GROUP A nominated for Architect of the Year 2026
GROUP A has been nominated for Architect of the Year 2026, part of the Architectenweb Awards. In the year that GROUP A celebrates its 30th anniversary, the nomination marks a special moment: an opportunity to put the practice and deep commitment that have driven the studio for three decades firmly in the spotlight. Cast your vote at Architectenweb Awards.
An independent jury, consisting of Fokke Moerel (MVRDV), Oscar Vos (KRFT), Ellen van der Wal (Vakwerk Architecten) and Indira van ’t Klooster (Arcam), unanimously selected GROUP A as one of five nominees. The jury recognises GROUP A’s strong commitment to the future of the city, the built environment and the architectural profession. Two key priorities stand out: creating space for makers and creative entrepreneurs in the city, and drastically reducing CO₂ emissions from the built environment.
Creating space for makers
The Keilepand is an important home base for this commitment. GROUP A deliberately chose to establish itself among makers and designers, making use of the distinctive qualities of the former industrial building to provide space for a diverse range of makers, businesses and initiatives. The result is a place where architecture, craftsmanship, entrepreneurship and culture meet on a daily basis.
That commitment extends beyond the building itself. With partner Folkert van Hagen as a driving force within the Keilekwartier Area Cooperative, GROUP A is actively involved in the development of the area surrounding the Keilepand. Together with, among others, De Urbanisten, the Municipality of Rotterdam and local makers, the aim is to shape a future for M4H that continues to provide room for experimentation, entrepreneurship and making.
The M4H principle of ‘collectivity as the basis of circularity’ is an important starting point. In the Keilekwartier area vision document, existing qualities, networks and initiatives are not treated as something that needs to disappear to make way for new development, but rather as the driving force behind it.
From research to change
GROUP A also aims not only to discuss change, but to actively initiate it. Through the founding of Carbonlab and the Carbon Stories series of events at the Keilezaal, the studio brings together designers, researchers, clients and pioneers around one of the defining challenges of our time: drastically reducing CO₂ emissions from the built environment.
Led by Willem van Genugten, initiator of Carbonlab, GROUP A explores how design research can lead to tangible change. This ambition is reflected in projects such as Ferro Office in Rotterdam and Amber House in Amsterdam, which achieves a low embodied CO₂ emission.
Research into Paris Proof Stations, carried out together with Bureau Spoorbouwmeester, NS and ProRail, is also making its way into practice. The first station projects by other architects demonstrate that the ambition to drastically reduce embodied CO₂ emissions extends beyond GROUP A’s own projects.
Giving existing places a new future
Transformation has long been a recurring part of GROUP A’s practice. The studio looks for ways to give existing buildings and places a new future, while creating space for new ways of working, making and living together. From the former Caballero Factory in the Binckhorst and Ferro Offices in Rotterdam to the recent BRUIS Bladel project, existing qualities provide the starting point for new development.
Partner Maarten van Bremen is closely involved in these transformation projects at GROUP A. This reflects a broader conviction within the studio: architecture is not only about creating new buildings, but also about carefully building on what is already there.
A collective for the next thirty years
This broad profile stems from the belief that architects have a proactive, boundary-pushing role to play in achieving collectivity, sustainability and quality. This belief is widely shared within GROUP A and forms the basis of a practice in which design, research, entrepreneurship and social engagement come together.
Based on that same conviction, GROUP A is developing a collective organisational model in which responsibility, knowledge and entrepreneurship are shared across the entire team. In this way, the original meaning of GROUP A is taking shape once again: a collective that takes shared responsibility for the future of the profession.
Now in the spotlight
The Architect of the Year award recognises architects and collectives that advance the profession in the Netherlands both substantively and socially. GROUP A cannot easily be defined by a single type of project or role. It is precisely this diversity that prompted the jury to put the studio firmly in the spotlight with this nomination.
GROUP A is shortlisted alongside BiermanHenket Architecten, Time to Access, Studio L A and Mei architects and planners. Architects in the Netherlands can cast their vote until 9 October 2026. The winner will be announced on 4 November 2026 during the Architectenweb Awards at the Keilepand.
Do you think GROUP A deserves the title Architect of the Year 2026? Put GROUP A in the spotlight and vote for us.