Press Release
A' Design Award in Architecture, Building and Structure Design Goes to Tall House House by William Price
William Price recognized for architecture, building and structure design by the international grand jury of the 2025 - 2026 A' Design Award & Competition
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COMO, Italy, April 22, 2026 /DesignNewswire/ A' Design Award & Competition has confirmed the A' Design Award in the Architecture, Building and Structure Design category for Tall House House by William Price, designed for Bill Price. The result belongs to the 2025 - 2026 A' Design Award & Competition and was determined through blind peer review by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members, who scored anonymized entries against predetermined criteria.
What the A' Design Award Means
The Iron A' Design Award is awarded to good designs that meet the rigorous professional and industrial standards set by the A' Design Awards. This recognition is reserved for works that demonstrate a solid understanding of design principles and show creativity within their execution. Recipients of the Iron A' Design Award are acknowledged for their practical innovations and contributions to their respective fields, providing solutions that improve quality of life and foster positive change. These designs are a testament to the skill and dedication of their creators, showcasing their ability to address real-world challenges through thoughtful design.
Regarding Tall House House
Tall House is a vertical infill dwelling on a narrow, grandfathered lot in Houston. Two stacked volumes organize five levels of living from street to roof while supporting passive cooling. A breezeway on the third level brings light and air through the section, enabling cross ventilation and stack effect airflow. A rentable ground level suite adds flexibility, and an industrial material palette anchors the house within its dense urban setting.
About William Price
Bill Prices career has spanned three decades, during which time he has practiced and produced work in eleven different countries. He has practiced professionally in Switzerland and in the Netherlands where he spent four years with OMA/Rem Koolhaas. There he acted as Research and Development Director and saw the Villa Bordeaux (Time Magazine called this house the most important private residence of the twentieth century”) through to completion. Recently Bill collaborated with Ai WeiWei in China. Ai WeiWei also picked Bills work to be included in Phaidons 10 by 10_3 Monograph. He is founding principal of three companies and is based in Houston, Texas USA.
Award Record
This recognition makes William Price a winner of 3 A' Design Awards. The awards were granted between the 2021 - 2022 and the 2025 - 2026 editions of the A' Design Award & Competition.
About the A' Architecture, Building and Structure Design Award
The A' Architecture Design Award is an international architectural design competition recognizing good architectural designs by best architects worldwide. It is organized within the A' Design Award & Competition and is open to architectural design studios, building contractors, structural engineering firms and architecture and design consultants from all countries. Typical entries include skyscrapers, museums, residential buildings, commercial complexes, educational institutions and religious structures. The awarded architectural projects are published at https://dezigners.org/design-category/architecture
About A' Design Award & Competition
Organized annually since 2008, A' Design Award & Competition is an international, juried design accolade. The competition is open to entries from all countries. The philanthropic mission of the A' Design Award is to advance society through good design, by recognizing and promoting superior products, projects and services that benefit society, and by creating a global awareness and appreciation for good design practices and principles. Nominations are peer reviewed and evaluated anonymously by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members against predetermined criteria such as functionality, ergonomics, engineering, presentation, innovation, usability, sustainability and technology, with score normalization applied to remove biases. Awards are conferred at Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Iron levels. Eligible laureates receive the A' Design Prize, which includes the award trophy, the certificate of design excellence, the hardcover yearbook, a lifetime license to use the A' Design Award winner logo, exhibition of awarded works, an invitation to the gala night and award ceremony in Italy, inclusion in the World Design Rankings and Designer Rankings, and public relations and publicity services. Registration, uploading a work and receiving a preliminary score are free of charge, and Professional and Digital Edition laureates are not contractually obliged to pay further fees to claim the A' Design Prize. More information is available at https://competition.adesignaward.com
Press Resources
- Winner Page: https://dezigners.org/175051
- A' Design Award Page: https://competition.adesignaward.com/175051
- Media Showcase: https://www.designnewsroom.com/!175051
- Laureate Profile: https://dezigners.org/d/318228
Media Contact
Giulia Ferrari, Press Office
Designers.Org
Via Leone Leoni 32, 22100 Como, Italy
press@designers.org
+39 031 4491953
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Fact Sheet
The Work
- Project
- Tall House House
- Function
- House
- Category
- Architecture, Building and Structure Design
- Discipline
- Spatial Design
- Industry
- Architecture
- Colors
- Steel Blue, Light Slate Gray, Dim Gray, Dark Slate Gray and Black
- Images
- 5
- Client
- Bill Price
The Recognition
- Laureate
- William Price
- Country
- United States of America
- Recognition
- A' Design Award
- Edition
- 2025 - 2026
- Design ID
- #175051
Credits
- Team
- Bill Price
- Image Credits
- Photographer Tremain Jackson and Bill Price
Design Details
- Unique Properties
- A compact infill lot is transformed into a vertical prototype for resilient living. A cantilevered upper volume recalls industrial stacks while operable windows, balcony boxes, and a breezeway bring daylight and cross ventilation. A rentable ground level suite adds adaptability, and recycled materials support resource conscious construction.
- Inspiration
- The design was inspired by the industrial vernacular of Houstons historic working neighborhoods, particularly the tall boiler stacks of adjacent laundries and rail lines. Motivated by the challenge of building on a narrow grandfathered lot, the project explores how vertical living, environmental performance and cultural memory can coexist. Research into passive ventilation and sectional spatial strategies informed the designs stacked cross ventilated form.
- Research
- Design research tested vertical housing on constrained urban lots, balancing cultural memory with climate responsiveness. Comparative studies of cubic and elongated schemes were refined through environmental simulations and full scale prototyping. Results show narrow lots can support livable, adaptive homes when section is used to drive stack effect cooling and sectional porosity.
- Challenge
- Built on a small grandfathered lot in Houston, the project had to prove livability and financial viability without a client. Four piers and a concrete slab support a hybrid steel and wood frame across five levels. Shaped by zoning, market limits, and climate, the house turns a narrow site into a five story urban home that reframes constraint as opportunity.
- Realization and Technology
- A concrete slab on four piers supports a steel frame with a five story wood structure. The corrugated metal envelope shifts from opaque to transparent to tune privacy, daylight, and heat gain. Operable insulated windows and balcony projections strengthen cross breezes, while the breezeway supports passive cooling through stack effect behavior.
- Operation and Interaction
- Offering a vertical sequence of living tailored to Houston's dense urban fabric, a ground level suite engages the street, while the second level opens into a double height living volume with a mezzanine. A suspended stair threads upward to the fourth level to capture light and prevailing breezes, transforming circulation into a spatial event. The ascent concludes on a rooftop deck with views of Houston’s skyline. The house balances privacy and openness through a carefully choreographed vertical flow.
- Project Duration and Location
- Conceived and built over ten years in Houstons Lower Heights, realized through a design build process beside Olivewood Cemetery. It transforms a narrow infill lot and won the Architecture Master Prize Residential Single Family category, announced January 2026.
- Specifications
- Approximately 50 ft high, 17 ft wide, and 48 ft long. Three interlocked volumes organize the project: a ground plinth with rentable space, a vertical living stack with a mezzanine library, and a breezeway linking balcony boxes. A double height living room anchors the core and circulation culminates at a roof deck framing downtown Houston.
- Keywords
- Tall House, Cultural sustainability, Environmental sustainability, Urban infill housing, Industrial vernacular, Passive cooling, Vertical dwelling, Houston architecture, Recycled materials, Climatic responsiveness, Adaptive living
