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2021 Design Challenge Division and Grand Winners were announced during the Competition Event in Golden, Colorado, April 15–18, 2021.
The students from 63 Finalist Teams represented 58 collegiate institutions during the 2021 Design Challenge. Teams competed in one of seven divisions: Suburban Single-Family Housing, Urban Single-Family Housing, Attached Housing, Mixed-Use Multifamily Building, Elementary School, Office Building, or Retail Building.
For team deliverables, explore the BuildingsNEXT Deliverables Table.
2021 Design Challenge Grand Winners
Commercial Grand Winner: University of Oregon (Eugene, Oregon)
Residential Grand Winner: Northwestern University (Evanston, Illinois)
2021 Design Challenge Division Results
Suburban Single-Family Housing Division
1st Place: Ferris State University (Big Rapids, Michigan)
2nd Place: Missouri University of Science and Technology (Rolla, Missouri)
3rd Place: Appalachian State University (Boone, North Carolina)
Urban Single-Family Housing Division
1st Place: Northwestern University (Evanston, Illinois)
2nd Place: The University of Arizona (Tucson, Arizona)
3rd Place: Ball State University (Muncie, Indiana)
Attached Housing Division
1st Place: Marywood University (Scranton, Pennsylvania)
2nd Place: Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (Mumbai, India)
3rd Place: Monash University (Melbourne, Australia)
Mixed-Use Multifamily Building Division
1st Place: The University of British Columbia (Vancouver, Canada)
2nd Place: The University of Arizona (Tucson, Arizona)
3rd Place: University of Missouri-Columbia (Columbia, Missouri)
Elementary School Division
1st Place: University of Oregon (Eugene, Oregon)
2nd Place: Ryerson University (Toronto, Canada)
3rd Place: Ball State University (Muncie, Indiana)
Office Building Division
1st Place: Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Blacksburg, Virginia)
2nd Place: Ryerson University (Toronto, Canada)
3rd Place: Harvard University (Cambridge, Massachusetts)
Retail Building Division
1st Place: Illinois Institute of Technology (Chicago, Illinois)
2nd Place: Thomas Jefferson University (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
3rd Place: Sathyabama Institute of Science and Technology (India)
Collegiate Institutions Represented in the 2021 Design Challenge
- Alexandria University, Egypt
- Appalachian State University, North Carolina, United States
- Ball State University, Indiana, United States
- California Polytechnic State University, California, United States
- Carleton University, Canada
- Columbia University, New York, United States
- Ferris State University, Michigan, United States
- Fitchburg State University, Massachusetts, United States
- Harvard University, Massachusetts, United States
- Higher Institute of Agronomy of Chott Marie, Tunisia
- Higher Institute of Design Sciences and Technologies, Tunisia
- Illinois Institute of Technology, Illinois, United States
- Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, India
- Institute of Higher Commercial Studies, Tunisia
- Kansas State University, Kansas, United States
- Kennesaw State University, Georgia, United States
- Manchester School of Architecture, United Kingdom
- Marywood University, Pennsylvania, United States
- Mississippi State University, Mississippi, United States
- Missouri University of Science and Technology, Missouri, United States
- Monash University, Australia
- Myongji University, South Korea
- National Engineering School of Monastir, Tunisia
- National Institute of Design, India
- National School of Architecture and Urban Planning, Tunisia
- New York City College of Technology, New York, United States
- Northeastern University, Massachusetts, United States
- Northwestern University, Illinois, United States
- Oberlin College and Conservatory, Ohio, United States
- Queen's University, Canada
- Rochester Institute of Technology, New York, United States
- Ryerson University, Canada
- Sathyabama Institute of Science and Technology, India
- Simon Fraser University, Canada
- The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, New York, United States
- The University of Arizona, Arizona, United States
- The University of British Columbia, Canada
- The University of New Hampshire, New Hampshire, United States
- Thomas Jefferson University, Pennsylvania, United States
- University of California Los Angeles, California, United States
- University of California, Berkeley, California, United States
- University of Central Florida, Florida, United States
- University of Cincinnati, Ohio, United States
- University of Colorado Boulder, Colorado, United States
- University of Colorado Denver, Colorado, United States
- University of Delaware, Delaware, United States
- University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Illinois, United States
- University of Missouri-Columbia, Missouri, United States
- University of Oregon, Oregon, United States
- University of Rochester, New York, United States
- University of the District of Columbia, DC, United States
- University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
- University of Waterloo, Canada
- University of Wisconsin-Madison, Wisconsin, United States
- University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States
- Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Virginia, United States
- Western Washington University, Washington, United States
- Yale University, Connecticut, United States
Key Dates from the 2021 Design Challenge
Complete details are available in the 2021 Design Challenge Rules.
- July 2020: Registration opened; 2021 Design Challenge Rules released
- October 2020: Team application deadline
- December 2020: Teams encouraged to submit an optional Project Pitch
- February 2021: Project proposal deadline
- April 2021: Finalist teams competed with presentations to industry leaders and awards presented to winners