AIA Chicago 2025 Lerch Bates People’s Choice Awards: Meet the Nominees

The AIA Chicago Lerch Bates People’s Choice Awards are back for 2025, spotlighting the most compelling architectural projects from across the region, and this year’s finalists are a stunning showcase of creativity, sustainability, and community impact. With public voting open through September 12, Chicagoans and design enthusiasts alike are invited to weigh in on their favorites across 10 diverse categories. Winners will be revealed at Designight 2025 on September 18 at the Harris Theater in Millennium Park.

Here’s a look at the nominees:

🏛️ Community & Civic

• City of Appleton Public Library – Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), Appleton, WI
• Damen Green Line Station – Perkins&Will, Chicago, IL
• Greater Chicago Food Depository – Partners by Design, Chicago, IL
• Homewood Illinois Intermodal Station – GFT, Homewood, IL

🎭 Cultural

• Architectural Head Games – Architecture for Public Benefit, Chicago, IL
• Continuing a Radical Craft Jane Addams Hull-House Museum – Michal Koszycki, AIA, and Titus Wonsey, Chicago, IL
• Lookingglass Theatre Lobby – Wheeler Kearns Architects + Working Group 1, Chicago, IL
• Pritzker Military Archives Center – Jahn/, Somers, WI

🎓 Education

• Ironworkers Local 63 Training Facility – Gensler, Broadview, IL
• McGrath Family Performing Arts Center – Krueck Sexton Partners, Wilmette, IL
• Neal Math and Science Academy – JGMA, North Chicago, IL
• Western Michigan University Student Center – CannonDesign, Kalamazoo, MI

🏥 Healthcare & Research

• Cardiovascular Institute Expansion at Glenbrook Hospital – Eckenhoff Saunders, Glenview, IL
• Chief Andrew Isaac Health Center Expansion – HOK, Fairbanks, AK
• Humboldt Park Wellness Center – JGMA, Chicago, IL
• Northwestern Medicine – Old Irving Park – CannonDesign, Chicago, IL

🏨 Hospitality & Retail

• The Alston – Heidi Lightner Architects, Chicago, IL
• Jackson Lake Lodge Restoration – Nurture Architects, Moran, WY
• Journeyman Distillery at the American Factory – RATIO, Valparaiso, IN
• Virgin Hotels New York – Stantec Architecture Inc., New York, NY

🏘️ Multi-Family Residential

• The Ash – Hanna Architects, Chicago, IL
• Embry – Lamar Johnson Collaborative, Chicago, IL
• Mass Timber Office + Residences – DLR Group, Austin, TX
• Solverre – Valerio Dewalt Train, Chicago, IL

🏢 Office

• Boston Consulting Group – Lamar Johnson Collaborative, Chicago, IL
• First Bank Headquarters – Lamar Johnson Collaborative, St. Louis, MO
• Hoerr Schaudt Landscape Architects – Fitzgerald Architecture Planning Design, Chicago, IL
• Nothing Design Co. Headquarters – Range Design & Architecture, Chicago, IL

🏡 Single Family Residential

• Chatham Residence – Heidi Lightner Architects, Chicago, IL
• Galien River Retreat – Wheeler Kearns Architects, New Buffalo, MI
• Montgomery Ward Loft – ERA / Eric Rothfeder Architect, Chicago, IL
• Sawyer Retreat – Wheeler Kearns Architects, Sawyer, MI

🌇 Tall Building

• 1000M – Jahn/, Chicago, IL
• 160 Front – Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture, Toronto, ON
• 320 South Canal – Goettsch Partners, Chicago, IL
• 360 North Green – Gensler and Sterling Bay Design Studio, Chicago, IL

🏗️ Unbuilt

• Bainbridge Island Concert Hall – Epstein, Bainbridge Island, WA
• Bronzeville Evolve – JGMA, Chicago, IL
• Silo Hotel – Epstein, Chicago, IL
• Turku Museum of History and the Future – Stantec Architecture Inc., Turku, Finland

🗳️ Cast Your Vote

Voting is open now at AIAChicago.org/PeoplesChoice and closes at 11:59 PM CT on Friday, September 12. You can vote once per category using your email address.

🎉 Save the Date

Designight 2025
📍 Harris Theater for Music and Dance, Millennium Park
📅 Thursday, September 18, 2025
🎟️Get Tickets