The rules of the competition are as follows:

The deadline to apply is December 6, 2024.

Your total submission may not exceed 40 pages in length. Please submit your entry in PDF format. Cover pages, image lists, and photographer release forms do not count toward the 40 page limit. 

Images must be hi-res, and uploaded to Lab Design in one single ZIP file, as well as embedded throughout the entry document. 

All images must include a caption and credit. Please include these on a separate page at the end of your submission in a numbered list. Images embedded in the submission may be captioned in order to show what is being depicted, but these captions should be brief.

Floor plans should be clearly labeled, with an easy-to-read font in a legible size.

Please include a signed release form from your photographer(s) as part of your submission packet, verifying that they allow their images to be released for use in your contest submission and also for use in Lab Design editorial coverage and 2025 Lab Design Conference promotional materials. No template is required; photographers may submit this release on their own letterhead. Any photographs or images that are confidential for the judging process only (i.e., not able to be included in editorial coverage or promotional materials) must be clearly labeled as such in your entry document. 

A $300 fee is required to enter your lab in one category in this competition. Please see below about entering the same lab into multiple categories.

Labs that have been completed and occupied anytime between January 1, 2023 and January 1, 2025 are eligible for this competition.

Include the following project information at the beginning of your submission, after your cover page:

Full, official facility name

Complete address of facility

Date of groundbreaking

Date of official occupation

Facility owner

Size (square feet/meters)

Cost: both overall project cost and cost per square foot/meter

Submitting firm/company/individual (this is the name that will go on the award plaque), including address, phone number, website URL

Contact person for submitting firm/company/individual: name, title, firm/company name, address, phone number, email

Full project team—firm names and full addresses and contact person with main address, phone number, and website URL for each. This includes architects, engineers, construction, lab planners, contractors, consultants, equipment providers/vendors, etc.

Category/categories you are submitting for: Whole Building/Holistic Design, Sustainable Design, Interior Design, and/or Small Project Design

Entrants may submit the same lab for more than one category. The initial entry fee is $300 to enter your lab in one category; to enter the same lab in a total of two or more categories, the total entry fee is $400. 

You only need to submit one entry packet no matter how many categories you are entering, but you must include detailed language that describes why your lab is a worthy competitor for each category you are entering. Labs will only be considered for a prize in the category or categories they select during the entry process.

State whether your project is a new build, renovation (an existing lab building that has been gutted and furnished with new labs, or an existing lab building with labs that have been remodeled), or a retrofit/adaptive reuse (an existing non-lab building that has been transformed into a lab facility).

Offer a summary:

How your lab facility came about, its mission/goals, and why it was necessary to build or renovate the lab

Describe any challenges or obstacles faced during the design/build process and how your project team overcame them

Describe the overall design process. Offer a timeline of events, from conception to construction to occupancy

Images of non-laboratory parts of the building (lounge areas, hallways, cafeterias, entrances, exterior, roof, etc.) may be shown in your entry, but focus the majority of your entry on the lab areas. You may want to describe how the non-lab areas facilitate collaboration between lab staff

Other information that you may want to include in your entry:

Describe how the cost per square foot works to your entry’s advantage

Sustainability and energy saving initiatives

Details about the lab’s mechanical, HVAC, and engineering systems

How the lab benefits the surrounding community or the owners

Employee safety and comfort initiatives

Flexibility initiatives and anticipated lifespan of the facility

For non-US labs: how your standards and regulations may differ from labs in the US 

Architecture firms, building owners, lab planners, builders/construction firms, engineers, lab end users, and lab equipment vendors are all highly encouraged to apply. 

Interviews with the winners will be featured in editorial pieces for the Lab Design audience.