The most innovative architecture companies of 2026

Beyond the not insignificant work of designing buildings, it can often seem that architects are also tasked with solving some of the biggest problems in the world. From reducing the environmental impact of buildings to increasing access to affordable spaces to fighting climate change to rebuilding what climate change has damaged, the architect’s work can verge on the infinite. For the architecture companies honored in Fast Company’s 2026 Most Innovative Companies awards, this mission creep is part of the appeal. All 10 honorees on this year’s architecture list have made societal challenges and systems-scale shortcomings into side projects of their more straightforward architectural design work. For example, the global design firm HKS earned the top spot on this year’s list partly because it did not shy away from a bold request from a client for a skyscraper design that could be both the tallest building in Salt Lake City and help reduce the city’s notoriou