For more than a decade, the NanaWall NanaAwards have been a snapshot of where commercial design is headed. In 2025, the design competition marked its eleventh year with the most submissions to date, featuring remarkable commercial projects designed using opening glass walls. After weeks of public voting, the winners of the Gold Commercial Design have been selected! It’s given us a front-row seat to how architects, designers, builders, and owners are innovating with NanaWall systems in commercial architecture and design every day. Not just for sweeping openings and view-worthy spaces, but for the sometimes hardest-working parts of a building: durability, weather performance, acoustic separations, and high-traffic commercial spaces that never get a day off.
Opening Glass Walls in Action Across 2025 Commercial Winners
In 2025, the range of submissions stretched across commercial design categories, from building conversions to office campuses, theaters, schools, and busy hospitality venues. The most impressive thread across all 5 Gold winners is not a single aesthetic or building type. It is a shared dedication to design excellence and exceptional application of NanaWall systems. Let’s take a beat to celebrate this year’s commercial design winners!
Gold Award Best Arts & Events: Jacob’s Pillow by Mecanoo
At Jacob’s Pillow, the demand for flexibility is high. Some performances call for full immersion in the surrounding landscape; others need tight acoustic control and precise lighting. NanaWall systems give the venue the ability to tune its envelope: open for breeze and forest views, closed when sound isolation and environmental control take priority. Project designed by Mecanoo Architects in collaboration with Marvel and built by Allegrone Companies.
Gold Award Best Education: St. Bonaventure Catholic School
St. Bonaventure Catholic School puts student well-being at the center of its plan. Classrooms open to courtyards and collaboration zones through opening glass walls that invite daylight and fresh air. At the same time, the assemblies close to form quiet, thermally stable learning environments with reduced noise from adjacent activity. Project Contractor JBP General Contracting and the project submitted by the business owner.
Gold Award Best Hospitality: The Beach Restaurant, Colorado
The Beach Restaurant faces one of the most challenging briefs in the awards: maintain a consistent guest experience in a setting where weather and occupancy are constantly changing. NanaWall systems help the restaurant expand toward the water during peak hours and contract to a cozy, climate-controlled interior when conditions shift. Completed by Buena Vista Contractors and designed by Ariane Rutt.
Gold Award Best Office: GFO by LS3P Associates
The GFO Office recognizes that modern workdays call for both focus and reset. Opening glass walls open meeting spaces and shared areas to terraces and planted courtyards, providing access to daylight and fresh air during the day. When closed, the systems still borrow that light while restoring acoustic separation for heads-down work and confidential conversations. Designed by LS3P Associates, Ltd., Contractor Monteith, and Photography by Susan Holt and Melva Calder.
Gold Award Best Retail: Restoration Hardware, Raleigh by CCWG
At the Restoration Hardware store in Raleigh, the facade serves as a flexible frame for the brand. Opening glass walls open large portions of the storefront, extending merchandising and circulation into outdoor space and inviting passersby to move through at their own pace. When conditions call for enclosure, the store returns to a calm, quiet, conditioned interior without losing transparency or presence. Designed by NORR Architects and built by Carolina Classic Window & Glass.
Final Thoughts
The 2025 NanaAward commercial design winners show just how broad the NanaWall product solution toolbox has become. These projects rely on top-of-the-line performance systems that can respect historic structures while upgrading performance, make compact spaces feel generous and bright, and stand up to commercial design and structural demands, including high wind, wind-driven rain, harsh weather, and even hurricane-impact zones.
These commercial projects show how opening glass walls can quietly solve a myriad of commercial design dilemmas, from maximizing space and views to improving air circulation and creating versatile, seamless space connections, without ever taking over the design. These opening glass walls ensure comfort, durability, sound control, safety, and the ability to keep spaces working beautifully over years of daily use. Want to see more projects like this? Visit the NanaWall inspiration gallery to browse residential, commercial, and specialty applications featuring NanaWall systems.
