2026 Arkansas ASLA Awards

ENTRY INFORMATION

The awards program celebrates professional excellence and recognizes firms, individuals, and agencies responsible for outstanding works of landscape architecture and environmental planning that promote an enhanced quality of life in Arkansas and beyond. 

ELIGIBILITY

Entries will be accepted for projects from ASLA Fellows, Members, Associates, or Affiliates; from other non-member landscape architects; public agencies, private developers, and other organizations with the endorsement of landscape architects connected with the submitted entry. Students enrolled in a college or university landscape architecture curriculum are eligible for the Student Category.

AWARDS SUBMITTAL SCHEDULE

Call for Entries will take place on July 6, 2026, and submittals are due Friday, September 4, 2026 (5pm CST). Additional information will be provided after payment. Entries will be submitted digitally via Google Drive. Winners will be notified of Jury results on Friday, October 2, 2026.

AWARDS CELEBRATION

Winners will be announced and exhibited at the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design Department of Landscape Architecture 50th Anniversary celebration the evening of Friday, November 6, 2026 in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Additional details to follow.  

AWARDS

Award of excellence: The Jury may select one entry from all the project submissions that represents an outstanding advancement in leadership, contribution, understanding, and / or achievement in the field of landscape architecture that improves the quality of life in Arkansas and beyond.

Honor award: A first place award in each category or sub-category may be given at the discretion of the Jury to recognize superior professional accomplishment.

CRITERIA

The jury will consider the quality of design and execution; design context; environmental sensitivity and sustainability; and design value to the client, to other designers, and to the community / region.

RECOGNITION

The Jury may select one (1) Honor Award and any number of Merit Awards in this category.

SUBMISSION

A separate Awards Entry Form and entry fee payment must be submitted for each project entry on this webpage. Upon confirmation of payment and receipt of the Entry Form, a return email (from arkansasaslaawards@gmail.com) with an Entry ID # will be sent to the primary contact person with an invitation to upload files to a shared folder on Google Drive. The Folder will be set up for you. DO NOT add additional folders.  All project descriptions, images, and image summaries should be submitted digitally and uploaded to this Google Drive folder.

Project narrative: On a maximum of one (1) page PDF, please address the project identity and location, scope and size, site and context investigation, design program, design intent, materials and installation methods, environmental impact and concerns, collaboration with the client and other designers, and other significant issues and special factors. Label the .PDF file as  Project Entry Number_Project Narrative.

Images: Include at least (1) site plan, plus five (5) but no more than ten (10) drawings and / or photographs in a single .PDF file not to exceed 10 MB. Drawings and photographs must be 8.5”x11” format and landscape orientation. Up to 3 images accepted for a montage which will be counted as part of the maximum 10 images submitted.  Brief captions of no more than 30 words each are to be placed at the bottom of each image. Label the .PDF file as Project Entry Number_Project Images. Do not label using your name or firm name.Using your name or firm name in your submission will lead to disqualification of entry. Failure to submit images will lead to disqualification of entry. Winners will be required to submit high resolution photos.

DO NOT SUBMIT IN A BINDER FORMAT. All uploaded entry material must conceal the identity of the entrant. All winning entries become the property of ASLA Arkansasand will be used for educational and promotional purposes.

CATEGORIES

Entries in the competition are invited in the following categories:

DESIGN (BUILT):This category recognizes constructed, site-specific works of landscape architecture, Professional submissions in this category must be built within the last five years. Entries in this category will be submitted and judged under one of the following sub-categories:

• Commercial Design

• Institutional Design (churches, school campuses, hospitals, assisted living facilities, military installations, cemeteries, civic centers, memorials, and theaters.

• Parks, Recreation & Open Space (national, state, or local parks and playgrounds, marinas, botanical and zoological gardens, cap parks, sports facilities, fairs, open space systems, open space restoration, and stream restoration)

• Commercial Design (mixed-use developments, streetscapes, in large-scale commercial developments, or master planned communities.)

Criteria: The jury will consider the quality of design and execution; context; environmental sensitivity and sustainability; and design value to the client, to other designers, and to the community / region as appropriate.

DESIGN (UNBUILT):This category recognizes designed, site-specific works of landscape architecture, Professional submissions in this category must be conceptual designs that are unbuilt. Entries in this category will be submitted and judged under one of the following sub-categories:

• Commercial Design

• Historical Preservation & Restoration Design (public and private grounds, urban spaces, gardens, estates, and other sites demonstrating integration of historic value into the design process)

• Institutional Design (churches, school campuses, hospitals, assisted living facilities, military installations, cemeteries, civic centers, memorials, and theaters.

• Park, Recreation, & Open Space (national, state, or local parks and playgrounds, marinas, botanical and zoological gardens, cap parks, sports facilities, fairs, open space systems, open space restoration, and stream restoration)

• Design (mixed-use developments, streetscapes, in large-scale commercial developments, or master planned communities.)

Criteria: The jury will consider the quality of design and execution; context; environmental sensitivity and sustainability; and design value to the client, to other designers, and to the community / region as appropriate.

RESIDENTIAL DESIGN: This category recognizes site-specific works of landscape architecture for residential use at the single-family / duplex, multi-family, patio homes, and townhomes. Professional submissions in this category must be built. 

• Residentialdevelopment design: model complexes, common areas that can include community entries, recreational complexes, common areas, streetscapes in housing projects 

• Residential garden design: project of one- or two-unit homes on a single lot. Please indicate construction budget on the entry form for the landscape architectural scope in one of the following categories:         

  • Up to $75,000

  • $75,001 to $200,000

  • Over $200,001          

Criteria: The jury will consider the quality of design and execution; context; environmental sensitivity and sustainability; and design value to the client, to other designers, and to the community / region as appropriate.

ANALYSIS & PLANNING:This category recognizes the wide variety of professional activity that leads to, guides, and evaluates land use and development. Typical entries in this category might include:

• Urban, suburban, rural or regional planning efforts

• Development guidelines; transportation, town, campus or recreation master plans

• Plans for reclamation of brownfield sites; environmental planning in relation to legislative or policy initiatives or regulatory controls

• Cultural resource reports; natural resources protection; historic preservation planning

Criteria: The jury will consider the quality of the analysis and planning effort; context; environmental sensitivity and sustainability; likelihood of successful implementation; and value to the client, the public and other designers.

STUDENT WORK: This category invites Landscape Architectural / Planning / Urban Design students to submit work of superior quality, innovation and / or leadership. For students, this work can be built or unbuilt in the following categories as described above:

• Design (Built)

• Design (Unbuilt)

• Residential Design

• Analysis & Planning

CRITERIA: The Jury will consider submissions as described above for each category.

Questions

Questions about the awards program or submission requirements should be emailed to arkansasaslaawards@gmail.com.