Designers and architects across the Marketplaces Industry continue to push the boundaries of what retail and mixed-use environments can be, blending compelling experiences with community impact and forward-looking sustainability strategies. The 2025 ICSC Global Design & Development Awards honor projects from around the world that elevate urban districts, reinvigorate existing assets and set new standards for placemaking, adaptive reuse and experiential retail.

This year’s Gold honorees demonstrate bold thinking at every scale — from Best-of-the-Best winner Guatemala City’s Oakland Place, which reimagines a traditional mall as a connected urban district, to The Well in Toronto, a pedestrian-first neighborhood powered by innovative low-carbon infrastructure. U.S. winners span immersive brand destinations like The Rawlings Experience and adaptive reuse efforts like City Foundry STL, each showcasing inventive design and measurable community or economic impact.

Announced at ICSC+CENTERBUILD on Dec. 4, this year’s honorees include Gold and Silver winners and a global roster of finalists. Below, you’ll find the Gold winners and Sustainable Commendation projects; additional details on these, the Silver winners and all finalists are available here.

Renovations/Expansions

Oakland Place
Global Design & Development Best of the Best

Projects Over 500,000 Square Feet of Total Retail Space

Reimagined from its origins as Oakland Mall, Guatemala City’s Oakland Place is a multiphase redevelopment that reframes a traditional retail center as a dense, mixed-use hub shaped by global urban models and by the district’s mobility and congestion challenges. Its 2024 expansion unifies new retail, entertainment, financial services and public space with a cohesive architectural language defined by cleaner sight lines, updated materials, coordinated lighting and stronger indoor–outdoor connections.

At the heart of the redesign is a more than 32,000-square-foot urban park that functions as both landscape infrastructure and civic amenity, introducing gardens, play areas, pet friendly paths and open-air dining to an area short on green space. Circulation improvements — notably the relocation of an existing financial plaza to a dedicated upper-level hub — redistributed high-traffic uses and created new frontage for first-to-market international brands like Brooks Brothers, Sam Edelman, Victoria’s Secret, Under Armour and Samsung.

A broadened retail and dining strategy further anchors the redevelopment. A La Torre supermarket and the first Latin America H&M to include the brand’s home department lead a mix that also adds 80 dining concepts, including the contemporary Bocata food hall and an additional family-oriented food court. Entertainment venues like 1890 Bowling and Air Square expand the experiential program. In all, 317 global and local tenants position the property as a regional destination.

The results are measurable: Foot traffic has climbed 34%, and vacancy has tightened to 3.3%. Guided by community input, Oakland Place has shifted from a conventional mall into a fully realized urban center that now serves as a social, commercial and recreational destination for the Guatemalan capital.

Owner and Development Company: Spectrum
Design Architect: Gensler New York
Executive Architect: Pelayo Llarena Dunn

City Foundry STL

Mixed-Use Projects

City Foundry STL reenvisioned a long-abandoned, 15-acre industrial site into a significant adaptive reuse district in St. Louis, pairing historic preservation with a contemporary food, retail and office program. The master plan repurposes the former Federal-Mogul foundry’s brick, steel piping, mezzanines and concrete floors, layering in new entrances, storefronts, lighting, landscaping and pedestrian routes to create a walkable environment that retains the site’s industrial character. A network of public plazas and an internal main street link the food hall, creative office space, Fresh Thyme supermarket and retail tenants, while future connection to a Great Rivers Greenway bike route will strengthen multimodal accessibility.

Design decisions centered on reuse and place-based identity. Preserved structural elements pair with modern systems and code updates that remain visually subordinate to the historical fabric, allowing the original architecture to anchor the district’s aesthetic. The 30,000-square-foot food hall — curated around local chefs and makers — is a culinary incubator and the project’s social heart, complemented by entertainment venues like Alamo Drafthouse and Sandbox VR, fitness amenities and outdoor gathering areas.

The redevelopment has catalyzed the growth of the city’s Midtown neighborhood, generating more than 1,000 construction jobs, attracting nearby residential development and drawing more than 2.2 million visitors a year.

Owner and Development Company: New + Found
Design Architect: Lawrence Group

New Developments

The Well

Mixed-Use Projects

The Well converted an underutilized, 7.8-acre light-industrial site in downtown Toronto into a fully integrated, pedestrian-first district that blends retail, offices and housing with public space and cultural programming. Conceived as an extension of the surrounding King West neighborhood, the development layers a connected street network, publicly accessible laneways and urban amenities into one of the city’s densest communities.

The development’s defining architectural feature is the pedestrian Spine, a multilevel, open-air retail street covered by a 35,000-square-foot canopy. The undulating structure’s lattice of four-sided, glazed panels functions as a vast climatic umbrella, allowing natural light and ventilation while protecting visitors from the elements. This canopy enables year-round alfresco shopping and dining — an environment rare in Canada — and gathers the retail district around a plaza designed for community events and seasonal activation.

Masonry-driven architecture and terra-cotta detailing reference the area’s industrial brick-and-beam heritage, while the more than 60-foot-wide Wellington Place Promenade connects two historical public squares and introduces green infrastructure. The retail program spans 320,000 square feet, anchored by a 70,000-square-foot food market and a mix of global and national brands, local businesses and experiential concepts.

The Well has established itself as a dynamic urban district. Before completion, 93% of the office space was leased and 90% of the for-sale residential units were sold. The retail mix is balanced evenly between food, fitness and experience-driven venues. The development attracts almost 9 million people annually and soon expects to surpass 10 million.

Owners: RioCan and Allied Properties Real Estate Investment Trust
Developers: RioCan, Allied Properties Real Estate Investment Trust and DiamondCorp
Design Architects: BDP (retail and roof canopy); Hariri Pontarini Architects (master plan and offices); and Architects-Alliance and Wallman Architects (residential)
Executive Architect: Adamson Associates Architects

Big Fashion Glilot

Mixed-Use Projects

Big Fashion Glilot transforms a major junction at the northern edge of the Tel Aviv metropolitan area into a contemporary open-air district, integrating retail, workplace and lifestyle uses through a cohesive, pedestrian-scaled design. The project integrates 474,000 square feet of retail with a 43-story, 753,000-square-foot office tower, creating a destination where retail, dining, leisure and workplace amenities reinforce one another throughout the day.

The project’s pedestrian-first urban layout is a defining feature. A multilevel underground garage enables a car-free environment above, where two boulevards act as public connectors lined with cafes, restaurants, shaded gathering areas and green spaces. Sea-inspired architectural elements, sail-like canopies and a mosaic of individualized storefronts give the feel of an authentic urban boulevard rather than a traditional mall.

The retail program includes 162 international and local brands, many in flagship formats, and 54,000 square feet dedicated to culinary experiences, establishing Glilot as a vibrant day-to-night social destination. Public plazas and rooftop terraces support performances, festivals and seasonal events, while partnerships with schools and cultural groups embed the project into community life.

The project has demonstrated its strength quickly: At the time of submission, retail was operating at full occupancy, stores were posting record sales and the office tower had secured 70% pre-leasing in a highly competitive regional market.

Owners and Developers: Big Shopping Centers in partnership with Allied Real Estate
Architect: MYS Architects

Tenants in a Retail Environment

The Rawlings Experience

Tenants Over 10,000 Square Feet in Area

The Rawlings Experience brings together two former tenant spaces at Westport Plaza — a 42-acre entertainment and office district in the St. Louis suburb of Maryland Heights — as a 14,000-square-foot, two-story flagship that connects nearly 140 years of baseball heritage with an immersive retail environment. Evoking a ballpark at night, the store melds the brand’s red-and-white palette with polished concrete, industrial grates, wood accents and a dynamic LED scoreboard ribbon. A 26-by-26-foot vertical opening made way for a staircase and a dramatic sight line between floors, recalling stadium grandstands and unifying the expanded storefront.

Merchandising and history come together through nearly 200 illuminated gloves, custom display cases and interactive walls that trace Rawlings’ legacy. Experiential zones, including batting cages and custom glove design and fittings, invite hands-on engagement.

Since opening, the store has outperformed sales projections and added to Westport Plaza’s revitalization.

Retailer: Rawlings Sporting Goods Co.
Architect and Designer: Oculus Inc.

Haywire Houston Memorial

Food-and-Beverage

Haywire Houston reimagined a vacant, two-story restaurant space and adjacent patio at Gateway Memorial City, part of the larger Memorial City mixed-use district in West Houston, as a 20,000-square-foot, 650-seat dining destination that blends urban refinement with elements of Texas’ rural heritage. Nodding to local towns like Marfa and Luckenbach, the design layers rustic materials like reclaimed wood, stone and rewired vintage light fixtures with modern architectural lines, steel accents and contemporary LED lighting. A series of intimate nooks, communal tables and covered patios makes the large space feel approachable, while expansive windows give passersby a look inside and indoor-outdoor bars and firepits offer connection to the surroundings.

The adaptive reuse project overhauled the facade and opened the floor plan to create multiple dining areas with improved circulation. Immovable ductwork inspired the creation of the Allocation Room, now a distinctive private dining space, while the newly added Party Barn — a 2,000-square-foot freestanding structure with its own bar and courtyard — provides flexible space for private events.

Since its debut, Haywire Houston has emerged as a key destination in Memorial City, transforming a dated shell into an elevated expression of the Haywire brand.

Retailer: Haywire
Architect: Parish Line Studio
Designer: Empire X

Kneads Bakeshop & Cafe

Food-and-Beverage

In Baltimore’s Harbor East waterfront district, Kneads Bakeshop & Cafe converted a 17,000-square-foot office and data center into a vibrant, multi-use culinary hub that reflects the H&S Family of Bakeries’ 80-year local heritage. The design elevates production as a central part of the customer experience. A 7,400-square-foot, glass-enclosed bakeshop allows guests to watch breadmaking in real time, turning craftsmanship into an architectural focal point. Custom details like the rolling-pin chandelier at the entry and branded elements in the flooring and wall coverings reference the family’s history and Greek heritage and Baltimore’s industrial fabric.

The program combines a market featuring local vendors, a cafe, an upscale restaurant and future event space, making the project a community hub throughout the day. An outdoor patio, a to-go window and interactive, neighborhood-facing artwork animate the streetscape and extend activity beyond the interior.

The investment has strengthened both the brand and Harbor East. Kneads now can produce as many as 100,000 baked goods per week, and the bakery supplies more than 100 wholesale clients while also driving steady foot traffic as a neighborhood dining anchor. Strong customer demand prompted expanded hours, a new dinner service and plans for additional locations.

Retailer: H&S Family of Bakeries
Architect and Designer: Ci Design

Sustainable Commendations

In addition to their Gold designations, the Global Design & Development Awards judges recognized four projects with Sustainable Commendations, highlighting design strategies and operational choices that meaningfully reduced each development’s environmental footprint.

Oakland Place

Oakland Place used the LEED framework to minimize environmental impact through native landscaping that cuts irrigation needs by 63%, efficient fixtures that reduce potable water use by 25% and an energy model projecting a 48.5% improvement over baseline energy codes. Solar panels supply more than a quarter of the building’s power, while hybrid ventilation, reflective surfaces and robust recycling and tenant-education programs prioritize long-term sustainability.

City Foundry STL

The adaptive reuse of a historical foundry preserved steel, brick and concrete while minimizing demolition waste. An original monitor roof brings abundant daylight, reducing energy demand, while open-air plazas, natural ventilation, low-emission finishes and multimodal access promote a healthy, community-oriented environment. Thoughtful material reuse and ongoing programming reinforce enduring environmental and social value.

The Well

Having achieved both LEED Platinum and WELL Certification, the development’s sustainability strategy centers on a deep-lake thermal battery, which supplies naturally heated and chilled water to reduce heating and cooling loads and even exports zero-carbon energy to the surrounding community. The Well also incorporates about 20 tons of recycled Douglas fir, extensive green space, stormwater-fed irrigation and pedestrian-focused public areas.

Big Fashion Glilot

Sustainability is embedded from planning through operations, aligning with key United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Climate-responsive architecture reduces cooling loads, while solar-array infrastructure and a LEED Platinum–targeted office tower support emissions reduction. Native landscaping, efficient water systems and robust waste-separation practices contribute to the project’s status as a low-impact destination.