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Two of our projects have been recognized in the 2026 SCUP/AIA-CAE Excellence in Architecture Awards, one of the most prestigious honors in higher education design. Of 99 applications submitted this year, the jury selected just 16 entries for recognition. We’re proud that two of them are ours! 

The Aliki Perroti & Seth Frank Lyceum at Amherst College received an Honorable Mention. Completed in 2023, the 21,000 sf Lyceum conjoins a historic Greek Revival house with a contemporary new addition to create a hub for humanistic inquiry, discourse, and collaboration. Inspired by the Lyceum of Ancient Athens, the building houses Amherst College’s Center for Humanistic Inquiry and Department of History, and serves as the incubator for a new campus district along South Pleasant Street. The project is also Amherst’s first building designed for zero embodied carbon, showcasing low-carbon construction in support of the college’s commitment to carbon neutrality by 2030. 

The Living Village at Yale Divinity School received a Merit Award. Completed in 2025 and designed in collaboration with Höweler + Yoon Architecture, the 43,000 sf graduate student residence is the largest Living Building Challenge–designed residential complex on a university campus and the first in the Ivy League. The result of a decade-long planning and design process, the Living Village serves simultaneously as an affordable student residence, a demonstration site for ecological stewardship, and a living-learning community rooted in the Yale Divinity School’s commitment to eco-theology and regenerative design. 

Winning projects will be featured on the SCUP website and presented at the SCUP 2026 Annual Conference, July 19–21 in Minneapolis, MN, where jury members will lead a session discussing observations and trends in higher education design, as well as challenges ahead for the field. Members of the Bruner/Cott team will be in attendance, and Partner/Principal Jason Jewhurst, FAIA, will be presenting.  

We’re grateful to SCUP and the AIA Committee on Architecture for Education for this recognition, and to our partners at Amherst College and Yale Divinity School for the vision and collaboration that made both projects possible.