Submission Deadline for the Design Awards is Friday, July 19, 2024
Entry Fee, Forms, Common App Questionnaire, and Submittals are due by 5PM

Please submit your Entry Fee via the AIA Design Awards REGISTRATION PAGE

Registration Fees:

• AIA Member Entry: $195
• Non-Member: $650
• Divine Detail: $95
• Student Entry: $50

The AIA Houston Design Awards program recognizes design excellence in architecture, residential architecture, interior architecture, restoration/renovation, and urban design. Criteria to be used by the jury include quality of design, resolution of the program idea, sustainable responsibility, innovation, thoughtfulness, and technique.
 

ELIGIBILITY
 Projects located in the Houston metropolitan area designed by an architect registered in the US, or projects, regardless of location, designed by an architect registered in Texas practicing in the Houston metropolitan area. 

Built projects must have been completed after August 1, 2018, except for special requirements in the Urban Design category. On projects where construction is phased, only completed phases are eligible. Where one firm is not the sole author, all participants in the design work must be credited on the Entry Form. AIA Houston reserves the right to disqualify any entry not submitted in accordance with the rules.

If there are architectural elements that were pre-existing on the project and designed by another architect, that architect should be identified on the entry form. For instance, an addition to an existing building should identify the architect of the existing building where practicable and should clearly delineate for the jurors the addition from what existed before the project.

COMMON APP QUESTIONNAIRE

To help us better understand how your project’s design addresses sustainability, resilience, and inclusiveness, and in support of AIA National’s Framework for Design Excellence, we ask that you fill out the Common App Questionnaire. This is an opportunity for you to showcase performance data and relevant information in this context. We do not expect projects to address all aspects of the Framework for Design Excellence. 

NOTE: The Common App is NOT required for the Conceptual, On the Boards or Divie Detail categories.

Fields that are not relevant can be marked “N/A.” 

PLEASE NOTE: FILL OUT THE COMMON APP TO THE BEST OF YOUR ABILITY. YOU WILL NOT BE PENALIZED IF LEFT INCOMPLETE.

The Common App is a document (in Excel) created by AIA to capture project performance metrics and simplify the awards submissions process across AIA components.

CATEGORIES

Built Projects
 Built projects may be submitted for recognition in the following categories. The jury may move a project to a different category. LEED, AIA COTE guidelines, or other demonstrable environmental responses should be included with each entry and will be considered in judging.

• Architecture Greater Than 50,000 SF
• Architecture Less Than 50,000 SF
• Residential Architecture: Residential projects include single-family houses and multi-family projects up to 20 units.  Large-scale apartment or condominium projects must be submitted under Architecture.
• Interior Architecture
• Renovation/Restoration: Restoration, renovation, or rehabilitation of existing buildings including adaptive reuse. A non-integrated addition to an existing building should be submitted under Architecture.
• Divine Detail: Recognizes architectural ingenuity in the use of a particular material, detail, or building technology.

Unbuilt Projects

• Urban Design: Urban Design projects must have an active client. Submittals may include urban design projects, planning programs, civic improvements, environmental programs, and redevelopment projects. Portions of the project must be under implementation; however, the whole project need not be completed. The Project Description must include the implementation schedule.
• On The Boards: This category is for unrealized or uncompleted work for an active client.
• Conceptual: This category is for conceptual work not for an active client.

NOTE: Student submissions are welcome, but must have a faculty sponsor.


REQUIREMENTS
 All entries must be anonymous. Your name and/or firm name should not appear anywhere except where indicated on the entry form. For every entry, please prepare the following:

 1. One Project Presentation PDF

• Pages should be 11 x 8.5 inches, and oriented horizontally (landscape). 
• The first slide must include one photo of the project, the project title along with its total square footage and location. 
• Slide two of the presentation should include the project description with bullet points and/ or a brief paragraph describing the project, all on a white back background. 
• The narrative must describe the project in no more than 300 words. Include program requirements, design solutions, and information supporting objectives such as sustainability, energy-efficient performance, etc. This slide should include the project name; it may also include an image. 
• A PDF file containing a maximum of 21 pages (20 pages + one sustainability page*; see below), with a file size no larger than 20 MB. 4:3 aspect ratio is recommended. Submittals may not contain transitions, sound, animation, video clips, panorama movies,  hyperlinks, or links to other files. Images must be a minimum of 150  DPI.
• Do not identify architects or designers in the file name or on any image.
• Preexisting architectural elements not designed as part of the project, but visible in the images, should be clearly marked as pre-existing and the prior architect should be credited.
• All projects (except Interior Architecture) must include a site plan or aerial photography.
• All plans and elevations should be clearly marked with a north arrow or directional identification.
• For Renovation/Restoration projects, indicate pre-existing conditions with plans and/or photographs.
• For Interior Architecture projects, include floor plans and one exterior photograph of the building for reference.

 2. One Project Image

• A 7" x 5", 250 DPI image. The image will be used for the Design Awards Publication, in which all submittals will be published.

3. One Common App Questionnaire: Download HERE

 4. One PowerPoint Slide

• Size: 8.5 x 11 
• Include one image to present to the Jurors. This is the page that we provide the jurors 
• No more than 300 words. The description should include program requirements, sustainability goals, and design solutions.