The deadline to apply to AN’s 2024 Best of Design Awards is quickly approaching on September 13, 2024—but don’t panic. While submissions are coming to a close, there’s still time to apply. The application process is quick and straightforward, requiring only a short project description, up to six images, and an optional list of all creditable collaborators.
There is still, of course, variations in the approach of each application. To shed some light on the application, 2023 Best of Design winner Studio One Eleven shared how it approached its submission. Last year, the California-based firm was awarded the winner for the Social Impact category for Watts Works. In its application, the studio described the project as, “Replacing a vacant single-family home on a 6,140-square-foot lot, the project comprises a 25-unit affordable housing community in Los Angeles’s Watts neighborhood. An innovative building approach utilized 58 modular shipping containers to create micro-living studio apartments for unhoused individuals. The project features a community space, laundry room, secure bicycle storage, and service provider offices that offer on-site counseling, healthcare, and employment training.”
Jury member Chris Cooper commended the project for its “modular construction and economy of means.” He continued, “This is a unique construction concept that makes room to find some design within.” In fact, Watts Works left such an impression on the jury that it also became a finalist for 2023 Project of the Year.
Michael Bohn, partner at the firm, broke down last year’s application approach. Read his comments to best submit entries before the deadline on September 13, 2024 midnight ET.
AN: What advice would you give to those applying to 2024 Best of Design Awards?
Michael Bohn (MB): Focus on documenting the innovation in your project and how it can be replicated. Use photographs, diagrams, drawings, and data to clearly illustrate these ideas.
AN: What did winning last year’s Best of Design Awards mean to you?
MB: Winning AN’s Best of Design Award is a tremendous honor for our studio, especially being recognized alongside so many talented firms with work featured globally. It inspires us to continue designing dignified spaces for people.
AN: How did winning the award impact the studio at large?
MB: This award has been incredibly rewarding for our team and the entire office, as it acknowledges our efforts in revitalizing communities. It has also energized the residents and the Watts neighborhood, bringing positive recognition to an area that often goes unnoticed for design excellence.
AN: Can you talk a little bit about what the firm is working on now?
MB: We continue designing other affordable communities that provide housing for youth, seniors, veterans, homeless, and families. Our work continues pursuing wood, steel, and container modular housing as well as the adaptive reuse of existing buildings. Recently our Living Empower House project, the first modular, affordable, and equitable multifamily development designed for transactive energy, won a $9 million Next Epic Grant from the California Energy Committee highlighting our efforts for a sustainable future.
Submissions to AN’s 2024 Best of Design Awards is open now through September 13, 2024 by midnight ET.
