Planning Department urges developers, architects, landscape architects, designers and property owners to submit top-quality, completed projects in the County to new award competition
SILVER SPRING, MD –The Montgomery County Planning Department, part of The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, seeks to recognize exceptional work in architecture, landscape architecture and urban design through its first annual Design Excellence Award. Developers, property owners and their design teams are invited to submit built projects that contribute to improving the quality of physical environments throughout the County.
The deadline for submission is Friday, August 21, 2015. The selection of a winner will be made by an outside jury of accomplished professionals, including architects, urbanists and a landscape architect, invited by the Planning Department.
Submit to the Montgomery County Planning Department’s Design Excellence Award.
The winner will be announced on Thursday, October 22, 2015 during an awards celebration at the Silver Spring Civic Building. The event will also include the annual awards ceremony of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Potomac Valley Chapter.
Project Eligibility for Award
Projects eligible for the award include public, institutional, multi-family residential and commercial buildings; landscapes; urban designs and developments located within Montgomery County that were built within the past 10 years and are currently occupied and in use. The submitted projects should express the essential qualities of outstanding walkable, sustainable places at the scale of the neighborhood, block and building. They should illustrate how great design contributes to the community in terms of character, identity and economic value.
Purpose of Design Excellence Award
The Planning Department launched its Design Excellence initiative in 2014 to inspire the highest quality of architecture, landscape architecture and urban design in redeveloping areas within the County. In January 2015, as part of this program, the Department invited nationally recognized urban design and planning expert Noré Winter to discuss community design guidelines with the staff, Planning Board and public.
In June 2015, the Department launched its Design Excellence Award program to achieve the following goals:
-To recognize the best examples of architecture, landscape architecture and urban design in the County, and increase the public’s awareness of this world-class design excellence.
-To promote built work that contributes to the creation of pedestrian-oriented, walkable neighborhoods that enrich and contribute to the greater community.
-To show how physical design can lead to greater health, economic opportunity and environmental sustainability.
October Awards Ceremony
The winner of the first annual Design Excellence Award will be announced at the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Potomac Chapter annual awards celebration on October 22, 2015. One of the highlights of the evening will be a presentation on the business case for design excellence by land use strategist Christopher Leinberger, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.
The winning project will be celebrated by the Montgomery Planning Department as a premier example of Design Excellence in Montgomery County through a promotional campaign to be launched in spring 2016.
The jury of accomplished and highly regarded practitioners in the fields of architecture, landscape architecture, planning and urban design is:
Edward Feiner, Fellow of the American Institute of Architects | Design Leadership Council Director, Perkins+Will, Washington, DC.
Dhiru Thadani, Fellow of the Congress for the New Urbanism | Architect and urbanist, Washington, DC.
Michael Vergason, Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects| Principal, Michael Vergason Landscape Architects, Alexandria, Virginia.
Amy Weinstein, Fellow of the American Institute of Architects | Principal, Esocoff & Associates/Weinstein Studio, Washington, DC.
Review the bios of the jury.
Learn more about the Montgomery County Planning Department’s Design Excellence initiative.