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Honoring achievement in outstanding interior architecture and design that encourages and uses innovative interior design ideas, techniques, and furnishings. 

Important Dates

The Interior Design Competition takes place annually. 

2025 commemorates the 51st annual IIDA Interior Design Competition. 

 

Submissions Open: Thursday, December 5, 2024

Submissions Close: Monday, February 3, 2025


ELIGIBILITY:

Any interior designer or interior architect may submit design project(s). This competition is open to participants worldwide. The design project(s) must have been completed in or after December 2022.

 

Competition Guidelines
 

SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS

All submissions must be completed electronically. No hard copy submissions will be accepted. There is no limit to the number of eligible projects a firm may submit; however, each project may only be submitted once. To enter a project into this competition, you will need to prepare and submit the following:

 

WRITTEN COMPONENT 

  • Your firm's contact information including name, address, phone number, and email
  • Your design project's information including name and location
  • Project description: a brief project summary (50-word maximum)
  • Challenge statement: a description of your design challenge (250-word maximum)
  • Solution statement: a description of specific solutions to project challenges (250-word maximum)

 

Please use the following list of categories as a guide regarding the projects we accept. We neither judge nor award based on categories, but we do allow designs to be submitted into a category:

  • Corporate Space Large (1,000 square meters and above)
  • Corporate Space Small (under 1,000 square meters)
  • Education (elementary/secondary educational facilities, colleges/universities)
  • Entertainment (casinos, performing arts centers, sports arenas, theatres)
  • Healthcare (hospitals, outpatient clinics, medical facilities)
  • Institutional (cultural, government/municipal spaces, libraries, religious spaces)
  • Public Spaces & Commercial Lobbies
  • Residences Large (125 square meters and above)
  • Residences Small (under 125 square meters)
  • Restaurants, Lounges, & Bars
  • Retail (stores, boutiques)
  • Sales Centers & Show Flats
  • Showrooms & Exhibition Spaces
  • Spas, Fitness Centers, & Gymnasiums

IMAGES

Please submit color images of your completed project, in JPG or JPEG format with a maximum file size of 2MB. You may submit captions to your images, not to exceed 50 words. Take note of the following additional guidelines:

  • Submit 7-10 color images total
    • only one (1) exterior image is permitted
    • Use numbers to name your image files, in order of uploads (01, 02, 03, etc).
  • Submit a minimum of one (1) floorplan
    • A maximum of three (3) floorplans are allowed
    • Please use the following format for floor plans: "floorplan1, floorplan2, floorplan3"
  • No composite images allowed - only one photograph per image upload

Do not reference or include your design/architectural firm name/logo in the images

  • Images may be edited to improve contrast ratio, color balance, and composition through cropping only.
  • Images may not be edited to add, remove, or alter any aspect or element of the project including its context. Images should represent the project as it exists in the built environment.
  • Conceptual renderings will not be accepted

 

JUDGING

A jury of design professionals will select the winning design projects. Submissions are judged on excellence in aesthetics, design, creativity, and function, as well as the suitability of the design solution to the project challenge and the successful integration of the elements of design. The jury reserves the right not to select a winner from the entries submitted.

 

PRIZE

Finalists and Winners will be honored at the Chicago-located winner’s celebration, known as the black-tie IIDA event Revel In Design, on June 8, 2025!  The winners will be featured on IIDA.org and across Interior Design media platforms. In the event that a previously published entry is selected as the winner, Interior Design reserves the right not to republish that project. The winners will also receive official digital assets, including competition winner logos for self-promotion, coverage, and spotlighted on IIDA’s social media accounts, and published in an official press release distributed to leading industry outlets and media partners.

 

Special thanks to our Media Partner: