Thaden School Wins MCHAP Americas Prize for Innovative Design

Prime Highlights:

Thaden School in Bentonville, Arkansas, has been crowned the winner of the 2025 Mies Crown Hall Americas Prize (MCHAP) due to its innovative design.
Its innovative design is their collaborative effort under EskewDumezRipple, Marlon Blackwell Architects, and Andropogon Associates.

Key Facts:

The school covers 30 acres and unites architecture, landscape, and community under one design.
The award was given at Illinois Institute of Technology’s S.R. Crown Hall.

Key Background:

The Mies Crown Hall Americas Prize (MCHAP) is a very well-respected architectural award, with great work recognized in architecture throughout the Americas. The Illinois Institute of Technology sponsored the award under the College of Architecture, one that honors excellence in problem solving in the built environment of the modern world. The 2025 cycle consisted of efforts worked on in 2022 and 2023, and the award was granted to Thaden School because its design was good.

Thaden School in Bentonville, Arkansas, spans a vast 30-acre terrain, unifying built space with nature in harmony. The school was constructed to be centered on sustainability, community, and design innovation. By unifying education buildings and the landscape, the development emphasizes nature appreciation and fosters a learning-facilitating environment.

This stunning structure was the result of a collective collaboration between three of the most highly ranked architecture firms: EskewDumezRipple, Marlon Blackwell Architects, and Andropogon Associates. The three companies drew on their expertise to build a campus that serves as an exemplary model for the design of tomorrow and thus works as a stimulus to encourage future educational and community buildings.

The news was made public in an event at Illinois Institute of Technology’s S.R. Crown Hall, which also provided the platform to talk about the architectural influence of the project. MCHAP’s recognition of Thaden School not only bestows accolades on visionary design but also reflects an increased significance of architecture to form environments for learning with regard to ecological and social issues.