ECC EIFS Design Awards Program 2021

The EIFS Council of Canada announces the opening of the 2021 Architectural Design Awards Program to honour design professionals and firms which incorporate EIFS products into innovative and creative built projects.

The Awards Program is open to all architects, architectural firms, builders or design professionals that have designed and completed a building located in Canada which utilizes EIFS. There will be one overall Grand Award winner chosen from the Finalist Awards winners from each construction category. Our 2021 Award recipients will be recognized and celebrated at the ECC Conference and Awards Dinner in June 2021.

The ECC Architectural Awards criteria and selection process is presided over by a jury panel of esteemed building industry professionals from diverse backgrounds. Previous jurors have included prominent architects, leading academics as well as building scientists from across Canada.

Photos, Press Releases and information on all the previous years’ Grand Prize Winners and Finalists can be found in our Finalists Gallery and Press Releases section.

Schedule of Key Dates

i. Awards launch: March 1, 2021
ii. Deadline for registrations: March 31, 2021
iii. Deadline for submissions: May 28, 2021, 11:59 PM
iv. Finalists announcement: June 28, 2021
v. Date of Awards Ceremony: July 2021 (Tentative Date)
vi. Deadline for RSVPs: July 2021 (Tentative Date)

Eligibility Criteria

Project Categories eligibility criteria as referenced by the National Building Code

General criteria:

• Project must be occupied no sooner than January 1^st, 2019 and no later than January 31^st, 2021 (for all project categories EXCEPT renovation projects).
  • OR Project must be completed no sooner than January 1^st, 2019 and no later than January 31^st, 2021 (for renovation projects ONLY).
• Project must be occupied by the time of submission
• Project opaque walls must be comprised of more than 50% EIFS
• Project site and building must be physically located in Canada
• Project must not be a previous EIFS Architectural Design Awards Finalist or Winner

Low rise residential:

• Project must be within the scope of Part 9 of Division B of the NBC and be used or intended to be used residential occupancy
• Project must be four (4) storeys or under in building height

Mid rise residential:

• Project must be within the scope of Part 3 of Division B of the NBC and be used or intended to be used residential occupancy
• Project must be four (4) to six (6) storeys in building height

High rise residential:

• Project must within the scope of Part 3 of Division B of the NBC and be used or intended to be used residential occupancy
• Project must be above seven ( 7) storeys and higher

Commercial/Retail:

• Project must be within the scope of Part 9 or Part 3 and be used or intended to be used business and personal services OR mercantile occupancy

Hospitality:

• Project must be within the scope of Part 9 or Part 3 and be used or intended to be used for short term residential occupancy
• Project must be a hotel, motel, or lodging house

Recreational/Institutional:

• Project must be constructed in compliance with the NBC and be used or intended to be used for recreational or institutional assembly occupancy

Renovation:

• Project must be constructed in compliance with the local building code
• Project must be a recladding of an existing building
• If an addition was added to an existing building and new floor area was added, the project would not be eligible for the renovation category, but would be eligible for the appropriate category above)

Please note: Project categories may be redefined, at the discretion of the judging panel, based on the number of participating projects.

Submission Guidelines

• A project can be submitted to one (1) category only. However, you may submit different projects to different categories.
• All submissions must be in an electronic format
• All submissions must contain three (3) PDF files:
  1. Drawing/details
     • Architectural drawings/details including, but not limited to:
       • Site plans, floor plans, elevations, sections
       • Key details involving EIFS, and
       • Specification list

2. One-page summary (8.5 x 11”) which explains how the project fulfills the following criteria:
   • Impact: How does the project contribute to its site, neighbourhood and community?
   • Design: How does the project demonstrate innovation & creativity?
   • Sustainability: Describe the project strategies that were incorporated to reduce the negative impact of the building on the environment?
   • Use & Significance: How does this project create a new benchmark of excellence in EIFS construction?
   • Technical excellence: How does the project demonstrate technical excellence and good building science principles?
3. Photo set:
   • Include photos of the project from different elevations
   • Include photos of the site that shows the project in its immediate context
   • Photo resolution should be 180 dpi or higher
   • Photos should be formatted on 8.5 x 11” sized page
   • Sixteen (16) single-sided pages maximum or 8 double sided pages