awards honors buildings, structures, and interior designs that solve problems in the built environment. This year’s winner, University of California, Berkeley—Grimes Engineering Center By Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill, is an adaptive-reuse building that uses a novel seismic-responsive structural system for precedent-setting earthquake resilience. See all of the honorees below. {"blockType":"mv-promo-block","data":{"imageDesktopUrl":"https:\/\/images.fastcompany.com\/image\/upload\/f_webp,q_auto,c_fit\/wp-cms-2\/2026\/09\/2026-IBD_social-share-2-16x9-1.jpg","imageMobileUrl":"https:\/\/images.fastcompany.com\/image\/upload\/f_webp,q_auto,c_fit\/wp-cms-2\/2026\/09\/2026-IBD_social-share-1-1-1x1-1.jpg","eyebrow":"","headline":"Meet the world\u0027s most innovative design companies","dek":"","subhed":"","description":"","ctaText":"See the List","ctaUrl":"https:\/\/www.fastcompany.com\/innovation-by-design\/list?utm_source=fcwebsite\u0026utm_medium=promo_block\u0026utm_campaign=IBD26","theme":{"bg":"#f4f4f4","text":"#2b2d30","eyebrow":"#9aa2aa","subhed":"#ffffff","buttonBg":"#444444","buttonHoverBg":"#ef5b24","buttonText":"#ffffff"},"imageDesktopId":91604521,"imageMobileId":91604520,"shareable":false,"slug":"","wpCssClasses":""}} [Photo: Dave Burk] Finalists Gateway Library Richärd Kennedy Architects Longwood Gardens West Conservatory and Waterlily Court Weiss/Manfredi [Photo: Albert Vecerka] TCC DAKA Renewable Resource Recycling Center KPF The Challenge Program’s Gibbs Center Production Studio Digsau Honorable Mentions Avicii Arena Modernization HOK [Photo: Mårten Lindquist] David Rubenstein Treehouse at Harvard University Studio Gang [Photo: Jason O’Rear] Life and Mind Building at the University of Oxford NBBJ Norton Rose Fulbright Tower Skanska USA Commercial Development [Photo: Francisco Ramos] Roig Arena HOK and ERRE [Photo: V

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