Call for Entries
Key Dates
Calibre Design Awards Submission Period
December 2, 2019 – January 24, 2020
Final Submissions are due by Friday, January 24th, 2020 at 5pm PST. No exceptions. No extensions. All photography must be submitted by the due date.
Gala Event
May 15th, 2020
Who Can Enter
The Calibre Design Awards are open to any firm located in Southern California, having at least one Associate or Professional Member of IIDA SoCal. IIDA Memberships must be current through 2020 and in good standing. Self-employed design professionals who are IIDA SoCal Members can may also enter.
How To Enter
The online submission form is now live! Click here to submit your project(s).
To download the Call for Entries package, click here.
Project Categories
Work Extra-Large – 75,000 + sq. ft.
Work Large – 35,000 – 74,999 sq. ft.
Work Medium – 10,000 – 34,999 sq. ft.
Work Small – under 10,000 sq. ft.
Public & Community Spaces – Government, institutional, transportation, worship and museum galleries
Education – Elementary/secondary educational facilities, colleges/universities
Health & Wellness – Hospitals, laboratories, long term care facilities, and MOBs, gyms, spas, fitness, mental health, and therapy
Hospitality – Hotel main spaces, point of sale retail, restaurants, country clubs
Entry Requirements
Projects must be located in Southern California and must have been completed between January 1, 2019 and December 31, 2019. Projects previously submitted are not eligible to be resubmitted a second time. Absolutely no changes will be accepted once the project is submitted, including adding or deleting team members. Photography must be included with the submission and cannot be submitted separately or later than the due date.
Entry Fees
The cost for the first entry is $275, and each additional entry is $200. There is no limit to the number of entries a designer or design firm may submit. Fees must be paid in full at the time of submission and are non-refundable under any circumstance.
Submission Content
1. The Project Team shall consist of the submitting designer, the client, plus 2-5 additional Team Members who made significant contributions to the project and who are not associated with the submitting design firm. You will be asked to provide the following information for each Team Member.
• Company name
• Contact name
• Profession/specialty
• Contact email address
Please be sure to enter the correct spelling and full name of each company. Company names cannot be changed after submitting. Examples of Additional Team Members are the General Contractor, important subcontractors, furniture manufacturers or dealers, or design consultants.
2. Submissions will be judged anonymously. Submissions are to include a narrative of no more than 1000 words. The narrative may include the name of the client or project, but must not include the names of the design firm or other team members to maintain anonymity during judging. However, if you are submitting your own firm’s office, you may not include the design firm as the client or a team member in either the narrative or the photos.
The narrative is to include a brief background of the client and a description of the project. Explain the design philosophy behind the project – the “big idea”. Describe the major goals of the project, and how those goals were achieved through the power of design. Explain any unique challenges of the project, and how the team collaborated to resolve the challenges. How is this project different from other projects – what makes it deserving of a Calibre Award?
3. You may submit up to six hi-res images of the completed project. Renderings are not allowed. The images must be supported by the narrative. One of the images must be a floor plan of the space. Images must be hi-res JPEGs at a minimum size of 8” x 10” at 300dpi. You will be asked to choose the featured image to be used in promotional materials – this image must be horizontal aspect. We recommend it be a representative interior shot. Images may contain the name and/or logo of the client.
Awards Gala
Winning projects will be announced at the Calibre Design Awards gala on May 15, 2020. Awards will be given to the team members listed in the Submission. No additional awards will be available for purchase. The nominating design firm will be responsible for delivering the awards to the team members not present at the Gala. Ticket & sponsorship sales will open in January, click here for more information.