The AIA has announced the Boston-based firm Payette as the 2019 Architecture Firm Award recipient. Now in its 56th year, the annual award is the top honor a firm can receive from the AIA, and given in recognition of "a practice that consistently has produced distinguished architecture for at least 10 years." Prior winners have included LMN Architects (2016), Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects (2013), Gensler (2000), Perkins & Will (1999), and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (1962).

The AIA highlighted the technologically complex work done by Payette that challenges conventional hypotheses and cultivates design innovation without preconception. In particular, they pointed to the Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering Complex at Northeastern University in Boston and the National University of Ireland, Galway Research Bundle as two examples of the firm's commitment to building craft, embedded nature, energy efficiency, and programmatic complexity.

“The importance and contribution here of Payette is that they are today taking some of the most energy intensive and technologically challenging building types we have to new levels of design and integrated performance,” wrote Stephen Kieran, FAIA, supporting Payette’s nomination. “The breadth and depth of this transformation position Payette as a model for future practice.” 

The firm's dedication to the profession is another reasoning behind the award. For example, more than 50% of the firm's staff volunteer in communities beyond the practice and are active in committees such as Women in Design and Research and Innovation. "While their design work is truly exemplary, it is their commitment to the profession and the manner in which they practice that really stands out," wrote Scott Wolf, FAIA, in a letter supporting Payette’s nomination for the Firm Award. Fostering a think-tank like environment, "their internal culture is one of curiosity and inclusiveness, resulting in a vibrant studio workshop powered by research and collaboration," Wolf adds.

 Since its founding in 1932, Payette has become a national leader in the design of buildings for academic science, research and healthcare institutions. According to the AIA, their rich portfolio of work demonstrates "both inclusion and performance—all the while doing beautiful work."