Design Excellence
Contents
Introduction
This page includes illustrations of successful designs and examples of design excellence, including design awards and visual preference surveys.
Illustrations of Good Design
Illustrations of successful examples of development projects can be helpful in encouraging good design. The MRSC Planning Illustrated page includes sections relevant to good design.
- Image Banks - Images of Multiple Planning-Related Subjects (MRSC Planning Illustrated page)
- Density Mitigated by Design (MRSC Planning Illustrated page)
- Seattle's Design Review Program, What We Do: Gallery of Great Examples - Shows positive examples of projects that meet Seattle's design guidelines
Design Awards
Some communities and organizations give awards to recognize excellence in design. Among the best known of these are the annual American Institute of Architects (AIA) awards given by many local and state chapters.
- Seattle AIA Honors and Exhibitions
- Seattle AIA 2011 Awards
- Clark County Community Pride Design Awards
- King County Green Globe Awards - Environmental stewardship
- Puget Sound Regional Council Vision 2040 Awards - Recognizes outstanding projects that help to achieve regional growth, economic, and transportation strategy
- Better Bricks Program Awards (Oregon, Idaho, Puget Sound area, and Southwest Washington) - Recognizes energy-efficient commercial building projects
- AIA Northwest and Pacific Region Design Awards
- Washington APA Planning Awards - Annual awards for excellence in planning
Visual Preference Surveys
The Visual Preference Survey (VPS) was developed by architect Anton Nelessen and is an effective tool for educating and involving community members in land use planning. The process involves members of the community in ranking images of a community or region, including photographs of streets, houses, stores, office buildings, parks, open space, and other key civic features. The results of the VPS are useful in developing land use plans and transportation planning projects.
- Bellevue Eastgate/I-90 Land Use and Transportation Project Visual Preference Survey Summary Report (
), 06/2011
- Bremerton Manette Subarea Plan, Visual Preference Survey ()
- Chelan Downtown Master Plan Visual Preference Survey () 2009
- Clark County Highway 99 Visual Preference Survey (
)
- Mukilteo Downtown Business District Subarea Plan, Visual Preference Survey – Results (), 2008
- Redmond Overlake Urban Center Visual Preference Survey ()
- Sammamish Town Center - Signage Visual Preference Survey ()
- Snapshots of a Community's Preferences, by Jeff Schommer, The Charrette Center