AIA Colorado 2018 Design Awards

We want to recognize you and your outstanding work.

We know that our members are leading the charge in excellent and innovative design, and you deserve credit for it. Receiving an AIA Colorado Design Award distinguishes you as a credible, trustworthy and talented architect.

Past AIA Colorado Design Award Winners have seen increased business, trust among peers, clients and local and national media coverage.

As a design award winner, your work will be featured in prominent local media like Colorado Homes & Lifestyles, The Denver Business Journal, ColoradoBIZ and Colorado Construction & Design. Your projects will also be showcased on the AIA Colorado website and other marketing materials. In fact—new this year—even if you do not win a design award, you will be considered a distinguished entrant and your submission may be recognized on our website.

Submit your great work for a design award and let us recognize you and your team for advancing architecture.

Click here for application instructions and submission requirements.

Entry Fees and Deadlines

The submission fee is $250 per entry.

Local section award recipients between the years 2014 and 2017 that did not receive statewide recognition, may resubmit for consideration for the AIA Colorado 2018 Design Award for $150.

Refunds will not be issued for entries that are disqualified, withdrawn, incomplete or late. The submission deadline will be strictly observed; no exceptions will be made.

Online Submission Process Opens: Friday, June 1, 2018

Submission Deadline: Friday, July 20, 2018 at 7:00 a.m.

AIA Colorado 20181 Design and Honor Awards Gala: Friday, September 7, 2018 – Seawall Grand Ballroom, Denver. Award winners will be notified and announced at the gala.

Submission Guidelines—Award Categories

AIA Colorado members may receive recognition for their projects both locally and statewide.

1. Project Type Categories

First, please select one of the following project categories that best represents your submission.

• Single-Family Residential
• Multi-Family Housing: May include mixed use.
• Commercial
• Institutional: Buildings designed for government, medical, recreational, educational or religious purposes.
• Interior Architecture: Designed by a licensed architect.
• Unbuilt Forward: Recognizes projects that will not see completion but address relevant social, cultural, and environmental challenges, or use technological innovations to advance architecture. This category is open to non-licensed members.
• Architectural Detail: Recognizes projects in which the details are executed in an artful way, celebrating the relationship between architecture and craft through a particular material, detail or technology.
• Regional and Urban Design: Recognizes urban design projects, planning programs, civic improvements, campus plans, regional plans, environmental programs or redevelopment projects— designed by a licensed architect member. Projects may not be individual buildings.

2. Local Section Recognition

Your project will first be considered for local recognition. Eligible projects must be designed by an AIA Colorado member/architect, but the project can be a structure of any size/type and located anywhere in the world. Each project type category will be recognized with one of the following local region awards:

• Notable in Denver
• Notable in the North
• Notable in the South
• Notable in the Western Slope

The number of awardees in each geographic section, and in each project category, is at the discretion of the jury. It is possible that none, or multiple, awards may be given.

3. Statewide Recognition

Winning projects in each local region will then automatically advance for further consideration to receive an AIA Colorado 2018 Design Award.

NOTE: member projects which previously received a Denver, North, South or West local award in 2014-2017, but did not previously win a statewide award, are eligible for consideration as an AIA Colorado 2018 Design Award recipient.

Award Levels

Once the jury selects a project to receive a statewide award, it will be recognized with one of the following levels:

Award of Excellence: The highest honor possible, this award recognizes projects that exemplify architectural excellence in all aspects and embody the highest design standards. Unanimous approval by the jurors is required for this award.

Award of Merit: Granted to those projects which may not exemplify excellence but display a high standard of architectural quality and design. This award does not require a unanimous vote but should be supported by a majority of jurors.

Honorable Mention: Recognizes notable achievements in one or more aspects of the project. This award does not require a unanimous vote but should be supported by a majority of jurors.

Not every project will be eligible for recognition in one of these levels. Local awardees will be distinguished as recipients of the “Notable in the Local Section” awards.

Eligibility

For projects to be considered, the following requirements must be met:

1. The project must have been completed within the last five calendar years. This means that the submitted project must have been completed on, or after, Jan. 1, 2013.
2. The work must be submitted by an AIA Colorado member architect in good standing.
   a. Submissions must include the individual who served as either the design architect or the architect-of-record for the project being submitted.
   b. In the case of multi-office firms, eligible projects are limited to work done by the AIA Colorado-member-based office where the AIA Colorado member is the design architect or the architect-of record.
   c. Eligible projects must be designed by an AIA Colorado member/architect, but the project can be a structure of any size/type and located anywhere in the world.
   d. Non-licensed members are only eligible to submit for the Award Unbuilt Forward project type category.
3. Projects that have previously received statewide recognition (the AIA Colorado Design Award) are not eligible for resubmittal. However, projects previously awarded a local section award between 2014 and 2017 and have not yet received a statewide AIA Colorado Design Award are eligible to submit again at a discounted price for statewide recognition.
4. Projects that have been previously submitted but did not receive any award in prior years, and still meet the five-year eligibility requirement, may be resubmitted starting at the local level.
5. There is no limit to the number or submissions per eligible architect member or firm. You may enter as many projects as you wish that meet the eligibility criteria.

Judging and Evaluation Criteria

The AIA Colorado Design Awards jury will define design excellence as architectural work that sets itself apart from the norm in a positive way. The “norm” should be considered the typical design work expected in a particular category. The jury will be looking for work that sets itself apart from the norm through:

1. Concept for the project
2. Detailing and execution of the design concept
3. Achievement of difficult or unusual program goals
4. Originality of design
5. Image created for the client through the project
6. Addresses the AIA’s 10 Principles of Livable Communities (PDF attached)

Jury Selection

The AIA Colorado 2018 Design Awards and notable in the local section awards are judged by a panel of jurors selected based on their broad experience, impartiality, professional achievements, design quality and professional integrity. Every attempt is made to create a balanced panel that will provide fair judgment of all entries. A jury chair is appointed to serve as the official spokesperson of the jury and to give direction and final approval for all written jury comments. He/she facilitates full participation of all jury members and helps strive for balance of project types in the event of bias in one direction and will ensure that confidentiality is maintained.