The Island Design Excellence Awards (IDEA) spotlights the creative forces shaping Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands by highlighting the products, projects and people whose excellence is achieved through design.
IDEA winners will be announced at the awards ceremony in November and recognized regionally and nationally for their design excellence through promotion by Design Victoria and our media partners.
A panel of external judges from on and off Vancouver Island will select a winner in each category.
Timeline:
+ Early Bid entries are now open.
+ 31 July: Early Bird entries close
+ 10 September: Entries close
+ October (Date TBC): Shortlist Announced
+ 5 November: Winners Announced
Join us for the Island Design Excellence Awards Ceremony on Thursday, November 5.
This fun evening will shine a spotlight on the creative forces shaping Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands.
Last year's inaugural ceremony wasn't just another industry event — it’s a high-energy celebration where our creative community comes together to honour the products, projects, and people whose excellence is achieved through design.
Raise a glass with us as we toast this year's IDEA finalists and winners!
Each award entry includes a ticket to the party.
Sign up for the newsletter to be the first to find out when ceremony ticket sales open.
Projects submitted in this category highlight residential homes and mixed-use buildings and developments that are thoughtfully designed to relay a unique, powerful and compelling narrative that underpins the project.
This can be a renovation or new build.
Celebrating architecture that reflects the distinct cultural, environmental, and material character of Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands.
Projects submitted in this category highlight residential and mixed-use interiors that are thoughtfully designed to relay a unique, powerful and compelling narrative that underpins the project.
This can be a renovation or new build.
This category recognizes landscapes and outdoor spaces that are thoughtfully designed to create meaningful and memorable experiences.
Projects may include parks, gardens, streetscapes, campuses, recreational spaces, developments, and other outdoor environments.
Applicants may include landscape architects, designers, planners, community organizations, and multidisciplinary teams.
This category recognizes projects that prioritize people, accessibility, inclusion, and community connection. From public spaces and civic facilities to neighbourhood developments and urban interventions, these projects use design to support social life, foster belonging, and create meaningful shared experiences.
Projects can range in scope from a room, building, or public space to a larger development, district, or masterplan. Applicants may include architects, urban designers, planners, landscape architects, community organizations, municipalities, and multidisciplinary teams.
This category celebrates bold, impactful work created with limited resources—proof that great design doesn’t require big budgets.
Open to collaborators from any design sector. We are looking for applications to successfully explain the context for the project, including comparative costs to a "non-scrappy" alternative.
This cateory recognizes partnerships that cross disciplines, perspectives, or sectors to produce creative and unexpected design solutions.
Open to collaborators from any design sector. We are looking for true collaborations between two or more partners, contributing equally to an outcome that would not be available otherwise.
Recognizing work that integrates sustainability into its core—design that reduces impact, supports regeneration, or rethinks systems for good.
Open to applicants from any design sector. We are looking for submissions that can explain the context they are working in, and how the project makes a positive environmental impact on the sector.
This category is geared towards builders, contractors, engineers and anyone who has contributed to a complex design build.
Open to applicants who have contributed to or delivered a noteworthy or complex build. This category celebrates the technical know-how required to bring designs to life.
This category celebrates ideas developed on Vancouver Island that have found life and relevance beyond it—locally born, globally shared/produced/distributed. This award showcases the reach of Island designers, which often extends far beyond the place it was designed.
Open to applicants from any design sector. Projects should be designed on the Island but delivered elsewhere.
This category recognizes graphic design that relays a unique, powerful and compelling narrative that underpins the project. Applications can be for web/digital or print projects and can range in scope from a single piece of communication to a full brand idenity.
This category celebrates furniture that is thoughtfully designed to relay a unique, powerful and compelling narrative that underpins the project.
Applications include but are not limited to lighting, shelving, seating, tables, etc.
This category recognizes products, devices, and systems that use design to solve meaningful problems and improve the way people live, work, learn, play, and interact with the world.
Applicants may include product and industrial designers, entrepreneurs, engineers, inventors, researchers, and multidisciplinary teams. Eligible projects may include consumer goods, industrial equipment, technology, medical devices, packaging systems, and other designed products intended for manufacture, distribution, or broad use.
