The Metal Construction Association (MCA) announced the winners of the 2025 MCA Design Awards. These awards celebrate the innovative and versatile use of metal in architecture, showcasing projects that highlight both design excellence and the creative application of products from MCA member companies.

“This year’s projects demonstrate the versatility of metal in every way, from amazing folds, finishes, curves, colors, and patterns, creating refreshing designs that can only be accomplished with metal,” said Chandler Barden, MCA executive committee chair. 

The recipients of the first-place awards are:

Best Overall: 

Project Name: La Nube STEAM Discovery Center
Location: El Paso, Texas
MCA Member Company: ATAS International, Inc.
Architect: Snohetta Architects
Metal Installer: Commercial Roofing Systems

 “This was great design…in Spanish, ‘la nube’ means cloud. You’ve got this cloud sitting on a pedestal of glazing,” said awards judge Daniel Rodriguez, specifications - building envelope, DTR, ECS Pacific, Inc.
  

Creative Use of Metal:

Project Name: Mirror Ceiling at Workplace Resource
Location: Denver, Colorado
MCA Member Company: Sheet Metal Supply LTD
Architect: Gensler Architecture, Denver
Metal Installer: SRB Acoustics, Centennial, Colorado

Madeline Sapyta, NICIDQ, creative studio director at Workplace Resource, says the light and reflective metal material allows for a lower ceiling height to be successful in defining the space as well as the overall impact it has on those interacting in the space. Rodriguez stated, “In terms of metal, it’s really good workmanship with every sheet being pounded.”

Insulated Metal Panels

Project Name: Woodbine Theater at Great Canadian Casino Resort, Toronto
Location: Etobicoke, Toronto
MCA Member Company: Norbec Architectural Inc.
Architect: CGL Architects
Metal Installer: Bothwell Accurate
  

In judging the project, Rick Schneider, FAIA LEED, founder of ISTUDIO Architects, said, “They are using metal the way it wants to be used—the ability to fold it, bend it. But they’re doing it at a macro scale, so in some ways it’s a signifier of what metal can do.”

Metal Composite Material:

Project Name: PGA Tour Digital Studios
Location: Fulton, Mississippi
MCA Member Company: MillerClapperton and FL Crane & Sons
Architect: HLW, Foster + Partners
Metal Installers: FL Crane & Sons

Schneider said of the building, “That custom bullnose isn’t easy to do. It’s very clean. It’s like an iPhone in a building.”

Retrofit:

Project Name: Beth El Synagogue
Location: St. Louis Park, Minnesota
MCA Member Company: East Coast Metal Systems
Metal Installers: Division V Sheet Metal, Inc.

“(The project) required custom use of that metal standing seam roofing to create a slope. It was like an inverse curve. Every panel is unique to the slope it’s on,” commented awards judge Kevin Wagner, AIA, associate principal at Substance Architecture.

Metal Roof – Residential & Solar:

Project Name: Private Residence in Eastern Pennsylvania
Location: Allentown, Pennsylvania
MCA Member Company: ATAS International, Inc.
Architect: studio26
Metal Installer: Munn Roofing & Sheet Metal

A standing seam metal roof offers long-term durability, energy efficiency, and a secure surface for attaching solar panels without roof penetrations. This choice not only supported renewable energy goals but also improved the overall performance and lifespan of the home. Rodriguez said the project “…showed great craftsmanship. It has some confined eaves and rakes, and I thought the transitions were great, especially for metal.”

Single Skin Wall Panels, Ribbed: 

Project Name: Anne Carlsen Center
Location: Jamestown, North Dakota
MCA Member Company: Petersen Aluminum
Architect: JLG Architects
Metal Installer: MG McGrath

Wagner commented, “The Anne Carlsen Center used the ribbed panel as a feature of the building where they created depth by variating the panels to create ribbons inside of it. They used the material to create different depths on the façade.”

Single Skin Wall Panels, Smooth:

Project Name: 10 Bay McMaster University Graduate Tower
Location: Hamilton, Ontario
MCA Member Company: Sobotec Ltd. and PPG Industrial Coatings
Architect: Diamond Schmitt Architects
Metal Installer: Sobotec Ltd.

Wagner described why this project is a winner, “It was a pretty aggressive building, but when you get closer up and see the folds of the metal, it’s really captivating—it’s this totally unique, sculptural piece of art.”

The winners were selected by a panel of industry professionals in the architecture community which included: Kevin Wagner, AIA, associate principal at Substance Architecture in Des Moines, Iowa; Rick Schneider, FAIA LEED, founder of ISTUDIO Architects in Washington, DC; Daniel Rodriguez, Specifications - Building Envelope, DTR, ECS Pacific, Inc.; and Melody Fontenot, AIA, CSI, CCCA, CCS, Conspectus, Inc.