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Surface Design Awards 2023 – Entry Guidelines

Welcome to the Surface Design Awards, we wish you every success with your entry in what has become a very popular competition with many high-quality entries.

We have tried to make the entry process as simple as possible. Please do contact us if you have any problems.

All entries must be submitted through these forms.

Please read these guidelines carefully, they will make the task of entering much more straightforward.

Accurate Information

The information that you submit will be used for a variety of purposes. It will become your official entry presented to the judges. It will also be used on the Awards website, promotional material, media coverage and the trophies themselves.​

Please make sure that it is both clear and accurate.

Credits

Please ensure that you provide accurate information. We need to be supplied with: 

• The name of the project ​
• The full address of the project​
• The architect or designer​
• The client​
• The contractor​
• The category or categories that you are entering​
• The name of any photographer that needs crediting for images supplied

The Entrant

We may need to be in touch with you from time to time. Please supply, as the person making the entry:

• Your name​
• Your company’s name​
• Your organisation’s role in the project ​
• Your position​
• Your full contact details: address, telephone, e-mail

Entry Guidelines

Entries must be made through the Surface Design Awards website on or before Friday 23 September 2022. All sections of the entry form must be completed. You have up to 750 words to describe your project. Judges will only receive the prescribed number of words. It would be useful to have details of the design brief and the way in which the brief was achieved.

Please describe which materials were used in the surface design and explain why these were chosen.

Any ‘extenuating’ circumstances would also be helpful ie budget limitations or complexities of the site.

Please provide 5 images of the project with captions.

Use of entry material by Surface Design Awards

We reserve the right to reproduce the material in your entries to judge and promote the Awards both now and in future years. Where practical the relevant credit will be given.

Who should enter?

Entries can be received from architects and designers, clients or contractors and their appointed representatives. Clients should be advised before submitting entries from both UK and internationally located organisations.

Eligibility

Any work completed by 1 June 2022 is eligible for the 2023 Surface Design Awards.

Deadline dates

All entries must be received by midnight on Friday 23 September 2022.

Judging will take place at the start of November 2022.

Finalists will be notified by mid November.

The Awards Presentation will take place on Thursday 9 February 2023.

The judging process

Because of the international nature of the Award Entries, it will not be possible for judges to visit the projects.

Judging will be based upon the information and images submitted as the entry.

The judges may select a number of projects to be finalists before selecting a winner.

A project can be entered into more than one category if relevant.

The judges’ decision is final and no correspondance will be entered into.

Announcing the finalists

The Finalists will be announced in November 2022 by e-mail.

All Finalists are required to send at least 1 representative to the Awards Presentation if successful.

The Awards Presentation

The Presentation will take place on Thursday 9 February 2023 at the Business Design Centre, London. All finalists are required to send at least 1 representative to collect their Award if successful.

The Ceremony has increasingly become a ‘must attend’ event for architects and designers and forms part of the Surface Design Show’s 3-day programme of events and activities.

Top Tips for Award Entries

  • Make sure you chose the right category or categories for your project.
  • Have the approval of all the necessary parties before submitting your entry.
  • Allocation enough time for preparing and amending your entries.
  • Satisfy the judging criteria. Ensure that you are giving relevant and clear information to the judges.
  • Stick to the 750-word limit.
  • The judges will be looking at all aspects of the surfaces and the surface design. Detail the materials that were used and why they were selected.
  • An entry without good images is a wasted entry. Provide 5 good high resolution images.
  • Get the judges attention with your entry. Be proud of it!
  • Added emphasis is now being place upon the sustainability of the projects being judged. Each entry should be accompanied by a statement and calculation for the carbon footprint kgCO2/m2 of the surface.
  • Be honest…if you have faced challenges and constraints include them and explain how you overcame them.
Enter Surface Design Awards 2023
Enter Architectural Photography Award 2023