Student Design & Planning Competition

About the IAH Competition

Competition Eligibility

• The competition is open to current graduate students working as a team, with a minimum of three and a maximum of five students.

• Each team must have students representing at least three disciplines that grant three different degrees, at least one of which must be from an architectural or design-related program, and one must be from a non-design-related discipline. For example, teams might comprise graduate students in architecture, planning, public policy, finance, business administration, and real estate development.

• Each team must work with one faculty advisor who may be from any of the team-represented disciplines and who serves only in an advisory capacity. The faculty advisor is not an active team participant.

• Students from different accredited educational institutions in the U.S. may combine to form a single team.

• Submissions may be the product of work in a design studio or related class.

• Team leaders must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents; teams must comprise of at least three students who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents. The remaining team students may be international students.

• Due to federal requirements, only U.S. citizens or permanent residents are eligible to receive cash awards.

Competition Structure

The competition is conducted in two phases:

Phase I: The following are required:

• A schematic design level site plan, schematic floor plans, section and building massing.

• Narrative to include rationale demonstrating an understanding of the community, planning, resident needs and provision of community services, and financing.

• Preliminary pro forma, as well as other financial calculations and leveraging using the template provided by HUD. Note: financing schemes should consider overreliance on grant funding and capacity of PHAs to leverage private funding sources is realistic.

The evaluation criteria emphasize innovation and an understanding of and provision for services for the specified constituency, planning context (including zoning), and economic considerations related to affordable housing development (including financing, first cost, maintenance and operation, rental subsidies, etc.), as well as design.

Four finalist teams will be selected to continue to Phase II.

Phase II: Teams will be challenged to further refine their solutions, incorporating more detail, develop floor plans, refine their pro forma and analyses (economic, energy, etc.). Note, teams are encouraged to provide HUD with their site designs in CADD files, to offer and for the benefit of the partnering PHA, Tribe, and Tribally Designated Entity in their utilization and examination of final design scheme proposals. Teams will not be scored or evaluated on their CADD files and submitting these are optional, as they will be used for informational purposes only.

In early March 2025, finalists will have the opportunity to travel to the project site for a walk-thru and meeting with housing authority management and staff.

The final presentations and award ceremony will be held in April 18, 2025, at HUD HQ in Washington, D.C. Travel expenses for both the site visit and final events will be paid for two members of each finalist team. Additional team members are encouraged to attend; however, travel costs will not be covered and will need to be arranged independently.

Note: Submissions for Phase I and Phase II will be evaluated by an independent subject-matter-expert panel of jurors.