2018 AIA Collaborative Achievement Award and Thomas Jefferson Award winners

For nearly a decade, the Affordable Housing Design Leadership Institute (AHDLI) funded by Enterprise Community Partners, has been influential to social impact design. Modeled on the Mayors’ Institute on City Design, it assembles development and design leaders to focus on the ways in which architecture can produce more livable and sustainable housing for low and middle income people across the United States. 

Stephen Ayers, FAIA, received the 2018 AIA Thomas Jefferson Award, which honors significant contributions to public architecture. Ayers was appointed the 11th Architect of the Capitol by President Barack Obama in 2010. A recognized leader in sustainability, Ayers guides more than 2,300 employees and a $600 million budget in the stewardship of some of America’s most important buildings. 

Ayers oversaw completion of the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center, a project that was well over budget and behind schedule when he was appointed. Ayers has also received several design awards from the AIA for his restorations of the Thomas Jefferson Building and U.S. Botanic Garden Conservatory, and initiated and oversaw a comprehensive master plan for the U.S. Capitol complex.