To protect your financial/payment information, the registration page will time out after approximately 40 minutes. If you do not complete your submission within that time frame, the system will not save your information and you will have to start over. As such, it would be to your benefit to prepare your submission answers before logging in. Submission questions can be viewed here.
The Washington Chapter/AIA Awards Program recognizes excellence in the categories of architecture, interior architecture and historic resources. The program not only demonstrates to the public the value of good design, but also illustrates the wide variety of services performed by architects. The Washington Chapter/AIA Awards Program is conducted independently of other awards programs sponsored by the national American Institute of Architects and other AIA components.
All submissions are due by 4:55 PM on Monday, September 10, 2012.
The Awards Jury will take place on September 28, 2012.
Jurists include:
Architecture
Interior Architecture
Historic Resources
AIA|DC Members: $185 per submission
Other AIA Members: $215 per submission
Non-members: $320 per submission
Please note that all fees are non-refundable.
The program is open to all registered architects. The architect(s) submitting a given project must be (a) member(s) of the design team responsible for it, though not necessarily the head of that team. Project eligibility depends on the status of the submitting architect(s), as follows:
• Any registered architect who is a member of the Washington Chapter/AIA may submit any project completed after January 1, 2007, regardless of its location.
• Any registered architect who is a member of another AIA chapter or who is not a member of the Institute may submit any project located in the District of Columbia and completed after January 1, 2007.
In both instances, “completed” shall be understood to mean “substantially completed” as defined in standard AIA documents governing construction. Please note that the entry fee varies depending upon the entrant’s AIA membership status. If a project was given an award in the Architecture, Interior Architecture or Historic Resources categories in previous years it is no longer eligible to be considered in any of those categories in this or future awards programs. If you have any questions about the eligibility requirements please contact the Chapter. The Chapter shall have the sole authority to verify that eligibility requirements have been met.
The awards program is divided into three categories which shall be judged separately. A project can be entered in only one category. Submission guidelines for each category are similar but not the same. The 2012 Chapter Awards Program submission categories are:
• Architecture
The most general category, encompassing entirely new structures, most additions, and projects involving significant changes to existing buildings.
• Interior Architecture
Comprising projects primarily involving the design of interior spaces.
• Historic Resources
Including pure preservation or restoration, adaptive reuse of existing structures whose overall architectural character is maintained, sympathetic additions to historic structures, and replication or reconstruction of damaged or destroyed structures or element thereof.
A project may be submitted in the Architecture, Interior Architecture, OR Historic Resources category; it may not be submitted in more than one of these categories.
Projects submitted in any of the three categories may be eligible for a Presidential Citation for Sustainable Design, Urban Design, or Universal Design.
New for 2012:
The jury will present the awards at 6PM on September 28. There will be NO separate awards presentation this year.
The jury shall have the sole authority to determine which and how many awards are justified in each category. No minimum or maximum number of awards has been established. Projects shall be considered on their own merits regardless of size, scope or cost. The jury’s decisions shall be final and not subject to review.
In addition ot the three awards categories, your submission may also be eligible for additional accolades:
All projects submitted to the 2012 Chapter Awards are eligible for a special award for their ability to create a beautiful project that is compatible with sustainable design, including:
• Contributions to environmental balance
• Appropriate land use
• Energy efficiency
• Minimal ecological impact
• Reuse of existing buildings or facilities
• Use of recycled or renewable materials
• Integrating sustainable concepts with traditional requirements
The President of AIA|DC will present this special citation. It is completely at the discretion of the President to determine how many, if any, citations will be awarded each year. Projects not premiated by the Design Award Juries are eligible for commendation. To be considered for this honor, your submission must include a brief statement describing why the project should be considered based on the criteria listed above. Data describing the project’s energy use (BTU/sf/yr) and environmental assessment analysis (LEED, for example) should also be included, if possible.
Projects in the Architecture and Historic Resources category may to eligible for a special award for their ability to enliven the streetscape. Good design at the pedestrian’s eye level elevates the quality and richness of city life. This citation's goal is to demonstrate the value of design to the public and business community, showing how architects help promote good business and contribute to the city’s renewal and growth.
The President of AIA|DC will present this special citation. It is completely at the discretion of the President to determine how many, if any, citations will be awarded each year. Projects not premiated by the Design Award Juries are eligible for commendation. To be considered for this honor, your submission must include a brief statement describing why the project enlivens the streetscape and the city.
All projects submitted to the 2012 Chapter Awards are eligible for a special award for their creative solutions to include effective accessibility as part of well-designed responsive architecture, which may 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 President of AIA|DC will present this special citation. It is completely at the discretion of the President to determine how many, if any, citations will be awarded each year. Projects not premiated by the Design Award juries are eligible for commendation. To be considered for this honor, your submission must include a brief statement describing that your solution exceeds the minimum access requirements and is incorporated fully into your design.
Projects must be registered and submitted online no later than 4:55 PM on September 10, 2012. Binders, disks or other forms of entry will not be accepted. We strongly advise you to upload your submission a day or so before the deadline. Upload times will likely be much quicker.
To protect your financial/payment information, the registration page will time out after approximately 40 minutes. If you do not complete your submission within that time frame, the system will not save your information and you will have to start over. As such, it would be to your benefit to prepare your submission answers before logging in. Submission questions can be viewed here.
Drawings, photographs, and other graphic material as follows:
A. Photographs and/or drawings showing, in so far as pertinent and possible, each exposed exterior façade of the project, plus any additional exterior views necessary to describe completely the extent and quality of the finished project. Insofar as pertinent the submission should include each room of the project plus any additional interior views necessary to describe completely the extent and quality of the finished project. Exterior views are optional for the Interior Architecture category. Photographs showing the site or immediate context before the project’s construction are advised for entries in the Historic Resources Category.
B. Site plans, building plans and sections as necessary to describe the project. For projects involving changes to existing structures, documentation of the original conditions is required.
Uploads:
Note that you will have the ability to upload as many as ten 2MB files for each of your projects. These files will be combined into one pdf to be viewed by the jury via a projector. Please consider putting a pdf together much as you would have a binder and then reduce the file size. If you find that your entire file won’t work in just one 2MB upload you can break it up into two or more uploads that will then be combined by staff to show the jury.
Remember: Submissions may not display the firm name or other identifying information. Submittals that don’t conform to this longstanding requirement will be disqualified.
Firms or individuals in joint ventures or other cooperative endeavors must coordinate efforts to produce a single entry for a given project. All persons or firms substantially contributing to the design of the project must be given due credit, regardless of their professional disciplines. It is incumbent upon the submitting architect to provide a complete list of all participants substantially contributing to the design of the project, regardless of professional discipline. By submitting a project for consideration, the submitting architect represents and warrants to the Washington Chapter/AIA that he or she has provided a complete list. Failure to provide a complete list may result in disqualification and/or a referral of the matter to the appropriate ethics body of the national office of AIA. The Washington Chapter/AIA accepts no responsibility for incomplete lists. Interested persons are referred to the Washington Chapter/AIA’s “Awards Credits Policies,” which are:
• The Washington Chapter AIA (“Chapter”) relies upon the submitting architect to provide us with a complete list of all participants substantially contributing to the design of the project, regardless of professional discipline. A project may be disqualified and an award voided if this requirement is not followed. The Chapter disclaims responsibility for erroneous or incomplete information.
• If a dispute arises regarding the possible omission of a participant who substantially contributed to the design of a project, regardless of professional discipline, the Chapter may contact the submitting architect regarding the dispute. While the Chapter does not adjudicate such disputes, the Chapter may suggest to the submitting architect that he or she informally resolve the dispute with the complaining person(s).
If such resolution is impossible, the Washington Chapter AIA may require the submitting architect to list all participants substantially contributing to the design of the project, regardless of professional discipline, with a brief description of each such participant’s exact role, and, failing compliance, AIA may disqualify the project.
• By submitting a project for consideration, the submitting architect agrees to hold harmless the Chapter, its agents, employees, and members, for any and all liabilities, claims, and/or expenses of any kind what so ever arising from this contest or from any claims of third parties as to claims of entitlement of credit.
Although every reasonable precaution shall be taken in handling submitted material, the Chapter shall not be held responsible for loss of, or damage to, any submission or display panel.
Acceptance of an award shall constitute an agreement by the entrant to authorize the Washington Chapter/AIA to reproduce any of the material described above for publicity purposes, and an agreement to indemnify and hold the Chapter harmless in connection with such materials.