The American Institute of  Architects recipients of the 2014 Institute Honor Awards,  which recognizes excellence in architecture interior architecture, and urban design

More than 500 submissions were evaluated by  a panel of experts in the architecture world. Winners will be honored at  the AIA 2014 national Convention and Design Exposition in Chicago in  June.

From a home built into the side of a rock  to a welcome center with a living roof, these buildings are a sight to  behold.

The campus for the Centre for International Governance  and Innovation in Waterloo, Ontario consists of two three-story connected  buildings made up of locally-sourced limestone, brick, wood, and glass. (KPMB  Architects)

As plants from the garden extend down and over the roof  of the building, the design of the Visitor Center at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden  helps patrons transition from the street to nature. (WEISS/MANFREDI)

With this project, an unremarkable gymnasium from the  1950s was converted into a meeting house and arts center for the Sidwell Friends  School, a Quaker-affiliated school in Washington, D.C. (KieranTimberlake)

New facilities for the Savannah College of Art and  Design integrate the ruins of America’s only surviving pre-Civil War railroad  station, preserving them within a modern concrete building. (Sottile &  Sottile in association with Dawson Architects)

Originally built in 1912 in the Beaux Arts style, the  north wing of the three-story, block-long Public Library in downtown St. Louis  was renovated to make it more accessible to the public. (Cannon Design)

Tim Hursley

The new Garden Mausoleum at Minneapolis’ Lakewood  Cemetery uses a cool palette of stone, bronze, glass, and dark wood to create a  peaceful and healing environment. About three-quarters of the building space  nestles into the surrounding hillside. (HGA Architects and Engineers)

In the first permanent boathouse for Community Rowing,  the largest public rowing organization in the U.S., two buildings overlay each  other to regulate ventilation and light, making for a truly unique staging area  for Boston rowers. (Ammahian Winton Architects)

Wyoming’s Jackson Hole Airport is an understated, LEED  Silver-Certified building with glass curtains meant to reduce separation between  it and the surrounding landscape. (Gensler)

The King Street Station in Seattle was renovated to  improve pedestrian connections inside and around the depot, as well as to  restore architectural features from when it was first built in 1906.  (ZGF  Architects LLP)

The Pierre house juts out of rock near the shore of  Washington’s San Juan Island, overlooking a wide expanse of the Pacific. A lawn  system on the roof collects and recycles rainwater. (Olson Kundig Architects)

Inside the Pierre house, a combination of vintage  furniture and contemporary art make for an eclectic living space. The floors  were made from the crushed stone that was blasted to clear space for the  building. (Olson Kundig Architects)

The Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust is cut into the  hillside of its surrounding park. Museum patrons must descend into the hill to  enter. (Belzberg Architects)

The redesign of the Marc by Marc Jacobs Showroom in New  York City makes use of curved glass to separate public and private spaces while  maintaining natural light. (HLW International)

The design of this loft in the SoHo neighborhood of New  York City is  all about light and openness. (Gabellini Sheppard Associates  LLP)

The layout for Knoll’s New York City flagship showroom,  offices, and shop incorporates details that celebrate the design firm’s creative  work. A 55-foot wall that displays 2,400 material samples is just one highlight.  (Architecture Research Office)

Bar Agricole is a 1,400-square-foot restaurant in San  Francisco’s South of Market neighborhood. The wooden interior wall is made of  reclaimed whiskey-barrel oak, while the two bars consist of board-formed  concrete and old barn beams (Aidlin Darling Design).

The London offices for international law firm K&L  Gates make use of an unusually shaped building to create high-tech and  collaborative work spaces.

The headquarters of an undisclosed Silicon Valley  venture capital firm were redesigned with gardens, wood finishes, and plenty of  glass to create an understated, intimate work environment. (Paul Murdoch  Architects; Kappe Architects Planners)