Housing Award

Architects licensed in the U.S. 

On team projects, the architect submitting the entry does not have to be head of the team. 

All team, group, or firm projects must credit all who substantially contributed in any capacity (for example, landscape architects and construction firms). 

2026 

Submissions open September 12, 2025.

Specific information regarding program policies (i.e., applicant eligibility, nominator options, etc.), required application components (i.e., letters of reference, candidate/project information fields, etc.), and other elements relevant in the 2026 iteration of the program will be available in the online application portal once the award begins accepting materials. All materials must be submitted via the online portal (i.e., cannot be accepted via email, phone, shared online drive, fax, post, etc.) by the prescribed deadline(s): deadline extension or exception requests will not be granted. Applicants and interested parties are encouraged to seek award assistance well in advance of application deadlines to minimize the risk for ineligibility and/or application noncompliance rendering the entry removed from review.         

Fee: Single project submissions are $450 each. Submitting the same project to additional award categories costs an extra $100 per category.

Projects 

New construction, renovations, and restorations are eligible. Unbuilt projects are only accepted for the Community-Engaged Design category. 

Projects must have been completed after January 1, 2019. 

Categories

• One- and Two-Family Custom Residences: Recognizes outstanding designs for custom and remodeled homes for specific client(s).
• One- and Two-Family Production Homes: Recognizes excellent design of homes built for the speculative market.
• Multifamily Housing: Recognizes outstanding multifamily housing design, both high- and low-density projects for public and private clients and mixed-use projects.
• Specialized Housing: Recognizes outstanding design of housing that meets the unique needs of other specialized housing types such as single-room occupancy residences (SROs), independent living for the disabled, residential rehabilitation programs, domestic violence shelters, residential halls/student housing, and other special housing.
• Excellence in Affordable Housing: Recognizes architecture that demonstrates excellent design responses to the needs and constraints of affordable housing at a variety of scales.
• Mixed-Use Community Connection: Recognizes projects that integrate housing with other community amenities for the purposes of neighborhood transformation, meeting resident needs and/or supporting community objectives such as transit-oriented development.
• Community-Engaged Design: Recognizes projects (built and unbuilt) that focus on excellence in a community-engaged design process as much as the resulting design of physical structures. Submissions in this category do not need to include housing.
• Universal Dwelling Design: This award recognizes projects that demonstrate excellence in universal design principles, affordability, innovative technology, and human-centered integrative approaches to community inclusion.   

Application Components
Extensive information on the materials required to submit an application is housed in the AIA online application portal. Please reference the information in this portal when the program is receiving materials for the 2026 season. 

Review Criteria

• All projects must demonstrate design excellence. The jury evaluates entries based on how successfully projects perform in each category. The jury will evaluate all projects with the following considerations:
• Equity: How does the project support social impact goals and contribute to community context and history? See focus areas included under Design for Equitable Communities in the AIA Framework for Design Excellence.
• Resilience: To what extent does the project plan for climate and community change? How do environmental performance measures contribute to long-term sustainability? See focus areas included under Design for Change in the AIA Framework for Design Excellence.
• Innovation + Delight: To what extent does the project model leadership in the field and enhance our understanding of residential architecture and/or community development? See focus areas included under Design for Integration and Design for Discovery in the AIA Framework for Design Excellence.
• The jury will review and consider the visual PDF submitted, AIA Framework for Design Excellence narratives and metrics, and additional housing and community development-specific questions in full.
• The jury evaluates entries relative to the AIA Framework for Design Excellence. Submitted projects do not have to adhere to all measures but need to address several of them. Submitters are strongly encouraged to consider their submission materials in this context.   
• Entries are judged individually—not in competition with each other. 

For information on 2025 recipients of this award program visit our awards management portal.  

Recipients of this award from 2024 and 2023 can be found at AIA award winners. For previous recipients please contact AIA Archives.