How to enter
the Design Awards
Your guide to the 2024 BDQ Design Awards
The Design Awards program provides an outstanding opportunity for designers to put forward their best work.
The awards are a great marketing tool in promoting your business to future clients. BDQ heavily promotes all Design Awards entries across physical, traditional, digital, and social channels throughout the year.
This promotion allows the industry and wider public to understand what Building Designers do and the important role they play in shaping our built environment.
The awards are also a chance for you and your team to reflect on your work. By reflecting on projects months or possibly years after you began them, you’re able to learn from past experience and grow as a designer.
2024 Key Dates
2024 Regional Design Awards
2024 State Design Awards 5th October at the Rivershed!
Entry Information
Eligibility
Entrants must be:
Fees
Consent Forms
You must obtain consent from your client & photographer.
These forms are not required to be submitted, but may be requested at any time.
How You’re Judged
Judges assess each entry on its own merits and score it based on a set of criteria. Scores from all judges are then added together to determine Regional and State winners for each category. Design of the Year finalists are moderated across panels to ensure the most accurate result.
Your entry is judged based on all submitted materials (photos, plans/drawings, extra documentation and written responses) as a package against the below criteria. You won’t be judged on the quality of your writing, but you should answer each question as best you can. Clarity and a full explanation of each question will assist the judges in scoring against their criteria.
Regional Highlights
This year, judges will be given an opportunity to flag a selection of entries as ‘projects of interest’ to recognise their high calibre even if they do not receive a Regional Design Award. A selection of the most voted upon projects will be showcased as Regional Highlight projects at the State Design Awards within their respective categories.
Commendations
Judges may award commendations to projects that do not receive a State Design Award, but are still deserving of recognition.
2024 Judging Criteria
Livability
How well did you utilise space planning, interiors and other innovations to make the space enjoyable for those who live or work there?
Solving Challenges
How well did you overcome any relevant challenges in topography, climate, accessibility, budget, or site constraints?
Built Form
How well did you overcome any relevant challenges in topography, climate, accessibility, budget, or site constraints?
Innovation
How well did you use materials and design elements to create project-specific innovations?
Satisfaction of Client Brief
How well did you use materials and design elements to create project-specific innovations?
2024 Categories
Commercial
Eligibility: QBCC licensed Building Designer
Interiors
Eligibility: Appropriately Qualified/Licensed (Building or
Interior Designers)
Residential Renovations
Eligibility: QBCC licensed Building Designer; class 1
Small Home & Lot
Eligibility: QBCC licensed Building Designer; class 1
New Homes
Eligibility: QBCC licensed Building Designer; class 1
Multi-Residential
Eligibility: QBCC licensed Building Designer
Specialty
Eligibility: QBCC licensed Building Designer
Sustainable Design
Eligibility: QBCC licensed Building Designer
Conceptual Design
Eligibility: QBCC licensed Building Designer; project must not yet be built and cannot be entered into a built category in the same year.
Emerging Professionals
Eligibility: nominee must be nominated by their employer – both parties must be BDQ members
Student Design Awards
Eligibility: current BDQ member (student or recent graduate); must be your own original work, and not created for commission
BDQ Student Design Awards
Open to students and recent graduates of Building and Interior Design
Entering the Student Design Awards are a great opportunity to showcase your abilities to the industry and potential future employers. Every student entry is celebrated at our State Design Awards, with winners announced on the night.
All students and graduates can enter either or both categories – the project, not your studies, determine whether you enter the Building Design or Interior Design category.
Entry Requirements:
Entries for Student Design Awards will close 5pm Wednesday 10th July in line with semester 1 assessment periods.
Useful Entry Tips
Re-Enter Past Projects
Have an entry that didn’t win a regional award last year? You can enter it again this year, provided it did not win the category (at Regional level) into which you’re entering it. All your project info, attachments, photos and answers to questions can be copied across to make your life easier. You must contact BDQ Head Office to copy entries between seasons. Email our head office via admin@bdqld.com.au
Submit entries in multiple categories
Your entry may be eligible for multiple categories (eg: Residential Interiors; Best Kitchen; Best Bathroom; Best Space; Small Lot/Home; Heritage Building Design; James Hardie Deisgn Excellence Award), and our online entry platform makes it easy to enter.
- fully complete the entry in one category
- return to your dashboard
- select the entry by ticking the box to the left
- click ‘copy’ button at the top of entry list
- when entry copy process is complete, go into entry marked ‘copy’, change the category and go through each tab to ensure information is correct before submitting
Save and return to your entry
Up until the due date, you can return to edit your entry as often as you like. Start early, and chip away at your entries to ensure you put your best foot forward.