2026 DESIGN AWARDS ENTRIES:

The annual DIA Design Awards are now officially open for submissions. 

This respected event honours and celebrates excellence in architecture and design across a broad spectrum of categories, showcasing the innovation, creativity, and craftsmanship that continue to shape our region’s built environment. 

We look forward to receiving your entries and celebrating the outstanding contributions that enrich our communities and inspire our profession.

AWARD CATEGORIES:

CATEGORY 01 - ON THE DRAWING BOARD:

Celebrating exceptional unrealised projects. This category is intended for speculative or discontinued proposals that are no longer intended to progress to construction, but demonstrate ambition, creativity or strong design thinking worthy of recognition.

CATEGORY 02 - AMBASSADOR:

Recognising individuals or organisations who champion design excellence. This category celebrates projects located outside the DIA Chapter area that have been designed by a DIA-affiliated practice, highlighting the global reach and influence of local talent.

CATEGORY 03 - GROUP OF HOUSING:

Honouring outstanding residential developments that demonstrate design excellence at scale. Entries may include clusters, blocks, or multi-unit schemes that form part of a cohesive residential project.

CATEGORY 04 - COMMERCIAL / NON-DOMESTIC:

Acknowledging excellence in non-residential architecture, from workplaces and retail to civic and cultural spaces. This category may be subdivided into large and small projects depending on the number and scale of entries received.

CATEGORY 05 - REGENERATION:

Rewarding projects that breathe new life into existing buildings, sites, or urban fabric. Open to commercial, industrial, and residential projects, this category includes adaptive reuse, conservation, and heritage-led interventions that demonstrate thoughtful renewal, cultural sensitivity, and lasting impact.

CATEGORY 06 - INTERIOR DESIGN:

Showcasing exceptional interior environments that elevate the user experience. Open to commercial, industrial, and residential projects that demonstrate innovation, atmosphere, and spatial clarity.

CATEGORY 07 - HOUSE OF THE YEAR:

Celebrating the pinnacle of residential architecture. Open to entirely new builds or projects incorporating significant new-build elements, this category recognises homes that exemplify design excellence, innovation, and emotional resonance.

CATEGORY 08 - DOMESTIC EXTENSION:

Recognising creative and functional additions to existing homes. This category celebrates extensions that enhance everyday living, demonstrating sensitivity to context, clever spatial solutions, and architectural flair.

CATEGORY 09 - SMALL PROJECT:

Highlighting impactful architecture delivered with modest means. Open to projects with a construction cost under £150,000 (incl. VAT), this category celebrates ingenuity, restraint, and design excellence on a small scale.

CATEGORY 10 - INNOVATIVE USE OF MATERIAL:

Rewarding projects that push boundaries through inventive, expressive, or sustainable use of materials. This category celebrates craft, experimentation, and the transformative potential of materiality in architectural design.

SUBMISSION DETAILS:

Submissions will be accepted from Friday, 31st July at 12:00, and the closing date for entries is Friday, 4th September at 21:00.

There is a one-off entry fee of £60 per practice to participate in the awards process. This is applicable only once per practice, and each practice may submit as many entries as they wish across the various categories, in accordance with the other award T&Cs.

In return for your entry fee, the practice will receive one ticket to the DIA Awards ceremony and dinner on Friday, 6th November 2026, at the Apex Hotel in Dundee. Additional tickets can be purchased via the usual process when tickets are released for general sale.

The required entry fee should be paid directly to the DIA via bank transfer to the following account:

Bank Name: Virgin Money

Account Name: Dundee Institute of Architects

Account Number: 50232638

Sort Code: 82-61-21

Please use your practice name as the payment reference. Payment receipts can be provided upon request for your records.

Payment must be made in advance of the awards entry deadline to ensure your submission complies with the awards T&Cs.

All entries must be submitted through our Airtable link which will be available on the award commencement date.

TERMS & CONDITIONS:

Before submitting your project, please ensure you have reviewed the full terms and conditions as set out below.

  • The Awards are open to architects registered with the Architects Registration Board who are also Chartered Members of the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland, and to RIAS Chartered Practices, regardless of whether they are based within the DIA area.

  • An eligible architect employed by a practice but entering independently must obtain any necessary consent from their employer and ensure that they are entitled to submit the project.

  • Entrants must hold all necessary intellectual property rights, licences and permissions to submit the project and its supporting material. All architects, designers, collaborators and photographers must be appropriately credited.

  • Where two or more parties have collaborated on a project, it is the entrant’s responsibility to obtain their consent and ensure that the project is submitted only once.

  • Entrants must obtain the client’s consent before submitting a project. Where a completed project is shortlisted, the client must also be made aware that the judging panel may request a site visit.

  • By submitting an entry, entrants grant the DIA permission to reproduce the submitted text and images for purposes connected with the administration, promotion and archiving of the DIA Awards.

  • A project previously submitted for consideration in the DIA Awards may not be resubmitted in any category.

  • Projects entered in a built category must have reached practical completion within the five years preceding the relevant submission deadline.

  • The decisions of the judging panel are final. The DIA and the judging panel will not normally enter into correspondence concerning the assessment or outcome of individual entries.

  • Winning entries will be announced at the DIA Annual Awards Dinner. Individual feedback will not normally be provided to unsuccessful entrants.

  • Eligible entrants may submit an unlimited number of entries.

  • Entrants must nominate one primary award category for each submission and may also select any relevant material categories. The judging panel reserves the right to reallocate an entry where it considers another category to be more appropriate.

  • The DIA accepts no responsibility for entries that are incomplete, incorrectly uploaded, illegible or corrupted. Proof of sending does not constitute proof of receipt.

  • All correctly completed and eligible entries will be forwarded to the judging panel. The panel will select a shortlist and determine the recipient of each award.

  • Where the judging panel considers that no entry within a category achieves the standard required, the DIA reserves the right not to make an award in that category.

  • The DIA may disqualify any entrant who, in the opinion of the judging panel, has provided false or misleading information, failed to obtain the necessary permissions, infringed the rights of another party or otherwise acted fraudulently, dishonestly or unfairly.

  • Entries will initially be assessed solely on the information submitted. Entrants whose completed projects are shortlisted should anticipate that the judging panel will seek to undertake a site visit, where practicable, except for the ‘On the Drawing Board’ and the Ambassador Award category.

  • Photographs must accurately represent the completed project and must not be materially altered or manipulated. Minor adjustments to exposure, colour balance, contrast, cropping and perspective are permitted.

  • Computer-generated or generative AI images may be submitted as supporting material where relevant but must be clearly identified as such. These images will be given secondary importance when assessing a completed project.

  • Only completed developments may be submitted in the built categories. To be considered complete, a project must have reached practical completion and, where applicable, have been handed over to the client.

  • Entries to the ‘On the Drawing Board’ category must relate to proposals that reached a definitive conclusion without progressing to construction. Live, paused, or otherwise potentially deliverable projects are not eligible.

  • The DIA Council reserves the right to appoint the judging panel, which will comprise a minimum of three judges. The incumbent DIA President will normally form part of the panel. Any judge with an actual or perceived conflict of interest must declare that interest and withdraw from the assessment of the relevant entry. The DIA Council may appoint an alternative judge where necessary.

  • All entries must be submitted digitally through the designated submission process. Entries submitted by email, in hard copy or by any other method will not be accepted. Entries must be supplied as a high-resolution PDF and comply with the requirements stated on the entry form.

  • The awards are non-transferable, and no cash alternative will be offered.

  • These terms will be governed by Scottish law, and the parties submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Scottish Courts.