Does Your Project Have What It Takes to Win Andersen’s Bright Ideas Awards?

Incorporating natural light into a home is one of the most straightforward ways to connect the built environment to the landscape, fresh air, and natural world around you. When your home glows, you do too.

That’s why Andersen Windows & Doors—in collaboration with Dwell—launched its Bright Ideas Awards in 2021: To celebrate homes that utilize natural light and the positive benefits it brings to our daily lives. 

And we’re thrilled to kick off the design competition for a third year with a new student category that will honor the next generation of design professionals who are exploring the inexhaustible potential of daylight.

"Dwell has always championed emerging designers and helped our readers discover new talent. We're excited to add a student category to this year's Bright Ideas Awards and continue to highlight what's next in design," says William Hanley, Dwell’s editor-in-chief.

The 2023 awards will recognize new, completed residential work submitted in two categories: single family and multifamily, as well as an unbuilt category for architecture students. There will be one winner and one runner-up in each category alongside an honorable mention for the student category.

Selection of Winners

We’ll announce the winning projects online on October 2, 2023. Winners will also be featured in the print version of Dwell this winter.

Award Criteria

The competition is open to licensed individual architects and firms and actively enrolled architecture students in the U.S. The winning residential projects do not need to include Andersen products and will be: 

1. Creative in their approach to fenestration and daylighting. 

2. Environmentally responsible with safe, healthy living spaces that incorporate recycled, renewable, or otherwise sustainable materials. 

3. Structurally innovative in their use of new materials and/or methods.

4. Aesthetically innovative with interesting use of form and finishes.

5. Contextualized and responsive to their surroundings to ensure they fit into their environment.

Panel of Judges 

Winners, runners-up, and the honorable mention will be determined by our panel of judges, which includes: 

Brandon Berg, VP of Research & Development at Andersen

Jesús Edmundo Robles, Jr., Dust Architects

Talitha Liu and Lexi Tsien, Soft-Firm

William Hanley, Editor-in-Chief of Dwell  

How to Submit

Upload your project between now and July 14, 2023. You may submit multiple projects in each category. 

We can’t wait to see what you’ve been dreaming up. Submit your project(s) here.

Revisit the 2022 winners:

A Sleek A-Frame Rises From the Ashes in Lake Tahoe, California

A Historic Craftsman in Phoenix, Arizona, Anchors a Community of Nine Modern Bungalows

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. VOID IN PUERTO RICO, GUAM, ANY OTHER U.S. TERRITORIES OR POSSESSIONS OR MILITARY INSTALLATIONS, AND WHERE PROHIBITED. Open only to licensed architects, architecture firms, and actively enrolled architecture students who are current legal residents of the 50 U.S. states or the District of Columbia, and who are at least 18 and the age of majority at time of entry. Contest Period: 12:00:01 PM PT 6/1/23 to 9:59:59 PM PT 7/14/23. For detailed entry and eligibility requirements, judging criteria, and other contest details, see full Official Rules at here. A panel of judges will judge all qualifying entries in 3 different fenestration project categories based on judging criteria in Official Rules. Prizes: 1 winning entry in each of 3 different fenestration project categories may be featured in editorial coverage on Dwell.com and in Dwell Magazine. Prizes have no retail value. Sponsor: Andersen Windows, Inc., 100 Fourth Avenue North, Bayport, Minnesota 55003. Administrator: Acton Media Inc., 601 W. 26th Street, Floor 13, Suite 1350, New York, NY 10001. Andersen Windows, Inc. collects certain categories of personal information and uses this information in various ways, including contest fulfillment, order fulfillment, and providing product information and services to you. For more information, see: andersenwindows.com/support/privacy/.