Celebrating Excellence: National Building Museum 2025 Exhibitions Honors

The National Building Museum is proud to announce a series of distinguished awards recognizing the innovation, craftsmanship, and design excellence of our exhibitions in 2025. These honors mark significant achievements for our exhibition and collections teams, whose work continues to shape meaningful experiences for visitors and advance dialogue around architecture, design, and the built environment.

Visible Vault: Open Collections Storage

Visible Vault, designed by Studio Joseph, has received multiple national and international honors for its bold approach to open collections storage and its inventive reimagining of how museums can make their holdings accessible to the public.

2025 SARA NY Design Award (Regional)
This regional recognition celebrates outstanding achievements in architecture and design. The award acknowledges Visible Vault’s exceptional creativity, technical execution, and the innovative spirit that drives its rethinking of public engagement with collections.

Rethinking the Future Design Award
In the international Rethinking the Future Design Awards, Visible Vault was honored for its forward-looking design vision. Selected among projects from around the globe, the exhibition was recognized for demonstrating how architectural strategy and exhibition design can expand the role of cultural institutions.

“Visible Vault has become a destination for all visitors. As a place that caters to a playful glance, a deep dive into details, or a treasure chest of the unexpected, this gallery sparks the public imagination.”

Global Future Design Awards – Gold Level
Visible Vault earned Gold Level recognition from the Global Future Design Awards, highlighting Studio Joseph’s leadership in design and the Museum’s commitment to presenting work that is both conceptually rigorous and visually compelling.

“Visible Vault is not traditional museum storage but an interactive, publicly accessible gallery that encourages playful exploration and learning… Local and destination tourists, scholars, and children have unprecedented access, as the presentation is both straightforward and artful, providing multiple points of entry and redefining what the building industry has to offer.”

2025 SARA National Design Award (National)
Visible Vault was honored on a national scale with a 2025 SARA National Design Award, a distinction that further affirms the project’s impact across the architectural and design community.

“Visible Vault redefines museum storage by transforming it into an interactive, publicly accessible gallery offering secure, staff-free educational engagement, maximizing display efficiency within a modest budget, and expanding access while fostering deeper visitor interaction, storytelling, and community participation.”

Building Stories

Building Stories received a Merit Award in the Exhibition category at the 2025 SEGD Global Design Awards. Out of 284 entries, only 30 projects were selected for recognition. The award highlights the exhibition’s rich narrative structure, thoughtful visitor experience, and the interdisciplinary collaboration at the core of its development.

“Exhibitions about books are challenging to make engaging for children. This installation allows the wonders of the illustrated works to jump off the pages, enliven the space, and speak directly to the audience.”

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These honors reflect the dedication of the designers, fabricators, and Museum staff who bring our exhibitions to life. They also underscore the National Building Museum’s central mission: to present work that inspires curiosity, deepens understanding of the built world, and elevates design excellence.