When you register a project for IADA, the first choice is its status: a completed project or a concept. The status is shown on every winner page, it guides how the jury reads your images, and it shapes how you describe the work. This guide explains how to choose the status and the nominations, based on the published IADA FAQ and terms and conditions.
IADA categories and nominations · How IADA projects are judged · IADA entry fees
1. Both built projects and concepts can enter
Conceptual projects can be entered in any relevant category. During registration you first indicate whether your entry is a concept or a completed project, then choose the category and nominations. The winners archive records each project's status, so readers can tell completed work from concepts. In IADA 2026, for example, a completed museum interior and a healthcare centre presented as a concept both received Platinum in the interior design nominations.
The project exists and can be shown in photographs of the finished work.
The project is not completed. It is shown through renderings, drawings, diagrams and models.
2. Describe the project as it really is
Choose the status that describes your work accurately, and keep the presentation consistent with it. For a concept, say what is proposed and what it is intended to achieve, and do not present a rendering as if it were a photograph of completed work. For a completed project, separate measured results from design intentions. The terms allow the organisers to review or remove content that contains misleading or false information, so accuracy protects your entry.
3. Check the age of the project
Projects must not be older than seven years from the date of their registration for IADA. Projects that took part in previous editions, including winning entries, may enter again.
4. Choose nominations that match the work
A nomination is a competition category. Choose the nominations that match your project from the complete list of categories and nominations. Each nomination compares your project with similar work, so a workplace is judged with workplaces and a museum with other cultural buildings.
- One project, several nominations. One project can have several paid nominations. The first nomination is included in the registration fee and each additional nomination is paid separately; see IADA entry fees.
- One presentation for all of them. You prepare one set of materials, used for all nominations attached to that project. If you need different presentations for different nominations, register and pay for separate entries.
- Adding nominations later. You can add nominations from the project in your participant account while registration remains open.
The organisers may also reassign a project to a more suitable nomination if this increases its chances without affecting existing winners.
5. Building and interior, or both?
A building and its interior are different scopes. The architecture nominations assess the building, and the interior nominations assess the spaces inside. If you designed both, you can enter the same project in an architecture nomination and an interior nomination, as long as the one presentation supports both. An interior designer can also enter an interior without the architect of the building, crediting the design team accurately. See the IADA: Architecture Category and the IADA: Interior Design Category pages.
Built or concept FAQ
Can a concept win Platinum?
Yes. Concepts are judged on the same three criteria as completed projects, and concept projects have received Platinum, for example in IADA 2026.
Can I enter a project that is under construction?
Yes. Choose the status that describes it accurately at registration and present it consistently, distinguishing what is built from what is proposed.
Can I enter a project that took part in a previous edition?
Yes. A project can be submitted again, even if it was a winner in a previous edition, as long as it is not older than seven years from the date of registration.
Can I add a nomination after registering?
Yes. Open the project in your participant account, select Add nominations, choose the nominations and complete payment while registration remains open.
Register your project for IADA 2027 Early Bird registration is open until 13 November 2026: $140 for the first project.