Architecture Faculty—McDowell, MacDonald and Schumann—Receive 2026 AIA Virginia Design Awards

AIA Virginia recently announced the 2026 Design Awards, honoring and celebrating projects that contribute to the built environment and are clear examples of thoughtful, engaging design. Within each award category, consideration was given to sustainability, affordability, social impact, innovation, durability, addressing the natural and built context, and meeting the client’s specific needs.

From a field of 126 entries, only 30 projects were selected from 23 firms by the jury for recognition. Three UVA School of Architecture faculty members and their designs were recognized as part of the awards program: Katie MacDonald and Kyle Schumann (After Architecture / Before Building Laboratory) and Seth McDowell (Seth McDowell Architect, pllc). 

Unbuilt Work Category
Honorable Mention

Artist Collective Spartanburg Renovation and Expansion
Seth McDowell Architect, pllc

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Jury Comments:

"The Artist Collective Spartanburg is a study in effective building conversion and repurposing. At the heart of the facility is the Main Baptist Church, the very site where the Collective began. Careful consideration was taken to preserve the church and integrate it into the visitor experience. The exterior typology of the surrounding wood structure echoes industrial architecture with its sawtooth roof, expansive walls, and punched windows, suggesting that it is a place for the production of art. From a sustainability perspective, the project earns high marks for its reduced carbon footprint. Repurposing the church, utilizing a wood rainscreen, and incorporating mass timber structural members around the church perimeter are all highly beneficial for the environment."

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About Seth McDowell Architect:

Seth McDowell began his architectural career building shacks in the woods of rural South Carolina. He has dabbled with trim carpentry, design+build, and professional practices in Charleston, SC and New York, NY. In 2012 McDowell partnered with Rychiee Espinosa and co-founded the experimental architectural practice mcdowellespinosa architects. In 2024, McDowell founded his solo venture Seth McDowell Architect, pllc. to refocus efforts toward regional projects of a design+build flavor.

Seth McDowell, Architect is a progressive architecture practice located Staunton, Virginia exploring design as an artifact of material and construction experimentation. McDowell’s work has been recognized regionally, nationally and internationally for design excellence and originality.

McDowell also serves as an Associate Professor of Architecture at the University of Virginia. He received a Master of Architecture from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation and a Bachelor of Science in Design from Clemson University. At Columbia, he was awarded the American Institute of Architects Certificate of Merit, the Lucille Smyser Lowenfish Memorial Prize, and the Avery 6 Award for work that holds the most promise to advance the discipline of architecture.

Projects up to $150K Category
Honorable Mention

Sheets and Slabs
After Architecture / Before Building Laboratory

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Jury Comments:

"Although it is the smallest entry in the competition, this project speaks volumes. The research testing biophilic environments serves as an important study and a valuable academic tool. Two attractive, identical vessels—differing only in material—provide researchers and students from the University of Virginia with empirical data to verify the positive effects of biophilic design." “This modest project’s combination of material research, sophisticated spatial resolution, and user research is both remarkable and estimable as a model for pedagogic practice."

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About After Architecture and Before Building Laboratory:

After Architecture LLC is an award-winning architecture studio led by Katie MacDonald and Kyle Schumann. The firm unearths the expressive potential of materials. After Architecture has been recognized with The Architectural League Prize for Young Architects + Designers in 2023, awarded the University Design Research Fellowship for the 2023 cycle of Exhibit Columbus, included on Cultured Magazine Young Architects List in 2021, featured as Next Progressives in Architect Magazine in 2019, and named Curbed Young Guns in 2014. 

They have completed projects for a wide range of clients, from civic institutions and arts organizations to universities, corporations, and private clients including Landmark Columbus Foundation, The Architectural League of New York, the Washington D.C. Department of General Services, Lycoming College, Cornell Botanic Gardens, and Marriott. Recent works include a memorial in Washington D.C. and installations for Exhibit Columbus, the Oslo Architecture Triennale, and the Knoxville Museum of Art.

Also led by MacDonald and Schumann, Before Building Laboratory reimagines constraints on material economies and labor. They make use of consumer-grade technologies and invent their own low-cost ground-up systems to make it easier to work with natural materials, including the invention of a robotic sawmill capable of producing non-planar lumber and a reusable pneumatic forming machine. 

The Before Building Laboratory has been named Best of Practice in Technology by The Architect’s Newspaper, featured in Metropolis Magazine and honored with the University of Virginia Sustainability Leadership Award (2025). BBL’s work has been supported by grants from the National Science Foundation, 4-VA, the American Institute of Architects, the Center for Architecture, Landmark Columbus Foundation, and the Jefferson Trust, as well as the University of Virginia’s Environmental Institute, White Ruffin Byron Center for Real Estate, Center for Global Inquiry and Innovation, Institute for Practical Ethics, and Vice Provost for the Arts.