SOM

SOM designed a 310,000-square-foot K–12 “school of the future,” with every aspect of the architecture supporting Success Academy’s groundbreaking schooling practice Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) joins Success Academy (SA) to celebrate the opening of the new Bronx K–12 Campus, the public charter network’s first ground-up, purpose-built school building.

Sany IROOTECH Headquarters in Guangzhou, China received three honors from AIA Chicago, recognizing the project’s architecture, detailing, and public appeal. At Designight 2026, the project received an Honor Award in the Architecture XL category, a Citation of Merit in the Divine Detail category, and the Lerch Bates People’s Choice Award in the Office category.

Today, SOM signed a contract with the Kingdom of Bahrain’s Urban Planning and Development Authority for the implementation of the draft National Strategic Plan 2050. The contract was signed during a ceremony held as part of the Innovation Conference in the Social Housing Sector 2026. SOM Partners Thomas Behr and Doug Voigt were present for the signing, alongside His Excellency Eng. Ahmed Abdulaziz Al-Khayat, Chief Executive Officer of the Urban Planning and Development Authority.

The Architect’s Newspaper featured Grimes Engineering Center at UC Berkeley, highlighting how its adaptive resume strategy creates a distinct identity for the College of Engineering while respecting the historic campus core. Occupying a prominent corner on Memorial Glade, the symbolic heart of UC Berkeley, the building anchors the school with a permanent home for interdisciplinary collaboration.

The new headquarters combines architecture, engineering, and workplace design to create a highly connected environment centered on collaboration, employee experience, and sustainability. Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) has been appointed as lead architect for Dubai Holding’s new headquarters in the heart of Dubai, adjacent to the Jumeirah Emirates Towers and Museum of the Future.

Sany IROOTECH Headquarters in Guangzhou and West Bund Convention Center in Shanghai have been named finalists in the 2026 AIA Chicago Lerch Bates People’s Choice Awards. Public voting opens September 8 and continues through September 16. Vote here. Sany IROOTECH Headquarters Sany IROOTECH Headquarters | Office Designed for Sany’s new cloud-technology venture, the Sany IROOTECH Headquarters rises as two interconnected towers in Guangzhou’s rapidly developing Pazhou business district.

Routledge has published the third edition of Mark Sarkisian’s book, Designing Tall Buildings: Structure as Architecture.

Architectural Record features our master plan and Phase 1 completion for Oakland, California’s historic Head-Royce School, exploring how the firm transformed an overgrown eight-parcel addition into a connected, sustainable, and verdant learning environment for the K-12 co-educational preparatory school. The article details how, together with TLS Landscape Architecture, we revitalized the newly acquired South Campus—doubling the school’s footprint across a steep, 55-foot grade change.

Yesterday, during a ceremony in London held as part of the Saudi Luxury Real Estate Show, SOM and Al Majdiah formalized their collaboration on a new residential-led, mixed-use tower in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Senior leaders from Al Majdiah attended the ceremony, including CEO Abdulsalam Al Majed, Deputy CEO Mohammed Al Subaih, and Design Director Mohamed Taha, alongside SOM Managing Partner Thomas Behr and Associate Principal Paul Blackmore.

Join the SOM London studio during London Design Festival 2026 for Change: 40 Years of SOM London, a new exhibition at Marylebone Hall celebrating four decades of the studio’s work while looking ahead to the ideas, technologies, and approaches shaping the future of design. Rooted in collaboration, curiosity, and the exchange of ideas, the exhibition considers design as a cultural practice and a shared process through which communities, technologies, and environments evolve.