The 2025 SHN Architecture & Design Awards will be accepting submissions starting April 1, 2025 and will close submissions on August 31, 2025 at 11:59pm CST. Winners will be announced October 1, 2025.

Click here to join the SHN Architecture & Design Awards Mailing List.

Owners, operators, architecture and/or interior design firms can apply. Company and individual submitting entry confirm and consent that all requisite partners in the project, such as owner(s), operator, architecture, and/or interior design firm, have authorized use of such submitted materials.

Any senior living community that fits into one of the categories below that was constructed/renovated and completed between January 1, 2024 to August 1, 2025 with high-resolution photos available for use. Prior submissions should not be resubmitted from previous years.

For projects completed after October 1, 2025 that do not have photographs, site plans, or floor plans, please consider applying to the 2026 Architecture & Design Awards.

Categories

• Active Adult
• Affordable Housing
• Assisted Living
• Behavioral Health
• Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC) & Life Plan Community (LPC)
• CCRC/LPC Lite
• Dining Innovation
• Hospice
• Independent Living
• International
• Renovation/Repositioning (Building)
• Renovation/Repositioning (Campus)
• Skilled Nursing/Post-Acute Care
• Skilled Nursing/Post-Acute Care Renovation/Repositioning
• Small Footprint
• Stand-Alone Memory Care
• Wellness: Health & Fitness

The SHN Architecture & Design Awards is a competition and marketing event judged by experienced industry professionals that highlights the innovative architecture and design solutions from behavioral health, hospice and palliative care, senior living, and skilled nursing organizations. The competition draws entries from the United States and across the world that showcase the latest trends in architecture and design. Entrants may be featured as nominees in announcements and stories that run on Behavioral Health, Hospice News, Senior Housing News, and Skilled Nursing News, bringing recognition to the project and firms that helped bring the project to life.

All applicants will receive an SHN Awards Nominee Badge, recognition on the appropriate WTWH Healthcare publication(s) and our email distribution, as well as a mention in a press release that will be submitted nationally. In addition, all nominees and their pictures will be featured on the SHN Awards website for the remainder of the year.

In addition, winners will receive the following:

• First place winners will receive a feature story on the appropriate WTWH Healthcare publication
• Recognition across WTWH Healthcare websites and emails
• Option to purchase a physical plaque
• An exclusive digital badge that can be displayed across your marketing channels
• An invite to the 2025 BUILD Conference taking place in Dallas, TX on November 6-7, 2025

Early bird entries close July 31, 2025.
The final entry deadline is August 31, 2025 at 11:59pm CST.

When purchased before July 31, 2025, each early bird submission is $550. Each submission received between August 1, 2025 and August 31, 2025 is $650. Submissions can be paid using any major credit card through our entry form.

The SHN Awards for Architecture and Design will be awarded to the communities based upon the following criteria:

Design & Aesthetics – Judges will evaluate the functionality of the community, looking at features that are critical to the property type, such as universal design techniques, as well as design elements, such as color, light, landscape architecture and overall creativity of the community’s design vision and sustainable features.

Community Integration – Judges will evaluate the effectiveness of how the community is positioned within the overall community with a focus on features that promote access to transportation and other community-based services. Entries should highlight:

• Nearby / walkable amenities
• Design features that are a good fit within the neighborhood & community
• Discussion of how community discussed input with local area
• How the community encourages or invites the broader community to its location
• Showcase of how the property is an infill location or unique redevelopment of shopping malls, hotel or school as examples
• Accessibility to local area resources and ease of in/out access
• Invitations to community & groups to offer programming on campus

** Some of the community integration factors may not be as relevant in entries for categories like standalone memory care.

Amenities & Lifestyle – Judges will evaluate the community’s features that incorporate a healthy lifestyle that provides residents access to products and services that make their lives easier.

View Judging Criteria

The projects will be judged by our group of expert panelists on the design and functionality of the buildings. The most innovative communities will be chosen as the winners and receive recognition throughout the industry via the appropriate WTWH Healthcare publication(s).

Click here to see full details of the judging process.

The following is required to complete your submission for the Senior Housing News Architecture & Design Awards:

1.) Fill out the Professional Form to describe the project (Best practice: Review the Professional Form ahead of time to ensure you collect all of the required information needed. You are not able to save your progress once you start filling out the Professional Form).

2.) Complete a PowerPoint presentation (NOTE: We have updated our templates from last year, so to ensure you have the latest version, make sure you download from the links below.)

Download the General Submission Template
Download the Renovation/Repositioning Template (for any renovation/repositioning projects)

We ask that you please submit your PowerPoint presentation in a .pptx format, and not a PDF format. 

3.) Provide up to 50 high-resolution photos in JPG format. For renovation projects, please include before and after photographs clearly labeled to demonstrate changes in a before/after type format.

4.) Photos should be at least 72dpi (resolution) and sized to fit inside a space that is 1540px in width and 760px in height.

*Photos must be no more than 760px tall. Landscape orientation photos are preferred. But please note that portrait orientation photos can be resized to 760px H with white space added on either side to create the 1540px width needed. (See illustrated  example below)

5.) Provide floor plans and site plans in PDF format (considered separate from the 50 photos allotted per entry). Please submit only those documents and not an entire set of architectural documents.

All materials can be submitted through the Professional Form. You can also send larger files via Dropbox or other file sharing service to [email protected]. Remember, you should review the Professional Form ahead of time to ensure you collect all of the required information needed. You are not able to save your progress once you start filling out the Professional Form. The payment page will appear after you click on “Enter Now”.

Any entries that do not include all of the above will be considered incomplete. If there are other items you’d like to submit, please contact us at [email protected]

Yes. You can see these 2024 winning PDFs of previously submitted projects as a good example of what judges are looking for overall. Please note: We have updated our submission templates for 2025, so yours will look slightly different from these examples.

2024 Renovation / Repositioning (Campus) Winner | Plymouth Place

2024 Assisted Living Winner | Belmont Village Coral Gables

Yes. If you want to include a video, you will need to send us a video with an aspect ratio of 16:9 and a finished size of 920 x 518. You must send us a link from Vimeo or YouTube in order for it to be showcased with the rest of your submission.

No. We will not accept videos to be uploaded or hosted by WTWH Healthcare or its publications.

No. WTWH Healthcare does not offer any type of video editing services. You must send us the link to your Vimeo or YouTube video fully edited and with the correct specs.

Your submission should be clear and concise with the right amount of information that allows our panel of professional judges to properly evaluate the project.

For entries that fall under New Construction (not Renovation / Repositioning) categories, the minimum requirement is the following:

• PowerPoint (.ppt or .pptx format)
• 2 External Photos (.jpg or .png format)
• 4 Internal Photos (.jpg or .png format)
• Site Plan (PDF format)
• Floor plan for each level (PDF format)

For entries under Renovation / Repositioning and SNF Renovation / Repositioning categories, the minimum requirement is the following:

• PowerPoint (.ppt or .pptx format)
• 2 External Before & After photos (unless renovation was strictly interior – .jpg or .png format)
• 4 Internal Before & Photos (.jpg or .png format)
• Site Plan (PDF format)
• Floor plan for each level (PDF format)

When you submit your project, the Awards team will confirm via email if they have received all required materials.

It is preferred that you address how much the project cost, along with the budget, however, if your firm or project partners do not want to include this financial data, it is acceptable to exclude it.

The winners will be chosen by our expert team of judges. Please note that any judge who was involved with a project submitted will not be able to cast a vote for that particular project and a representative from WTWH Healthcare will take their place.

The winners will be announced on October 1, 2025 across WTWH Media Healthcare websites. WTWH Healthcare will issue a press release that can be used by entrants for the competition. Communications will be sent via email to all nominees with more information.

Contact us at [email protected]