Awards
ASLA Landscape Architecture Firm Award
In 2025, the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) gave its prestigious Landscape Architecture Firm Award to SCAPE. This award is the highest honor that ASLA bestows on a landscape architecture firm, recognizing firms influencing the practice of landscape architecture.
In her nomination letter, Cheryl Barton, FASLA and past President of ASLA, remarked, “I’ve watched SCAPE emerge on the national scene, bringing new ideas of regenerative design, community-engaged practice, and a crystal clear voice that saw the future of landscape architecture. In their climate-focused and science-driven planning, and their inspired and inclusive design process, SCAPE breaks boundaries and reaches new audiences far beyond landscape architecture. As the second ASLA Woman President (1987-88), I take great pride in knowing that SCAPE is woman-owned. It has been terrific to see the firm take shape and truly drive the profession.”
OBEL Award | Living Breakwaters
In 2023, Living Breakwaters was honored with the OBEL Award in the focus area of Adaptation. The OBEL Award, presented annually by the Henrik Frode Obel Foundation, is an international award that promotes architecture in the service of both people and the planet.
“Living Breakwaters adheres to a different worldview in which natural systems are valued for their protective benefit. With the project, SCAPE and its founding principal Kate Orff put forward a drastically different concept of adaptation in the built environment that operates on several scales, increasing both physical, ecological, and social resilience, and which activates both human and non-human life in the design process.” –OBEL Award Jury
Selected Awards
2025
- AIA-NY: Honor Award – Urban Design, Tom Lee Park
- ACEC NY: Diamond Award – Water Resources, Living Breakwaters
- ASLA-NY: Merit Award – General Design, Pratt East Hall Plaza
- ASLA-NY: Merit Award – Residential Design, Malt Drive Park
- ASIC: Excellence in Irrigation – Merit Award, China Basin Park
- ASLA-NCC: Honor Award – General Design, China Basin Park
- AIA National: Regional & Urban Design Award, Tom Lee Park
- ULI Americas Awards for Excellence, Tom Lee Park
- ASLA Landscape Architecture Firm Award
2024
- ASLA-NY: Honor Award – Residential Design, Hudson Valley Guest House and Grounds
- 2024 Coastal Stewardship Award from the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana, 2023 Coastal Master Plan
- Boston Society of Landscape Architects (BSLA): Excellence Award – Analysis & Planning, Resilient Together: El Punto
- ASLA-Potomac: Honor Award – General Design, Neal Place Park
- AIA National: Architecture Award, Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts
- ASLA Professional Awards: Honor Award – General Design, Tom Lee Park
- ASLA Professional Awards: Honor Award – Communications, 2023 Coastal Master Plan
- ASCE San Francisco Section Awards: Outstanding Parks and Recreation Project, China Basin Park
- LC-ASLA: Merit Award – General Design: Unbuilt Work, Brookley by the Bay
- LC-ASLA: Honor Award – Communications, 2023 Coastal Master Plan
- PDC Awards: Excellence in Public Design, Gowanus CSO Tank Facility & Salt Lot
- APA National Planning Awards: Resilience and Sustainability Award, Resilient Jacksonville
2023
- ASLA-SERC: Merit Award – General Design, Town Branch Commons
- ASLA-KY: Honor Award – Constructed Work, Town Branch Commons
- ASLA-NY: Merit Award – General Design, Town Branch Commons
- ASLA-NY: Honor Award – Analysis & Planning, Financial District and Seaport Climate Resilience Master Plan
- ASLA-NY: Merit Award – Community Impact, Alafia
- AIA-NYS: Honor Award – Urban Design & Planning, Financial District and Seaport Climate Resilience Master Plan
- TIME 100 Most Influential People, Kate Orff
- OBEL Award, Living Breakwaters
- ASLA Professional Awards: Honor Award – Analysis & Planning, Chattahoochee RiverLands
- ASLA Professional Awards: Honor Award – Urban Design, Town Branch Commons
- LC-ASLA: Honor Award – General Design: Built, Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts
- LC-ASLA: Merit Award – General Design: Built, Tom Lee Park
- ASLA-GA: Honor Award – General Design, Town Branch Commons
- ASLA-GA: Excellence Award – Analysis & Planning, Chattahoochee RiverLands
- ASLA-TX: Honor Award – Analysis & Planning, Airline Highway Park
2022
- AIA-NY: Merit Award – Urban Design, Alafia
- LC-ASLA: Merit Award – General Design: Unbuilt Work, Airline Highway Park
- LC-ASLA: Merit Award – Analysis & Planning, McCoys Creek Recreation and Restoration Plan
- LC-ASLA: Honor Award – Communications, Our Future Coast
- AIA-NY & ASLA-NY Transportation & Infrastructure Awards: Honor Award – Planning, Financial District and Seaport Climate Resilience Master Plan
- The Architect’s Newspaper: Best of Design, Merit Award – Urban Design & Master Plan, Financial District and Seaport Climate Resilience Master Plan
- Federal Highway Administration (FHWA): Environmental Excellence Award, Town Branch Commons
- ASLA-NJ: Merit Award – Landscape Architectural Planning & Analysis, Resilient New Jersey: Raritan River and Bay Communities
- ASLA-NJ: Merit Award – Landscape Architectural Communications, “Designing Landscapes for Insects and People,” Gena Wirth, Steven Handel
2021
- AIA Tri-State: Silver Medal – Regional & Urban Design, Greenpoint Library and Environmental Education Center
- SARA National: Design Award of Merit – Urban Design, Alafia
- SARA-NY: Merit Award – Urban Design, Alafia
- Fast Company: Innovation by Design Award Finalist – Spaces & Places, Greenpoint Library and Environmental Education Center
- AIA-NYS: Merit Award – Institutional, Greenpoint Library and Environmental Education Center
- ASLA-SoCal: Honor Award – Analysis & Planning, Hayward Regional Shoreline Adaptation Master Plan
- ASLA-NY: Honor Award – Analysis, Planning, Research & Communications, Chattahoochee RiverLands
- ASLA-NY: Merit Award – Analysis, Planning, Research & Communications, Our Future Coast
- ASLA-NY: Merit Award – General Design, Greenpoint Library and Environmental Education Center
- ASLA-FL: Honor Award – Analysis & Planning, McCoys Creek Recreation and Restoration Plan
- ASLA-KY: Merit Award – Analysis & Planning, Chattahoochee RiverLands
- Boston Society of Landscape Architects (BSLA): Merit Award – Analysis & Planning, Climate Ready Dorchester
- NYCxDesign: Greater Good Award – Social & Environmental Impact, Greenpoint Library and Environmental Education Center
2020
- The Architect’s Newspaper: Urbanist of the Year Award, Kate Orff
- APA-GA: Outstanding Planning Document, Chattahoochee RiverLands
- American Web Design Award, Our Future Coast
- NYC Public Design Commission (PDC): Award for Excellence in Design, Red Hook Library
- Georgia Water Coalition: Clean 13 Award, Chattahoochee RiverLands
- ASLA-NY: Merit Award – General Design, Midtown Center Plaza
2019
- National Design Award, Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
- The Architect’s Newspaper: Best of Design, Honor Award – Unbuilt (Cultural), Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts
- The Architect’s Newspaper: Best of Design, Honorable Mention – Landscape Public, First Avenue Water Plaza
- The Architect’s Newspaper: Best of Design, Honorable Mention – Unbuilt (Landscape), Tom Lee Park
- The Architect’s Newspaper: Best of Design, Honorable Mention – Unbuilt (Urban Design), Pensacola Waterfront Framework Plan
- ASLA Professional Awards: Honor Award – Analysis & Planning, Public Sediment for Alameda Creek
- ASLA-NY: Honor Award – General Design, First Avenue Water Plaza
- ASLA-NY: Honor Award – Analysis, Planning, Research & Communications, Public Sediment for Alameda Creek
- ASLA-NY: Merit Award – General Design, Madison Avenue Plaza
2018
- The Architect’s Newspaper: Best of Design, Honor Award – Representation (Analog), Public Sediment for Alameda Creek
- AIA California Council: Merit Award – Urban Design, Public Sediment for Alameda Creek
- ASLA-NY: Honor Award – Analysis, Planning, Research & Communications, Gowanus Lowlands
- ASLA-NY: Honor Award – General Design, Hall of Science Discovery Terrace
- ASLA-NY: Merit Award – General Design, New York-Presbyterian & Columbia University Medical Campus Joint Master Plan
- Architect Magazine: Progressive Architecture Award, Helen R. Walton Children’s Enrichment Center
- ACEC-NJ: Engineering Excellence Awards, Grand Honor Award, Hudson River RBD
2017
- MacArthur Fellow, Kate Orff
- ASLA Professional Awards: Honor Award – Communications, Toward an Urban Ecology
- SARA National: Design Award of Excellence, Glen Oaks Branch Library
- NYC Public Design Commission (PDC): Award for Excellence in Design, Greenpoint Library and Environmental Education Center
- AIA-NY: Design Award – Best in Competition, Vagelos Education Center
2016
- The Chicago Athenaeum: Good Green Design Award, Battery Park City Community Center Terrace
- The Architect’s Newspaper: Best of Design, Honorable Mention – Temporary Installation, Town Branch Water Walk
- ASLA-NY: Merit Award – General Design, Blake Hobbs Play-Za
- APA-KY: Special Merit Award for Outstanding Use of Technology – Civic Engagement, Town Branch Water Walk
- Urban Land Institute (ULI): Award for Excellence in Development, Harlem RBI Dream Charter School Roofscape
- NYC Public Design Commission (PDC): Award for Excellence in Design, Snug Harbor Music Hall
- SARA National: Design Award of Excellence, The Hudson Riverport
- SARA-NY: Merit Award – Urban Design, The Hudson Riverport
2015
- American Academy of Arts & Letters: National Planning Achievement Award – Environmental Planning, Living Breakwaters
- ACEC-NY: Engineering Excellence Awards, Grand Honor Award, Living Breakwaters
- ASLA-NY: Design Award, Cove Co-Habitat
- ASLA-NY: Design Award, Glen Oaks Branch Library
- ASLA-NJ: Design Award – Site Design, DMAVA Park
- AIA-NY: Honor Award – Urban Design, Beijing Horticultural Expo 2016 Landscape Master Plan
- APA: National Achievement Award for Environmental Planning, Living Breakwaters
2014
- Buckminster Fuller Challenge: Winner, Living Breakwaters
- Rebuild by Design Competition, U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD): Winner, Living Breakwaters
- ASLA-NY: Design Award – Collaborative Design, NYC SIRR Coastal Protection Plan
- ASLA-NY: Design Award – Unbuilt, Deconstructed Salt Marsh
- Built by Women NYC (BxW NYC): Winner, 103rd Street Community Garden
- The Chicago Athenaeum: American Architecture Award, Glen Oaks Branch Library
- AIA National: Committee on Architecture for Education (CAE) Design Award, PAVE Academy Playscape
- Learning by Design Magazine: Citation of Excellence, Abraham Joshua Heschel School Play Roof
- AIA-NY: Bronze Award of Honor, Abraham Joshua Heschel School Play Roof
2013
- American Architects: Building of the Year, Glen Oaks Branch Library
- National Academy of Design: National Academician, Kate Orff
- ASLA Professional Awards: Honor Award – Communications, Petrochemical America
- AIA National: Honor Award, Cornell University Milstein Hall
- AIA Houston: Design Award, Blaffer Art Museum
2012
- The Architectural League of New York: Emerging Voices Award, Kate Orff
- Zumtobel Group: Awards for Sustainability & Humanity in the Built Environment, Honor Award – Research
- ASLA-NY: Design Award – Collaborative Design, 103rd Street Community Garden
- ASLA-NY: Design Award – Planning, Analysis, Research & Communications, Confluence: Portal to the Point
2008
- ASLA Professional Awards: Honor Award – Communications, Bird-Safe Building Guidelines
2007
- NYC-DDC: Design Excellence Award, Glen Oaks Branch Library
- ASLA-NY: Honor Award – Analysis, Planning, Research & Communications, Bird-Safe Building Guidelines
- The Chicago Athenaeum: American Architecture Award, Coney Island Aquarium Perimeter Vision
2006
- City of New York Commission on Art: Award of Excellence, Glen Oaks Branch Library
- AIA-NY: Merit Award, Glen Oaks Branch Library