Building Design Awards



Sponsored By:

BMC Logo.
BMC Logo.

Submissions accepted until

February 2, 2021

The Building Design Awards is the American Institute of Building Design’s premier award program exhibiting design excellence in all building designs. It spotlights the most creative and innovative building designers, architects, interior designers, builders, remodelers, and developers in the nation. Each year, the awards program recognizes exceptional design in the commercial and multi-family architecture of all types and sizes, built and unbuilt, totally new, or added to and remodeled. 

NOTE: This is NOT the American Residential Design Awards (ARDA). The Building Design Awards are for COMMERCIAL and MULTI-FAMILY ONLY. ARDA is for RESIDENTIAL only.

The Building Design Awards is an awards program, not a design competition. Therefore, entries are not grouped by classification, square footage, or project value categories. A panel of building design and construction experts judges based on the quality of the entry and not compared to others in a category. Outstanding entries are named “Gold” winners, and the overall best in each specific category are honored with a prestigious “Platinum” award. More than one “Gold” and more than one “Platinum” is possible in any given category, based on the number of entries.

All industry professionals are eligible to enter individual or collaborative projects. However, professionals must be licensed, registered, or statutorily exempted from licensure to perform the work submitted (exemptions vary by state). 

Entries previously submitted to The Building Design Awards are still eligible, provided they haven’t yet won recognition in the same category. The same project can be entered into more than one category (e.g., Built, Sustainable, and Multi-Use), and all completed projects are eligible regardless of their completion date.

Awards Gala:


The awards are announced, and customized individual trophies presented at an awards dinner hosted in conjunction with the Design & Build Winter Conference…LATEST INFO HERE! on Friday, February 26, 2021, at the Greer Lowdermilk Conference Center in Houston, Texas (Located adjacent to the Houston Firefighters’ Relief and Retirement Fund building).

Instructions:


Please choose which category, or categories, you would like to enter and how many entries in each category.

NOTE: This is NOT the American Residential Design Awards (ARDA). The Building Design Awards are for COMMERCIAL and MULTI-FAMILY ONLY. ARDA is for RESIDENTIAL only.

AIBD MEMBERS!

To receive $70 off of each entry, click “Apply Discount Code” just above the total amount due. Enter the exclusive discount code in the field and click “Apply.”

If you haven’t received the AIBD MEMBER discount code, contact us before registering.

If you’re not an AIBD member and if you’re about to enter four or more entries, the math works in your favor. Contact us before you enter to join over the phone. Or become a member right now at www.JoinAIBD.org. 

Once you have registered, watch for an email to land in your inbox immediately. It will have vital links, passwords, and instructions that will guide you through the process.

If you decide to add more entries later, no problem, but be aware, you will receive a second confirmation email with different login information used to access the additional entry or entries.

Entries are accepted up until the deadline date, on or before 11:59 pm. PST.

Best of luck!

Submission Requirements:


NOTE: This is NOT the American Residential Design Awards (ARDA). The Building Design Awards are for COMMERCIAL and MULTI-FAMILY ONLY. ARDA is for RESIDENTIAL only.

Remember to name your files in such a way that they will appear in the order (alphabetically or numerically) you prefer to the judges to view them in.

All images and plans must be anonymous. Please remove any references to firm and client names, as well as the project’s exact physical location.

Submitting your entries:

Using your link and PIN (sent to you by email after registering), you may access each of your entry pages where you will fill out the entry forms and upload your images and plan files. At the bottom of each page is a “Save” or “Submit” button. When you “Save” your entry, you may leave before finishing and return to complete your work later. To return to a submittal in progress, click on the “Edit” icon located on the right-hand side of your entry list. Using the “Submit” button indicates the entry is considered complete and entered into the awards program. Entries submitted after 11:59 pm. PST on the deadline date will NOT be judged.

Entry image and file size:

“Photo Gallery” – An unlimited number of images (JPG, PNG, GIF, TIF) are accepted, but each image MUST be 2MB or smaller. A thumbnail of the image will be visible to confirm submission. The thumbnails will also be what the judges use to quickly access your entry before clicking on the thumbnails to take a closer look.

“High-Resolutions Image” – Considering that every entry may potentially win an award, the “High-Resolutions Image” folder is used for future publishing. However, it WILL NOT be made available to the judges. As a result, all high-resolution photos MUST ALSO be resized to 2MB or less and included in the “Photo Gallery.” Each file must be 20MB or smaller to be accepted. Once uploaded, the file name will appear in a list of file names to confirm submission. THUMBNAILS will NOT appear with file uploads.

“Plans Gallery” – An unlimited number of plan files (PDF or image file) or document files may be uploaded, but each file must be 20MB or smaller to be accepted. Judges will have access to your plans and document files. As with the high-resolution photos folder, the file name will appear in a list of file names to confirm submission. THUMBNAILS will NOT appear with file uploads.

We encourage you to submit a full set of drawings as one file. However, due to file size limitations, it may be necessary to submit working drawing one page at a time.

Naming the files is essential for easy access after submitting it. Judges must be able to navigate through your entry quickly and easily, especially when reviewing a set of working drawings. Therefore, use file names that describe the content within the file, e.g., Page #, Floor Plan, Site Plan, Rendering, etc.

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Register your entries!