Header: Jones Aubrie; Photo credit: NeoCon
NeoCon, the world-leading platform for the commercial design industry that has celebrated the built environment for more than 36 years, has published the selected jury for the upcoming edition. The jury will consider entries for the Best of NeoCon Awards and the Business Impact Awards.
The Best of NeoCon Jurors
The 2026 jury for the Best of NeoCon awards program brings together around 45 architects, facility managers, and designers, as well as users from various companies and organisations such as Hemke Ariel and Jones Aubrie from Northwestern Mutual, Michael Rodriguez from Marmon Mok, Jennifer Leighty from Walgreens, Rita Radley from CannonDesign, Jessica Maples, and Annie Portner from Gensler.
The program for the current year includes hundreds of submissions that will fight for the prestigious awards in one of 46 categories. Submissions can win Gold, Silver, Innovation, and Sustainability awards, as well as a singular Best of Competition award. The upcoming NeoCon 2026 will see the debut of a new category, Illuminate at NeoCon, with expanded lighting classifications.
Diverse Jury Grounded in Reality
The jury consists of professionals employed on major projects in corporate, healthcare, education, and large-scale mixed-use structures. Facility manager jurors are overseeing workspace refurbishments, campus upgrades, and specialised projects, evaluating them not only for visual appeal but also for operational impact and long-term functionality.
The jury will consist of new and returning jurors who represent different geographic regions and diverse disciplines. In order to better understand product development, intended use, and materiality, the jurors will engage in conversation with manufacturers on the spot during their evaluation.
“As someone who attends NeoConregularly, having a behind-the-scenes look at how products come together is incredibly valuable.Hearing directly from the teams about their inspiration, the challenges they’re solving, and howtheir designs function in practice adds a level of understanding you can’t get anywhere else.”
Jennifer Leighty, Walgreens
Business Impact Awards Jurors
The fourth edition of the Business Impact Awards will celebrate products that improve organisational performance, whether in efficiency, affordability, or the use of space. The finalists who enter the second round will be subjected to on-site review by a panel of business journalists, including Laura Heller and Sylviede Gil from Forbes, Abby Miller (Chicago Sun Times), Ellen Eberhardt (Dezeen), Aman Kidwai(Inc), Gregory Han (Wirecutter), Jan Parr (Crain’s), and Sarah Archer (New York Times).
People’s Choice Awards
The winners of The Best of NeoCon and Business Impact Awards will be able to compete for People’s Choice Awards. The voting initiative taking place both on-site and online enables the broader design community to select its favourite products. The voting will open on June 9, 2026, and five People’s Choice Awards winners will be announced the following day at the BIMFA Breakfast and across NeoCon social media channels.
Submissions are open till May 20
Those who wish to participate in NeoCon can submit their entries via the Best of NeoCon online portal until May 20, 2026. Standard entry fee is set at $1,000 per entry, while late entries (those submitted between May 1 and May 20 will cost $1,100. For an additional $500 per entry, the exhibitors can also opt in to be considered for Business Impact awards.
NeoCon, one of the most important events in the commercial interiors industry, has taken place every year since 1969. The three-day event gathers design organisations, end-users, architects, designers, dealers, media and over 400 companies who aim to change the future of design with their innovative products. NeoCon 2026 will be held between June 8 and 10, 2026, at the largest privately held commercial building in the US, The Mart, in Chicago.
