Eligibility

Call For Submissions:

The 15th Annual AIA East Bay Design Awards program recognizes excellence in Architectural Design by AIA East Bay Chapter members, AIA members from other Chapters who have completed projects within the four counties represented by the AIA East Bay Chapter (Alameda, Contra Costa, Napa & Solano), and projects located within the four counties designed by non-AIA affiliated Architects but who have at least one AIA East Bay member on their design team for the submitted project.

Projects that honor the earth’s precious resources, are empathetic to site context and promote social equity while equally striving to celebrate the art and the science of Architecture will be strongly encouraged for submission.

All submissions are evaluated by a panel of accomplished jurors, distinguished for their contribution to the profession of Architecture and Design.

Schedule:

  • Deadline for submissions: September 29th, 2023, at Midnight P.T.
  • Design Awards Reception & Presentation Gala: November 9th, 2023. 
  • Brower Center, 2150 Allston Way, Berkeley, CA 94704

Eligibility:

Projects designed by AIA East Bay Chapter members located anywhere in the world.

Projects designed by any AIA members which are located within the counties of Alameda, Contra Costa, Napa or Solano.

Projects designed by non-AIA affiliated Architects which are located within the counties of Alameda, Contra Costa, Napa or Solano, who have an AIA East Bay Chapter member on their design team for the submitted project. 

Built Projects must have been completed since January 1st, 2020, and have not previously received an AIA East Bay Design Award.

Projects must be complete at the time of submission except for those submitted to the Unbuilt or Student category.

 

Categories:

Projects of all types are eligible for entry: New/ Extension/ Renovation/ Adaptive Reuse/ Restoration of all Building Typologies. The list is inclusive of but not limited to Residential/ Commercial/ Civic/ Institutional/ Healthcare Buildings, Interior Projects, and Landscape Projects.

All submissions will be evaluated based on their scale within the following five categories:

  • Small Scale: Less than 5,000 GSF
  • Medium Scale: Less than 25,000 GSF
  • Large Scale: Greater than 25,000 GSF
  • Unbuilt Projects: Scale not applicable
  • Student Projects: Scale not applicable

There are three possible Award levels, Honors, Merits & Citations, for each category. All awards and levels are at the jury’s discretion.

 

Special Awards:

Peoples Choice: AIA East Bay community members vote on their top choice of projects nominated from any category on the day of the event.

Beyond Award: The “Beyond Award” celebrates designs that transcend the visible, embracing inclusivity and equity, pushing the boundaries of innovation to reshape our world sustainably and creatively.

Design Excellence: Our jury will consider how well a project embodies elements of the AIA Framework for design excellence.

 

How to Submit Your Project:

Click here to register your BUILT project: Link to form

Click here to register your UNBUILT or STUDENT project: Link to form

Entry Fees:

AIA East Bay Members: $225 (Early Bird) and $275 after September 12th.

Non-AIA East Bay members: $275 (Early Bird) and $450 after September 12th

Students: $10 per each application.

 

Fine Print:

There is no limit to the number of entries that a firm may submit.

All visual materials submitted must be cleared for public reproduction.

The eligible member credited with the project must be the Architect of record or the Firm of record.

For projects by non-AIA Architects, there must be at least one AIA East Bay Chapter member attached to the project and included on the application form. 

Make full payment of entry fees by the submission deadline. 

 

Submission Requirements:

All submissions shall be completed via the online platform.

All submissions must meet a minimum of one category of the AIA Framework for Design Excellence.

Entry form to be completed with acknowledgment of AIA East Bay’s use of submission information and images as outlined in the full submission guidelines. 

All submission materials shall be cleared for release and use by the entrant and AIA East Bay.

All judging is anonymous. No submission shall include any name of the design team in the Descriptive data, images, or submittal materials (other than the confidential entry form).

FORMAT OF PROJECT SUBMISSION:

All submittal materials shall be uploaded in PDF format with a consistent visual size/layout. The preferred aspect ratio is 16:9 or 1920 X 1080 pixels, landscape oriented where possible. Please be mindful to omit firm/architect names, emails, phone numbers, or other identifying text or images anywhere in your submission.

The first page of all submissions should be a project summary page that includes the following:

  • Project Name
  • Project location (City, County, State, Country)
  • Substantial completion date (month/year) 
  • Select a Category of scale: 
    • Small Scale: Less than 5,000 GSF
    • Medium Scale: Less than 25,000 GSS
    • Large Scale: Greater than 25,000 GSF
    • Unbuilt
  • For unbuilt only: Design completion (month/year) 
  • Cost (optional)
  • Sustainability certification/target (optional)
  • Select the applicable category (s) of the AIA Framework for Design Excellence with a brief description of how your project addresses it.
  • Descriptive data (300 words maximum)

No less than 3 and no more than 10 image pages, PDF format. (11 maximum pages with captions and photographer credits, including project attributes on the first page.) There is no limit to the number of images, graphics, or text per page. Layout and presentation are at the submitters’ discretion in using their best efforts to present their project. 

Upon submission, the project materials become the property of AIA East Bay, and the AIA East Bay will use images from all submitted projects in multimedia presentations at the awards reception, on the AIA East Bay website, and on AIA East Bay social media platforms. AIA East Bay reserves the right to use the submissions for publicity and public relations. 

All submissions require a client consent form acknowledging the entry of their project into the AIA East Bay Design Awards. You will agree to these via our submission form.

Provide a descriptive summary of 300 words or less demonstrating the comprehensive approach for the project as it relates to celebrating the Art and the Science of Architecture, honoring the earth’s precious resources, being empathetic to the site context, and the way in which it promotes social equity.

Here are two examples of past submissions to help clarify the format we are expecting

Please submit all requested information via our online submission form. Required fields are marked with an asterisk. Please be sure the information appears EXACTLY as you wish to see it published and listed on the awards certificates. Check the spelling of names carefully. We suggest you print out the submission form page in advance, craft your answers, and then cut and paste your final into our form. Complete and submit all parts of the project submission, along with payment of entry fees, by the due date. 

For additional submittal information and questions, please email Info@aiaeb.org.

For opportunities to get involved with the Reception and Design Awards event, please contact the Design Awards Committee by email: DesignAwards@aiaeb.org.

 

Jurors:

We are delighted to confirm the following jurors for this year’s AIA East Bay Design Awards:

  • TBD