Design Excellence Special Events - Montgomery Planning

Latest News and Events

Save the date: October 16, 2025 – Montgomery Planning to host 2025 Design Excellence Awards to recognize exceptional building, urban design, architecture, landscape architecture, and housing

Save the date: October 16, 2025 – Montgomery Planning to host 2025 Design Excellence Awards to recognize exceptional building, urban design, architecture, landscape architecture, and housing
Developers, architects, and property owners invited to submit top-quality completed projects ...
Montgomery Planning announces winners of the 2023 Design Excellence Awards

Montgomery Planning announces winners of the 2023 Design Excellence Awards
The Wilson & The Elm, ArtSpace Silver Spring, Pike and Rose, Marriott Headquarters, Good Hope ...
Reserve your spot now for the October 19 Design Excellence Awards honoring outstanding architecture and urban design

Reserve your spot now for the October 19 Design Excellence Awards honoring outstanding architecture and urban design
Tickets are available for purchase for Sixth Design Excellence Awards presented at M-NCPPC's LEED-P...

Past Events

Lee Quill’s Work on CR Zone Points

Consultant Architect Lee Quill, FAIA presented a multi-media analysis and discussed the Commercial/Residential Zone point system and its effectiveness to date in achieving public amenities in relation to the old Optional Method process. He also
discussed the relationship of the CR point system in relation to design review and the Planning Department’s push for greater design excellence. Mr. Quill is a founding principal of
Cunningham Quill Architects in Washington, D.C., has served as
a juror for the Environmental Protection Agency’s National Awards for Smart Growth Achievement, has been on numerous Urban Land Institute advisory panels, serves on the D.C. Mayoral Task Force on Transit Oriented Development, and is Chair of the City of Alexandria Urban Design Advisory Committee. His projects have received design awards from the Congress for New Urbanism and the American Institute of Architects, including recent awards for the affordable senior housing project House of Lebanon in Washington, D.C., and the Branch Avenue Corridor Revitalization Plan in Prince George’s County.

CR Guidelines Mr. Quill’s analysis showed that the current Sketch Plan process seemed to be expensive and frustrating due to a lack of two-way dialogue with Planning Department staff regarding early project concepts. By the time an applicant and staff do discuss a project, the plans are well developed, and significant time and money has already been spent. He stated a need for informal discussion early on in the process. Quill recommended establishing a mandatory Concept Plan review meeting take place prior to the pre-application meeting, not unlike what is being done in other jurisdictions such as Seattle, Alexandria, and Arlington. During this meeting, the applicant could share and discuss early diagram alternatives, sketches, three-dimensional digital models, or physical massing models with staff in an informal, interactive, and collaborative manner. The initial concepts would then be submitted to staff for review and feedback, with staff responding with any additional information within 30 days. The Concept Plan meeting and staff review would come at no charge to the applicant, help ensure that project components conform to area Master or Sector Plan recommendations, and help facilitate early public dialogue on the project.

Mr. Quill then discussed the Commercial/Residential Mixed-Use (CR) Zones Sketch Plan Optional Method process and the current point system allocations for public benefits in relation to the previous Optional Method negotiated process. He noted that while projects negotiated under the current process allocated more public benefits points than those negotiated under the former Central Business District Optional Method, these points are being awarded for less impactful amenities. He noted that even though the Planning Department has focused on the importance of Design Excellence, Exceptional Design points have the lowest award for any category within the CR point system signaling to the developer that this is most certainly not an important topic within the county.

Mr. Quill offered recommendations, including:

Establishing a hierarchy of benefit points that strengthen architectural and urban design,
Allotting more than one page to explain the different point categories in clear, but flexible ways with and abundance of example images to help explain the topic.
Making minor adjustments to the current point system in order to reinforce and prioritize design excellence.

He also recommended:

Establishing a three to five-member Design Advisory Panel that contains a minimum of two regionally or nationally recognized architects and one Planning Department chief to review projects during the Concept Plan review and Sketch Plan process,
Strengthening the Design Excellence Awards program,
Using social media to promote design excellence,
Promoting education and knowledge of quality design by continuing the bi-yearly Moving Montgomery Forward conference.

Following extensive Board discussion with questions to staff and Mr. Quill, staff proposed the creation of a staff working group to recommend adjustments to the CR Zones Incentive Density Guidelines and the current development review process, and to report those recommendations to the Board in the coming months.

Presentations

What Makes a Great School? What can we do to provide the best for our children? One of the many ways is by providing great schools with great facilities in great locations. This is more and more challenging as the county grows. We need to use our existing sites creatively and make the most of our investments. This presentation highlights examples of how this can be done well. It features inspiring examples from across the country – including some from Montgomery County. The strategies range from creative site and building design to sharing uses and transforming existing buildings into schools.Please enjoy “Innovative School Precedents [PDF]” a presentation given to the “Cross-agency Work Group on School Design Options” meeting on October 12, 2015. The work group is headed by Montgomery County Public Schools. The presentation was prepared by the Montgomery County Planning Department. For more information contact Paul Mortensen, Senior Urban Designer.

Watch the Planning Board Meeting.