San Diego’s best, and worst, architecture in 2025 revealed

San Diego’s unique architecture competition, Orchids and Onions, is back with a new batch of trophies for the region’s most inspiring projects — and the duds.

Orchids and Onions, now in its 49th year, is the most popular local architect competition because it takes the rare step of pointing out bad work. (It’d be like if the Academy Awards handed out an Oscar for Worst Picture.)

The San Diego Architectural Foundation’s event gave out 17 Orchids for exceptional architecture and four Onions for projects they said missed the mark. There were more than 80 nominations.

Juror comments were kept anonymous, and there is extra care given to make sure the Onion recipients don’t know who voted for it. For Onion winners, the architectural foundation only includes comments from the original nominator.

This marks the second year that Tijuana was included in the competition.

This year features a Grand Orchid winner, which only happens when all jurors unanimously agree on a project. The last time a Grand Orchid was awarded was in 2020 for the Center for Novel Therapeutics in UC San Diego’s Science Research park. There were six jurors this year who evaluated the nominations and visited sites.

Del Mar Heights School (Grand Orchid)

Address: 13555 Boquita Drive, Del Mar. Owner/developer: Del Mar Union School District. Architect/Designer: DLR Group.

The new Del Mar Heights School building, which houses an elementary school, won praise for its outdoor learning zones, trails and green space, elevated pathways and natural ventilation systems. A juror said it is more than just a school: “It functioned as a public space as well with the community being able to access it after hours and on weekends to use the playgrounds and fields. It just didn’t have many flaws.”

Lyceum Theatre Renovation (Orchid for Public Architecture)

Address: 79 Horton Plaza, San Diego. Owner/Developer: Civic Theatre. Architect/Designer: Architects Mosher Drew.

This theater was remodeled as part of the troubled effort to turn Horton Plaza into a business park. Despite the struggles of the larger project, the theater’s refurbishment was celebrated. “The fin panels on the stage are backlit lightly from both sides and create this lovely almost scalelike floor to ceiling glow,” a juror said. “It’s stunning.”

Horton Plaza (Onion for Public Architecture)

Address: 79 Horton Plaza, San Diego. Owner/Developer: Stockdale Capital Partners.

Unlike the Lyceum Theatre, the larger Campus at Horton was not popular with jurors. The nominator called it an “unfortunate failure of urban design and civic responsibility.”

EAT Building (Orchid for Public Architecture)

Address: Miguel Alemán Valdez 2751, America, 22044 Tijuana. Owner/Developer: AFAL Group. Architect/Designer: Estudio MMX.

This Tijuana building caught jurors’ eyes for being a “human-centered” space that doesn’t look like a closed off corporate headquarters. “EAT Building manages to create a distinct ambient space outside without fully leaving the city,” a juror said. “The simplicity, authenticity and artfulness of the structure resonated with me and the rest of my colleagues.”

Mirador/Acesso (Orchid for Public Architecture, Orchid for Landscape Architecture)

Address: Av. Hermosillo Fraccionamiento Sonora, Presa Rodriguez, 22124 Tijuana. Owner/Developer: Gobierno del Estado de Baja California . Architect/Designer: Raúl Cárdenas, Ana Martínez, Daniel Espinosa, Carolina Gómez, Rodolfo Argot/ TOROLAB.

This Baja California government project creates a space in the busy city for contemplation as it overlooks Tijuana’s largest body of freshwater. A juror said the design encourages visitors to look out over the community. “This is a place in the city of Tijuana that addresses a great need in terms of its social impact,” they said. “It sits in a barrio that once was one of the most dangerous neighborhoods of Tijuana and has brought great life to the community.”

Scottish Rite Masonic Center of San Diego (Onion for Public Architecture)

Address: 1561 Camino del Rio South, San Diego. Owner/Developer: Scottish Rite Lodge

The nominator of this project said they felt like the designer aimed to create a classical style building but greatly missed the mark.

Leila (Orchid for Interior Design)

Address: 3956 30th St., San Diego. Owner/Developer: CH Projects. Architect/Designer: CH Projects Department of Interior.

This Moroccan-inspired restaurant impressed jurors with its cobbled stone streets, starry sky roof, intricate millwork and more. “It has a mysterious presence as you walk along the street and approach it,” a juror wrote. “You have no idea what to expect inside. When you enter, all five of your senses are exposed to stimuli and the journey begins.”

Lou Lou’s Jungle Room at the Lafayette Hotel (Orchid for Interior Design)

Address: 2225 El Cajon Blvd., San Diego. Owner/Developer: CH Projects. Architect/Designer: Post Company.

Lou Lou’s is a New York-style jazz nightclub inside the Lafayette Hotel, which won Orchid awards last year for historic preservation and architectural lighting. A juror said: “They painstakingly refurbished the iron-cast band shell, and it is exquisite, and the sound is amazing especially for live music. It is just the perfect supper club and live music venue.”

The Royal of Rancho Peñasquitos apartment expansion (Onion for Private Architecture)

Address: 9822 Paseo Montalban. Owner/Developer: F&F Income Properties.

This is an expansion of an existing apartment building in Rancho Peñasquitos that the nominator said had “no flair or imagination.”

SDSU Mission Valley River Park (Orchid for Landscape Architecture)

Address: 1 Stadium Way, San Diego. Owner/Developer: San Diego State University. Civil engineer: PDC Bowman. Landscape architect: Schmidt Design Group.

This park was praised by jurors for transforming one of the largest parking lots in the West to a mixed-use community with 80 acres of public space. “On land that might just have been considered ‘leftover’ they have created an incredible place,” a juror said, “for people to play, relax, walk … really do about anything they want in some much needed open space.”

Plans to change the SDMA West Wing (Onion for Historic Preservation)

Address: 1450 El Prado, San Diego. Owner/Developer: San Diego Museum of Art.

Jurors did not like an idea to renovate the western wing of the San Diego Museum of Art where the Panama 66 restaurant is. The revamp plan actually won a top prize last month during San Diego Design Week, receiving the Signature Project Design Award for Museum Renovation. The nominator felt differently, arguing the aging 1960s western wing had historic value.

Tecolote Shores South Playground (Orchid for Landscape Architecture)

Address: 1344 E Mission Bay Drive, San Diego. Owner/Developer: City of San Diego. Architect/Designer: Schmidt Design Group.

This upgraded playground was designed so children of all abilities could play together. Features include a wheelchair-accessible carousel, inclusive swings, rockers, towers, and a zipline. It also has quiet nooks and sensory-rich elements, including a sound garden. It recently made the news for its restroom becoming a finalist for a Cintas competition for America’s best public restroom (winners still haven’t been announced).

Exchange Pavilion (Orchid for Public Art)

Address: 1450 El Prado, Balboa Park, San Diego. Owner/Developer: World Design Capital 2024. Architect/Designer: Heleo Architecture + Design / Daniel Ruanova Studio.

The largest public art of the World Design Capital event last summer was celebrated by jurors for its efforts to connect San Diego and Tijuana. “The correct execution of the idea was achieved,” a juror said.

TEXT/TILE (Orchid for Public Art)

Address: 12911 Pacific Place, San Diego. Owner/Developer: City of San Diego Cultural Affairs. Architect/Designer: Janelle Iglesias.

This artwork at the Pacific Highlands Ranch Library features tile letters in three languages that are tied to the region: English, Spanish and Kumeyaay. A juror said they found the spot inspiring. “So much like you search for knowledge in the library,” a juror said, “you are also searching for it outside in a different and highly creative way.”

Bajo el Mismo Sol / Under the Same Sun (Orchid for Public Art)

Address: Beyer Blvd Station Trolley Station. Owner/Developer: City of San Diego Cultural Affairs. Architect/Designer: Janelle Iglesias.

This public art is off of Cypress Drive leading to a trolley station in San Ysidro. The artist said the meaning of the piece should be open to interpretation. A juror said: “It is simple and subtle the way the sun casts the message in this portal and creates a very artful moment. It highlights our shared community space of San Diego/Tijuana, the two languages, the one line we go back and forth across. But still – the same sun.”

Balboa Park Botanical Building Restoration (Orchid for Historic Preservation)

Address: 1549 El Prado, San Diego. Owner/Developer: City of San Diego. Architect of Record: Platt/Whitelaw Architects. Landscape Architect: Estrada Land Planning.Historic Architect: Milford Wayne Donaldson. Horticulturist: Waterwise Gardener. Bridging Documents Architect: RNT Architects. Bridging Documents Landscape Architect: Spurlock Landscape Architects.

The renovation of Balboa Park’s Botanical Building has won several awards in the past year, and this is just one more feather in its cap. “I don’t know what I expected but wow. They took it to a whole different level,” a juror said. “To be able to visit something that I consider the ‘lungs’ of the city and see them so lively and healthy – its vital for us.”

Hotel del Coronado (Orchid for Historic Preservation)

Address: 1500 Orange Ave., Coronado. Owner/Developer: BRE Hotels & Resorts. Architect/Designer: Heritage Architecture & Planning.

The much-celebrated Hotel del Coronado wins another award in this competition for historic preservation. “The minute we started touring the hotel I realized this was next level,” a juror said. “I was expecting a ‘clean up and polish’ approach and what we received was careful, painstaking forensic work to uncover details and bring things back to life we had never seen or known about.”

Innato (People’s Choice Orchid Award)

Address: Fray Justo Sierra 9043, Tijuana. Owner/Developer: Hospitalidad Urbana by David Cohen. Architect/Designer: Tony Haro.

This new building in downtown Tijuana features a Japanese speakeasy, a Spanish tapas space and a Baja/Mediterranean kitchen. The People’s Choice award was decided by online voting on the architectural foundation’s website.