Educational Interiors Showcase – Submission Guidelines

The Premier Competition Honoring Educational Interior Design Excellence

Have an exceptional project that deserves national recognition? Want to showcase your best work to the largest audience? From state-of-the-art classrooms to innovative media centers, the American School & University Educational Interiors Showcase gives your project a better forum and more national exposure than any other interiors competition.

The August 2024 Educational Interiors Showcase issue will promote your school or university projects to decision-makers in the educational facilities market: AS&U subscribers and thousands of additional AS&U readers, viewers of the digital edition of the Educational Interiors Showcase, school and university administrators at top education facility organizations, and an unlimited audience visiting your project on School Designs. See Who Sees Your Interiors Showcase Project for more information about AS&U’s unmatched opportunities for exposure.

Enter projects completed in the past five years in one of 26 interior project categories, from administrative spaces to vocational/industrial-arts areas. The Educational Interiors Showcase is the industry guidebook for administrators planning and designing interior learning environments. It’s an investment that pays off.

Enter your outstanding projects today for your chance to receive national recognition for you, your project and your school or university.

[Submission Guidelines] [Deadlines] [Entry Categories] [Judging] [How To Enter] [Materials for Entry] [Selecting Your Page Layout] [Free Print Ready PDF Offer] [Marketing Extras] [Rates]

Submission Guidelines
All architects, schools/universities, interior designers and others related to the field are invited to participate in accordance with the following guidelines:

Entries are accepted for instructional, administrative and service facilities for public, private and parochial schools of all levels, up to and including technical, community/junior colleges, and colleges and universities.

Projects must have been completed since January 1, 2019 or under contract for construction on or before June 1, 2024.

Deadlines
There is still time to enter your project – Judging starts May 2024.

Categories
Projects will be accepted for the following categories:

  • Administrative Areas/Offices
  • Auditoriums/Music Rooms
  • Cafeteria/Food-Service Areas
  • Career Centers
  • Chapels/Worship Centers
  • Classrooms
  • Common Areas
  • Community Centers/Joint-Use Facilities
  • Conference/Training Centers
  • Exhibition Space/Galleries
  • Healthcare Facilities/Teaching Hospitals
  • Historic Preservation
  • Interior Renovation (any category)
  • Interior Work In Progress
  • Laboratories
  • Libraries/Media Centers
  • Multipurpose Rooms
  • Physical-Education Facilities/Recreation Centers
  • Pre-K/Early-Childhood Education
  • Residence Halls/Lounges
  • Service Facilities
  • Special-Needs Interiors
  • Student Centers/Service Areas
  • Technology/STEM Centers
  • Vocational/Industrial-Arts Areas
  • Welcome Centers

Judging

  • Evaluation.  Each year, AS&U carefully selects its jury to represent a good mix of school administrators and AIA-member architects. The jury evaluates and selects outstanding projects for publication. Primary consideration will be given to the design firm’s solution to the stated educational program requirements. The jury will consider:
    • Problem statement and technical specifications
    • Architect/Designer response to the program requirements
    • Aesthetic characteristics of the solution
    • Overall presentation of materials
  • Awards & Recognition. Crow Island (K-12) and Collegiate Awards. The jury will select two Grand Prize winners, one in each of the K-12 and post-secondary categories. Deluxe commemorative plaques featuring the project’s pages from the magazine will be presented for both the firm and its client.
  • Citations. The jury will award Gold, Silver and Bronze Citations to additional projects exhibiting exemplary features. Commemorative citation plaques will be presented for both the firm and its client.
  • Outstanding Projects. Projects that exhibit outstanding designs or qualities also will be recognized and selected for publication as Outstanding Projects. These projects are an important part of producing the comprehensive sourcebook for administrators that is the Educational Interiors Showcase. A commemorative plaque will be presented to these firms.

How To Enter

Step 1: Complete the Official Entry Form. Click here to enter online.

Note: Multiple projects from the same firm, or the same project in multiple categories, can be entered and published. Call about special discounts for entering one project in multiple categories. Projects that have been entered in the Architectural Portfolio are eligible for entry in the Educational Interiors Showcase.

Upon receipt of your entry form, you will be emailed instructions on uploading your portfolio.

Step 2: Upload Presentation Portfolio
To submit your portfolio materials, upload required images and space plans. If you are chosen for publication, the materials uploaded will be used to create your page(s) in the magazine. These should be of a quality suitable for judging and publication, as no additional materials will be required.

Materials for Entry

  • Project Description
  • Project Data
  • Space Plans
  • One space plan with legend for each floor or area being judged.
  • Photographs
    • One overall 8″x 10″ 4-color exterior photograph or rendering that shows the context of the project.
    • At least four additional 8″x 10″ photographs of the project that illustrate various aspects of the entry category.
    • If you are entering the Interior Renovation category, “before” and “after” photos are required.
  • Listing of Manufacturers

Selecting Your Page Layout
When you enter the Educational Interiors Showcase, you choose how many pages you want dedicated to your project in the August issue of AS&U. Consider how you want to invest in exposure for the school/university and how much of the project additional pages let you show. Additional pages let you include a quote you provide from the school, bigger photos, a longer project description, and allow readers to see all aspects of the design. Multi-page layouts also have double the images in the SchoolDesigns.com gallery.

Typical Page Layouts:

Pages Photographs Description Quote from School Print-Ready PDF
1 Page 6-8 photos 100-175 words No No*
2 Pages 8-10 photos 250-300 words Yes Yes
3 Pages 12-15 photos 300-400 words Yes Yes
4 Pages 15-18 photos 400-450 words Yes Yes

 

Free PDF of Your Project Pages From the Magazine
*Receive a free print-ready PDF of your pages from the Educational Interiors Showcase issue when you enter more than one project or choose a two-page layout for your project. Print, post, and share with the school/university. This multi-page PDF offer is the only way to receive project page PDFs.

Marketing Extras

SchoolDesigns.com:
Every project that appears in the 2024 Educational Interiors Showcase will be featured free, including pictures and project description, on www.SchoolDesigns.com – AS&U’s industry-leading education design website. Link directly to your project online from your website, emails, and social media.

Plaques:
Complimentary plaque(s) are provided to all firms chosen for publication.

Extra Issues:
Receive five complimentary issues for each project published in the 2024 AS&U Educational Interiors Showcase.

Press Release:
A customized press release will be provided to you for distribution to your local newspapers and associations.

Free Listing:
Upon selection, your firm will be included free in AS&U’s SchoolDesigns.com Find A Professional directory with logo.

Bonus Distribution:
In addition to the 57,000* educational facilities/business professionals who receive American School & University, the Educational Interiors Showcase will be distributed through industry partners the following year. *Publisher’s own data.

Education Bond Alerts:
Two complimentary months of AS&U’s email update of recently passed bond issues.

American School & University Subscriber E-Newsletter:
Your project is included, with a link to your gallery and firm profile.

Rates
If your project is selected for publication in the Educational Interiors Showcase, a fee is incurred to help cover judging expenses, and production, printing and distribution of the magazine. Pay nothing when you enter. If published, you receive an invoice in late August.

Publication Fee (per page)

1 page 2 Pages 3 Pages 4 Pages
$1,990 $1,875 per page $1,730 per page $1,620 per page

Per-page discounts apply to multiple pages for one project, or when entering multiple projects.

Contact Heather Buzzard for information about special discounts for entering one project in multiple categories:

Return to the Educational Interiors Showcase Page

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