Architect of the Year

This award is open to a practising female architect with a proven track record in delivering excellence in architectural designs across a portfolio of built work. The judges will be looking for architects who take an original, holistic and sustainable approach to design and who both embrace a challenge and inspire others.

Entrants should provide examples of a maximum of 3 completed projects from within the last 24 months along with a profile of who they are and why they should be considered for this award.

Please provide up to 300 words for each project and a 300 word profile of the individual.

Architectural Student of the Year

This award celebrates female post degree level students, who have proven skill, creativity and dedication to the field of architecture. Showcasing and promoting the next generation and recognising their talent.

Entrants should provide either a conceptual design, a project in progress or a project completed within the past 18 months.

Judges will be looking for originality, innovation, the use of technologies and progressive practices, design excellence as well an awareness of sustainability and environmental considerations.

The awards program is showcasing and promoting exceptional emerging talent and celebrating those who are pushing boundaries, utilizing new, exciting technologies and materials, and developing our future environments in ways that will enrich our lives.

Please provide up to 300 words on the entered project and a profile of no more than 300 words covering the individual’s philosophy and approach to design.

Please note there is a reduced entry fee to enter this category.

Contribution to Architecture Award

This award is for those individuals in the industry who have made a significant contribution to the wider architecture and built environment industry consistently throughout their career. This category celebrates their work, their ethos, their leadership and their capacity to drive change within the industry for the better.

Judges will be looking for a person that has consistently delivered design excellence in their work, for their clients and for the advancement of the wider architecture industry throughout their career.

Entrants should provide examples of 3 - 5 completed projects from within the last 10 years and should also demonstrate the contribution they have made through innovation, education and leadership.

Please provide up to 300 words for each project and up to 500 words on the individual’s contribution to the industry.

Emerging Architect of the Year

This award recognises excellence in architectural design for up-and-coming female architects enabling them to showcase their work on a global stage. There is no age restriction on this category; success can come at any career point.

Entrants should provide examples of a maximum of 3 projects (including at least 1 completed project from within the past 24 months, future projects and conceptual ideas may also be used) along with a profile of who they are and why they should be considered for this award.

Judges will be looking for originality, design excellence as well as an awareness of sustainability and environmental considerations.

*This category is open to all fully qualified architects who have either have been practising for under 10 years or for a maximum of 12 years but incorporating career breaks. Please note that this refers to your entire career in the industry, not your career within a specific company or organisation. Entrants with more than 10 years of experience (or more than 12 years of experience incorporating career breaks) will be disqualified.

Please provide up to 300 words for each project and a 300 word profile of the individual. 

Innovation in Architecture Award

This award is for an architect who has contributed to a portfolio of work that consistently demonstrates a high standard of innovative design. There should be a strong focus on sustainability and the incorporation of materials which have a positive impact on the environment or at least do no harm, and/or the use of technologies and progressive practices. Their work should reflect an awareness of climate change and the mitigation of its effects and a consideration towards the future proofing of developments.

Entrants should provide examples of a maximum of 3 projects (including at least 1 completed project from within the past 24 months, future projects and conceptual ideas may also be used) along with a profile of who they are and why they should be considered for this award.

Please provide up to 300 words for each project and a 300 word profile of the individual.

Pioneering Award

This category seeks to reward an individual who is helping to drive the industry forward and who is committed to making the architecture and wider built environment industry more inclusive and diverse. 

Pioneering could take the form of education, mentorship schemes or any other programme developed to positively impact women in architecture and in the wider built environment space. Judges will be looking for a person who has actively supported the career development of female talent through all stages of their career.

Please provide a written entry of no more than 1,200 words and a profile of no more than 400 words of the individual.

N.B the Pioneering Award is open to individuals of all genders. To be eligible, nominated individuals must have made impressive and continuous contributions to the advancement of women in architecture and in the wider built environment space.

Social Change Award

This award will champion an architect who strives to make the world a better place through design. They will use their experience, knowledge and skills to positively affect the public realm. Enhancing and empowering social change will be at the forefront of the design across their portfolio, encompassing a thoughtful awareness of the needs of the community, whether they be regionally specific or economically supportive.  This process will run alongside the use of environmentally sensitive approaches to all aspects of the design.

Entrants should provide examples of at least 1 completed project from within the past 24 months, along with a profile of who they are, other similar projects they have worked on and why they should be considered for this award. Pro bono educational work may also play a part.

Please provide up to 500 words on the completed project including why this project was taken on, the brief, any challenges along the way and the results. You should also provide a profile of the individual of no more than 500 words.

Please note there is a reduced entry fee to enter this category.

Team of the Year

The category will recognise the skills and abilities of an all female or female-led team working on a built environment project either finished within the last 24 months or an ongoing (non-conceptual) project.

This could be an in-house team or team of specialists from a range of industries pulled together for a particular project, being designed and developed by women, but for use by everyone.

All sizes of projects both completed and ongoing will be considered. The judges will be looking for demonstrations of group working and individuals skills which have contributed to the successful end goal or objective.

Entrants should provide a case study from either 1 completed project from within the past 24 months, or a case study form 1 an ongoing (non-conceptual) project, along with a profile of who they are, and why they should be considered for this award.

Please provide up to 500 words on the completed or ongoing project including why this project was taken on, the brief and any challenges along the way (along with any results if applicable). You should also provide a profile of no more than 500 words covering the individuals in the team.

Spotlight Award

This category will spotlight the contribution of an individual who is not the overall project lead but nonetheless someone who is an integral part of the process.

The award will recognise an individual working alone or a female lead working with a team, within the built environment who is advancing their respective practice through either exemplary design work, project management, teaching, planning, research, engineering, civic activities, and other agencies for change. 

Judges will need to understand their role, their impact, and how they are delivering exemplary work in tandem with their colleagues.

Entrants should provide examples of a maximum of 3 projects they have worked on (including at least 1 completed project from within the past 24 months, future projects and conceptual ideas may also be used) along with a profile of who they are and why they should be considered for this award.

Please provide up to 300 words for each project and a 300 word profile of the individual. 

NEW: Innovation in Interior Design

This award is for an interior designer who has contributed to a portfolio of work that consistently demonstrates a high standard of innovative design. There should be a strong focus on sustainability and the incorporation of materials which have a positive impact on the environment or at least do no harm, and/or the use of technologies and progressive practices. Their work should reflect an awareness of climate change and the mitigation of its effects and a consideration towards the future proofing of developments.

Judges will be looking for how these designs have been developed in ways that are covid secure. However, as we move towards a post-pandemic world, entrants should also demonstrate evidence of the flexibility of these designed spaces.

Entrants should provide examples of a maximum of 3 projects (including at least 1 completed project from within the past 24 months, future projects and conceptual ideas may also be used) along with a profile of who they are and why they should be considered for this award.

Please provide up to 300 words for each project and a 300 word profile of the individual. 

NEW: Interior Designer of the Year

All-round design excellence over a body of work by an interior designer or studio that has been in business for more than five years. 

This award is open to a practising female interior designer with a proven track record in delivering excellence in designs across a portfolio of work. This award will celebrate an interior designer who sets new standards, pushes boundaries and transforms the spaces in which we live and work. Judges will be looking for an interior designer who takes an original, holistic and sustainable approach to design and who both embrace a challenge and inspire others.

Entrants should provide examples of a maximum of 3 completed projects from within the last 24 months along with a profile of who they are and why they should be considered for this award.

Please provide up to 300 words for each project and a 300 word profile of the individual.

NEW: Emerging Interior Designer of the Year

This award recognises excellence in interior design and allows up-and-coming female interior designers with any area of expertise to showcase their work on a global stage.There is no age restriction on this category; success can come at any career point.

Judges will be looking for an individual who clearly demonstrates originality, creative quality, design excellence as well as an awareness of sustainability, environmental considerations and social appropriateness.

Entrants should provide examples of a maximum of 3 projects (including at least 1 completed project from within the past 24 months, future projects and conceptual ideas may also be used) along with a profile of who they are and why they should be considered for this award.

*This category is open to all interior designers who have either have been practising for under 5 years or for a maximum of 7 years but incorporating career breaks. Please note that this refers to your entire career in the industry, not your career within a specific company or organisation. Entrants with more than 5 years of experience (or more than 7 years of experience incorporating career breaks) will be disqualified.

Please provide up to 300 words for each project and a 300 word profile of the individual. 

NEW: Workplace of the Year

This award will reward a practice, firm or organisation that is actively and consistently striving to develop the best possible working environments for their staff and in particular their female employees. Judges will be looking for programmes, initiatives and ways of working that:

• Ensure women are not disadvantaged in the workplace
• Develop diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives
• Guarantee equal pay
• Foster a positive attitude to mental and physical wellbeing
• Provide a healthy and supportive work environment including flexible working, maternity and paternity leave and an overall approach to a work-life balance. 
• Promote and encourage career advancement and training and development initiatives

This award will recognise great workplaces and initiatives making organisations stand out from the crowd, which is now more important than ever. The workplaces you have built and the teams that drive them are worth celebrating!

Entrants should provide examples of a maximum of 3 completed and/or ongoing projects from within the last 24 months along with a 500 word company profile of who they are and why they should be considered for this award.

Please provide up to 300 words for each project and a 500 word profile of the practice, firm or organisation.