The mission of the AIA NOVA Design Awards committee is to promote Design Excellence and awareness in the community, through the adoption of the AIA Framework for Design Excellence. The primary goal of the Design Awards Committee is to promote and celebrate Design Excellence generated by the members of the AIA Northern Virginia Chapter, and coordinate with other design programs in the region to recognize the work of our chapter. Submissions are organized into seven categories for consideration, historic, institutional, commercial, commercial interiors, infrastructure and unbuilt. Each year the committee reaches out to other AIA chapters across the United States with similar membership qualities and numbers to select that year’s jury for the submissions. The winning projects for that year are celebrated at a summer Design Awards Gala Event in a significant architecture space in the community.

Involvement in the Design Awards Committee is a rewarding experience with opportunities to participate in jury selection, gala awards event venue selection, catering options, media coordination, submission guideline updates, submittal organization, graphics development, presentation elements and sponsorship development.