The value of new design contracts fell for the 18th consecutive month in August, marking the longest decline in 15 years of data, according to the American Institute of Architects.

The organization maintains the monthly AIA/Deltek Architecture Billings Index. The AIA pointed to a potential bounce-back in the survey, which was released Wednesday.

“While business conditions remained soft at architecture firms nationally, there are signs that the downturn may be bottoming out,” said Kermit Baker, AIA’s chief economist, in a prepared statement. “Inquiries for new projects have increased four straight months, and billings both at firms with a multifamily or commercial/industrial specialization are beginning to stabilize.”

Activity was weakest in the West and strongest in the South, according to the index.

The AIA stated that architects continue to see “soft inquiries and a steady drop in newly signed design contracts, as clients remain hesitant to commit to new projects. With limited new work ahead, many firms are expected to face continued declines in billing in the months to come.”

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The Aermican Institute of Architects (AIA) announced the winners of its 2025 awards during a prestigious gala last week at the Omni Boston Hotel at the Seaport. Attendees celebrated more than 100 award winners as well as individuals receiving fellowship.

The AIA Awards Gala brought together distinguished architects, industry professionals, and supporters to honor , a press release states.

SRG + CannonDesign won an Education Facility Design Award for its design of Edward J. Ray Hall at Oregon State University-Cascades in Bend. This building with adaptable learning spaces features net zero energy use and has locally sourced mass timber. The project was completed in 2021.

Mahlum Architects won a Housing Award for its design of the Life Skills Training Center at the Washington State School for the Blind in Vancouver. The team developed new engagement techniques to incorporate alumni voices in the design. The project was completed in 2023.

Mackenzie won a Justice Facilities Review Award for its design of the new Lake Oswego City Hall. It provides an updated home for the police department, 911 dispatch center, and spaces for court, council and administrative functions. The project was completed in 2021.

Integrus (a collaboration of YGH and Integrus Architecture) won an Architecture Award as the architect of record for the U.S. Consulate General in Hyderabad, India. The designer was Richärd Kennedy Architects of Phoenix, Arizona. The building is ensconced with metal panels articulated as a jali screen. The project was completed in 2023.

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By Brian Johnson
91��Ƶ Newswires

Spending on nonresidential buildings will increase more than 7% this year, but market challenges will limit growth to 2% in 2025, according to the ‘ newly released midyear .

The “challenging lending market for construction projects, continued weakness in commercial property values, and ongoing softness in billings at architecture firms contribute to the slowdown,” AIA said in a press release.

In the report, AIA predicts the following: Commercial facilities activity will be flat this year and next year; manufacturing will increase 14% and stabilize in 2025; institutional construction will see a more than 10% gain this year and slow to 4% in 2025.

“The disparity in sector performance highlights the uneven economic conditions and ongoing market uncertainties,” AIA Chief Economist Kermit Baker said in the release. “Despite the challenges, specific sectors like manufacturing construction are showing strong ongoing activity from the surge in projects that started during the pandemic, while most institutional sectors are seeing reasonably healthy gains, fueled by the education market.”

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An adaptive reuse project that combined a pair of Northwest Portland industrial buildings into a single creative office campus took top honors at the Portland Architecture Awards ceremony hosted by AIA Oregon last month.

earned LEVER Architecture an Honor Award for what judges described as a “rather sublime conception of how design might better relate to ecology in this century.” The project, completed earlier this year for Langley Investment Partners, involved stripping a pair of 1940s-era heavy-timber buildings down to their structural elements before rebuilding them into an open-office building with an industrial aesthetic respectful of the site’s heritage.

Old-growth timber posts, beams and joists were refurbished and left exposed, and mezzanines were installed in both buildings. New banks of clerestory windows provide natural daylighting. The buildings were clad in weathering steel and joined by a glass-enclosed breezeway that serves as a main entrance and reception area.

In their judging notes, Quebec-based competition jurors Cécile Combelle of Atelier Barda and Kiel Moe of McGill University lauded the building as an example of a design ethos that “… carefully considers and interprets what already exists in order to nudge and extend the life of our building environments.” The jury also included Kim Pariseau of Quebec-based Appareil Architecture.

Judges bestowed four Merit Awards, including two upon Hacker: one for a private residence in Bend, and another for Berwick Hall, a building that provides music rehearsal/performance space and offices for the Oregon Bach Festival on the University of Oregon campus in Eugene.

Merit Awards also went to Architecture Building Culture for Jarrett Street 12, a modular affordable housing project containing 12 for-sale units in North Portland, and Opsis Architecture for the Navigation Center shelter project in the Pearl District.

Citation Award winners included Silica by William/Kaven Architecture, the Oregon Conservation Center by LEVER Architecture, OHSU Center for Health and Healing – Building 2 by ZGF Architects, and Howard Residence by Architecture Building Culture. Works Progress Architecture‘s 7 SE Stark won a Citation Award as an unbuilt project.

In addition to the judged entries, two projects were honored for meeting or exceeding 2030 Challenge standards for carbon neutrality. Those honors were based on energy data from project submissions and with assistance from BetterBricks and the University of Oregon School of Architecture’s Energy Studies in Buildings Lab.

Tillamook Row, designed by Green Hammer director of design Erica Dunn, won a 2030 Award. Also, Hennebery Eddy Architects‘ Great Smoky Mountains Institute second campus in Townsend, Tennessee, won one for an unbuilt project.

Three design professionals were recognized for contributions to the community and the profession. John Reynolds, professor of architecture emeritus at the University of Oregon, was named the AIA Portland President’s Award winner; Carin Carlson, an associate with Hennebery Eddy Architects, was given the Young Architect Award; and Whitney Ranson, a designer with SRG Partnership, was honored with the Emerging Professional Award.

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