Architects will compete for Parade of Homes designs

As part of the annual Celebrate Architecture event this year, architects and designers will use the 2013 Parade of Homes as the basis for a design competition.

The idea for the competition came from Brian Johnson, a principal with Collaborative Design Architects and treasurer of the Billings Architectural Association.

In past competitions held in conjunction with Celebrate Architecture, architects came up with designs for a Habitat for Humanity House and plans for "pocket parks" in downtown Billings.

Johnson said he conceived of the Parade of Homes competition as a way of encouraging designers and architects to work more closely with builders and contractors.

He worked on the project with the Home Builders Association of Billings, which persuaded four contractors to place their building lots in the competition.

Each lot will have its own requirements for the house in question, in terms of style, budget, size and so on. Architects and designers can create plans for any or all of the houses.

The entries will be judged by a panel consisting of two professors from the Montana State University School of Architecture, two people from thehome builders groupand an advanced appraiser.

Based on that panel's selections, the Billings Architectural Association will award a $1,000 prize for the best design for each lot.

That doesn't necessarily mean any of the designs will be used to build a house for the Parade of Homes. But Johnson said the builders who own the lots will have the option of awarding a $5,000 prize for any of the submitted designs.

The builders could then use the design to create a house for next fall's Parade of Homes.

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Architects will compete for Parade of Homes designs