American Residential Design Awards

About the Program The American Residential Design Awards (ARDA) is the American Institute of Building Design’s premier award program exhibiting design excellence in the residential building industry. It spotlights the nation’s most creative and innovative residential designers, builders, remodelers, architects, developers, land planners, and interior designers. Every year, the awards program recognizes exceptional design in custom, builder models, pre-drawn and multifamily homes of all types and sizes, remodeling, working drawings, and projects “on the boards.” As a leader in home design recognition, the ARDA program has grown over the years to include categories in green building, outdoor living, and accessible living.

ARDA is an awards program, not a design competition. Therefore, entries are not grouped in square footage or project value classifications. Judging is conducted by a panel of residential design and construction experts and is based on the quality of the entry and not compared to others in a category. However, one or more ARDA winners may be recognized as the overall best in their specific category.

All residential industry professionals are eligible to enter individual or collaborative projects. Entries previously submitted to ARDA are still eligible, provided they haven’t yet won recognition in the same category. Entries may be entered in more than one category (e.g., Custom Homes and Green Design), and all completed projects are eligible regardless of their completion date.

Looking for some tips on how to put together a winning entry?

We’ve prepared a series of video tutorials.

It’s packed with information and resources from ARDA judges themselves!

Purchase this course bundle now for $75 and get started on winning your very own ARDA.

An ARDA is the most prestigious award in the residential design industry…at least, we think so.

With this course bundle, you can learn everything you need to know about how to win one.

With this information, you’ll be able to stand out from your competition and prove that your designs are the best in the business.

You be the Judge!

The world is invited to help choose the American Residential Design Award’s Global Choice Award winner each year.

All ARDA winners are announced at the AIBD Awards Gala on August 5, 2023, in Nashville, TN.

Global Choice Voting* is open from July 1 to July 16, 2023!

*You must have a LinkedIn, Facebook, or Google account to vote.

Thinking about entering next year?