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Accessible Design

Submission Deadline: Friday, April 15
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Past Awardees

Berkshire Towers Addition and Renovation, designed by Kuhn Riddle Architects. Photo by Anita Licis-Ribak Assoc. AIA.MBTA Charles/MGH Red Line Station, designed by Elkus Manfredi Architects. Photo by Kessler Photography.Park Street Church, designed by Mills Whitaker Architects. Photo by Anton Grassl/Esto. Davidge Dorfman House, designed by Pierce Lamb Architects. Photo by Kathy Tarantola Photography.

Click on any of the thumbnails above to view a slideshow of recent award winners.

Co-sponsored by the Massachusetts Architectural Access Board (AAB), this program recognizes excellence in the design of buildings or facilities that are accessible for persons of all abilities. Successful projects include the integration of accessibility requirements and exceed the legal requirements with features that anticipate diverse user needs and benefits.

The 2011 Jury

Leila Gonzalez, architecture student, Massachusetts College of Art
Brian Gregory, architecture student, Northeastern University
Donald Lang AIA, Donald Lang Architects and Chairman of the Architectural Access Board 
Deborah A. Pierce AIA, Pierce Lamb Architects
Ryan Schicker, architecture student, Wentworth Institute of Technology
Mark Trivett, Easton Building Inspector and Architectural Access Board Member

Creative solutions are sought that include effective accessibility as part of well-designed, responsive architecture in these categories:

  • Public Architecture projects are buildings and facilities to which Massachusetts statute 521 CMR applies.
    This statute (MGL Chapter 22, Section 13A) may be viewed at mass.gov/legis/laws/mgl/22-13a.htm.
  • Private Residential projects address an individual’s personal accessibility needs.
  • William D. Smith Memorial Award projects integrate accessibility with historic preservation.

In private residences, public and commercial buildings, entries may be for entire facilities or site-specific solutions. Project types might include exteriors (ramps, signage, campuses, landscape); interiors (entries, bathrooms, hardware, lifts, details); or buildings. Entries will be judged in part on effectiveness in integrating the specific access solution into the overall project design.

The jury is empowered to determine the extent to which design excellence is informed by aesthetic, functional, social, sustainable, as well as accessible and other characteristics.

Eligibility

This program is open to everyone—designers, building officials, citizens, community groups, building owners and public agencies. Projects and solutions must be located in Massachusetts. Associate AIA members and other unlicensed designers may submit projects that do not require the stamp of a licensed professional. Projects must have been completed after January 1, 2006, and before April 15, 2011.

Projects that have been honored in past years and work by jurors or by their firms are ineligible.

Entry fees

The nonrefundable entry fee for the first submission is $50 for Massachusetts AIA members and $100 for all others. The fee for each additional submission by the same architect or firm is $30 for Massachusetts AIA members and $60 for all others. (There is no limit on submissions.) Checks should be made payable to Boston Society of Architects.

Submission

Complete this entry form, and mail it with your entry fee and design materials to:
Accessible Design Awards, The Architects Building, 52 Broad Street, Boston, MA 02109

All submissions are due by 4:00 pm on April 15, 2011. Conceal references to the architecture firm on all materials submitted for the jury’s review.

Mailed entries must be in an 8.5" × 11" portfolio that includes:

  1. Written project description (See requirements below.)
  2. Up to 20 project photographs plus site plans and building plans, as applicable. Plans are crucial. Caption all images.
  3. Project credit list, sealed to maintain confidentiality. Include additional firm names and complete addresses for associated architecture firms, the contractor or construction manager, engineering firms and other consultants. Submit credits exactly as they should appear on the awards certificates: check the spelling of all firm names carefully. Be sure to credit photographers.
  4. Disc that includes every image and site plan in the physical portfolio (formatted .jpg, .tif or .pdf, at least 2000 pixels wide), plus the credit list and project description (formatted .doc or .txt)
  5. Entry fee (see above), payable to Boston Society of Architects

Project description requirements (one page, typed)

  1. Award subcategory (if applicable)
  2. Project type and location; site description
  3. Type (not name) of client; description of the planning, design and construction processes
  4. Program; your solutions to unique design challenges; special constraints
  5. Whether the project is new or a renovation
  6. Whether the design is original or an adaptation of a prototype
  7. Sustainable elements including relevant information about regional climate, measured energy data and LEED or BREEAM assessment (if applicable)
  8. Accessible/universal design elements
  9. Urban context (links to public transportation and other public facilities)
  10. Construction budget; cost per square foot; materials used; innovative building components
  11. Total square footage; total number of units, low-income units (if applicable)
  12. Others involved in the design process (e.g., users, artists, community members)
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