Centerbrook Architects and Planners has received a 2026 Architecture Award from the American Institute of Architects for the comprehensive renovation and expansion of the Yale Peabody Museum in New Haven, Connecticut. The award, which celebrates excellence in contemporary architecture, was announced June 10 during the AIA Awards Gala at AIA26 in San Diego.
The Yale Peabody Museum project marks the institution’s first major renovation and expansion since it opened in 1925. Based on more than a decade of master planning, the LEED Gold-certified transformation increases teaching, exhibit, and collection space while improving wayfinding, advancing sustainability goals, and preserving the museum’s historic character.
The 172,355-square-foot project includes extensive renovations and a new 57,631-square-foot, four-story infill addition between the Peabody and the neighboring Environmental Science Center. A new glass entrance tower and skylit central gathering space strengthen campus connections and create a more welcoming public experience. Throughout the museum, exhibitions and learning environments were reimagined, with remounted fossils, expanded anthropological galleries, restored dioramas, refurbished natural history exhibits, and digitally interactive interpretive systems integrated throughout.
Lower-level collections and research spaces were upgraded with state-of-the-art climate control, restoration labs, and storage systems, while new classrooms, labs, and a K–12 learning center support the museum’s educational mission. The project also incorporates advanced sustainability strategies, including bird-safe glazing, stormwater mitigation, water conservation measures, and high-efficiency mechanical systems projected to reduce energy use despite the museum’s expanded footprint.
The AIA Architecture Award is among the profession’s highest honors, recognizing exemplary design achievement and architectural excellence. The recognition marks Centerbrook’s first national AIA Architecture Award since 1998 and represents the firm’s fourteenth award for the Yale Peabody Museum project.
“It was an honor to do the project and it is an honor to win this award. Hundreds of people worked together to bring the new Peabody into being and they share in this recognition,” said Mark Simon, Principal at Centerbrook Architects and Planners.
“From our very first meeting, Mark Simon and his team worked tirelessly to understand what we were trying to accomplish within a complex and challenging project. The new museum functions better than I could have dreamed, and the spectacular design has already inspired hundreds of thousands of visitors. This award is richly deserved,” said David Skelly, Director of the Yale Peabody Museum.
About Centerbrook:
Centerbrook Architects and Planners was founded in 1975 as a collaborative community of architects dedicated to advancing place-making and the craft of building. Known for inventive, client-focused design solutions, the firm has received more than 480 awards, including the prestigious AIA Architecture Firm Award.
About AIA:
Founded in 1857, AIA consistently works to create more valuable, healthy, secure, and sustainable buildings, neighborhoods, and communities. Through more than 200 international, state and local chapters, AIA advocates for public policies that promote economic vitality and public wellbeing.
AIA provides members with tools and resources to assist them in their careers and business as well as engaging civic and government leaders and the public to find solutions to pressing issues facing our communities, institutions, nation, and world. Members adhere to a code of ethics and conduct to ensure the highest professional standards.
Project Credits
Architect: Centerbrook Architects and Planners
Owner: Yale University
Contractor: Turner Construction
Structural Engineer: Gilsanz Murray Steficek
MEP Engineer: ARUP
Civil Engineer: Langan Engineering
Acoustic/AV Consultant: Cavanaugh Tocci Associates
Building Envelope Consultant: Leavitt Associates
Landscape Architect: James Corner Field Operations
Lighting Designer: Cline Bettridge Bernstein
Signage & Graphics: Strong Cohen
Exhibit Designer: Reich and Petch
Code Consultant: Philip Sherman
Specifications Consultant: Kalin Associates
Elevator Consultant: Sterling Elevator Consultants