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Honor Awards for Design Excellence

Submission Deadline: Friday, August 26
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Past Awardees

Harry Parker Boathouse, designed by Anmahian Winton Architects. Photo by Jane Messinger.Apple Store, Boyleston Street, designed by Bohlin Cywinski Jackson. Photo by Nic Lehoux Architectural Photography.Carl J. Shapiro Science Center, designed by Payette. Photo by Warren Jagger Photography.

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

Any structure or building of any size or project type anywhere in the world designed by a Massachusetts architect/firm; or any structure, building or project type built in Massachusetts by any architect/firm anywhere in the world is eligible.

The sole judging criterion is design excellence. The jury is empowered to determine the extent to which design excellence is defined by aesthetic, functional, contextual, sustainable, social or other characteristics. The jury may also elect to honor all or part of a project, in any category they choose.

This program is co-sponsored by Poole Professional Ltd. and XL Insurance.

The 2011 Jury

This year's jury is composed of a subset of North Carolina's distinguised Triangle Architecture and Design Society (TADS).

Roger Clark FAIA, Distinguished Professor at the College of Design NCSU
Jeffrey Lee FAIA
Irv Pearce AIA
Ellen Weinstein AIA
Phil Szostak FAIA
Bryan Bell AIA
Victoria Bell ( Alternate)
Frank Harmon FAIA
David Hill AIA, Associate Professor at the College of Design NCSU

About TADS

The Triangle Architecture and Design Society (TADS) fosters collaboration among competing area practitioners and encourages greater public understanding of architectural design. The society has proven so successful that it has garnered national AIA attention, and participants receive AIA learning credits. The 20 participants meet once a month to critique each other’s work, to visit each other’s built projects and to discuss ways they can increase public awareness of architecture and its role in a sustainable society. They view their involvement in TADS as a means to improve their own work. The also use the organization to encourage design excellence throughout the mid-Atlantic region. For example, in 2003 TADS organized and presented The Art of Architecture, a comprehensive exhibition of North Carolina’s modernist tradition at the former Duke University Museum of Art. A companion exhibit is currently being planned. TADS participants also frequently participate in design charrettes and professional awards juries.

The jury meets September 23. Notifcations will be sent thereafter.

Eligibility

Structures or buildings (or groups of either) of any size and any project type (including rehabs, interior architecture, monuments, etc.) completed after January 1, 2004, are eligible. Associate AIA members and other unlicensed designers may submit projects that do not require the stamp of a licensed professional.

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 $150 for Massachusetts AIA members and $250 for all others. The fee for each additional submission by the same architect or firm is $100 for Massachusetts AIA members and $165 for all others. (There is no limit on submissions.) Checks should be made payable to Boston Society of Architects.

Submissions

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

All submissions are due by 4:00 pm on August 26, 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)

Read the 2010 Honor Awards for Design Excellence jury comments. 

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