Citing the range and excellence of the winning firm’s architecture, urbanism, campus planning and environmental design work, the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Arizona has awarded Studio Ma with one of its highest honors, the 14th annual Firm of the Year Award.

According to AIA Arizona, the award “recognizes the continuing collaboration among individuals in a firm that has produced distinguished architecture over a period of 10 years.” This singular honor comes on the heels of recent design laurels for the firm’s architectural and campus projects, as well as a flurry of new commissions. Highlights include state AIA Honor Awards for the design of Arizona State University’s Manzanita Hall and Scottsdale’s Museum of the West, the Brick in Architecture Award for Princeton University‘s new Lakeside Graduate Student Community, as well as being named to Architectural Record’s exclusive Design Vanguard.

Other recently completed projects include major commissions for universities including Cranbrook and ASU, museums in the Phoenix metro area, public libraries, a mountaintop community and meeting center in Utah, as well as urban mixed-use and housing developments such as the recently announced Hollyhock project in Phoenix.

In giving the annual firm award, the jury for the AIA Arizona program said, "Studio Ma is a firm on the rise. The work is complex and large scale [and] is both smart and palpable, with a masterful use of texture. The portfolio of projects is diverse and rich in spite of what appears to be a stable of demanding clients. Yet, the work is consistent. The members of this jury admitted: this firm inspires us to ‘up our game.’"

The women-owned firm Studio Ma is led by Christiana Moss, AIA, principal, who speaks regularly at architecture events and has chaired a program on campus design for the Society for College and University Planning (SCUP). Other principals at Studio Ma include the leading architect and technical authority Christopher Alt, R.A., and Dan Hoffman, AIA, who previously served as campus architect for Cranbrook Academy of Art. Recently joining the firm is architect Jason Boyer, AIA, LEED AP, who also heads their real estate development venture, artHAUS, and associate principal Tim Keil, R.A.

“In our work, we strive to create building solutions that resonate with the surrounding context both large and small, in harmony with their greater environment,” says Moss. “This is essential to our client promise, to deliver innovative, sustainable and unique designs to forward-thinking institutions and individuals.”

The Architectural Firm Award for Studio Ma was announced late last year at a statewide annual conference and gala held by AIA Arizona.