About the Bulgarian Architecture Awards

Important Dates

1st

September

Competition announcement

15th

October

Deadline for questions and answers.

15th

November

Deadline for submission of competition materials. The system will stop accepting entries after 23:59 EET

20th

November

Jury process

End of

November

Gala Award Ceremony (date to be announced later)

The “Bulgarian Architecture Awards” is the most significant professional and non-commercial architectural competition that distinguishes good practices and quality works of architectural art in Bulgaria, regardless of their budget, size, or function. The competition aims to popularize the most valuable realized architectural projects by recognizing their authors—the architects—and the uniqueness of their ideas, with an emphasis on architectural quality, aesthetics, and applied innovations. Additionally, the originality of the concept and the sustainability of the project in improving quality of life are considered. The projects should stimulate the social, cultural, and economic life of local communities and contribute to shaping the contemporary vision of Bulgarian cities.

The competition is held in the category “New Projects”.

Awards

The winner of the “Bulgarian Architecture Awards 2025” in the category “New Projects” will receive a specially crafted statuette and a diploma, accompanied by a certificate with reviews from the jury. The recipients of the special awards will be awarded a statuette and a diploma, accompanied by a certificate with reviews from the jury.

Evaluation Criteria

Advantages of the project in improving the quality of life of its users, its relationship to the surrounding environment including the potential for inclusion0%
Architectural qualities of the project (of the interior and exterior spaces of the building, materials used, and the role that light plays in the project)0%
Clarity of organization from the master plan to completion of the project — layouts, function, volume0%
Innovations applied in the project and how they influenced the architecture in relation to climate change /energy, carbon, and environmental impacts and optimization of energy efficiency/: such as the level of use of materials with zero or low carbon content, recycled or regenerated materials, local natural products. Optimized structure and use of space.0%
Clarity of organization from the master plan to completion of the project — layouts, function, volume0%

Jury Process

The projects will be reviewed by a 5-member authoritative jury, consisting of established professionals in the sector. The composition of the jury will be announced later.

In the final stage, the jury will determine the winner of the Grand Prize, as well as four Special Awards.

The authors of the awarded projects will be honored at the Gala Ceremony at the end of November 2025 (the date will be announced later).

Participation

Architects who are members of the Chamber of Architects in Bulgaria (CAB) with full or limited design capacity may participate in the “Bulgarian Architecture Awards 2025”, either individually or as a design team.

The participants’ projects must have been realized in the period from September 2021 to September 2025. These may be new buildings with no limitation in area, volume, or function; reconstructions; modernizations and adaptations of existing buildings; interiors; urban spaces.

Builders, developers, investors, owners, or users of a building may participate in the competition with a project submitted on behalf of its author—the relevant architect or design office.

Participation in the “Bulgarian Architecture Awards 2025” is also possible for projects that are not fully completed within the specified period but are in the finishing stage of construction and immediately prior to commissioning.

There is no limit to the number of projects that a single architect may submit.

Promotion will take place nationally and internationally through:

The website of the Chamber of Architects in Bulgaria https://kab.bg;

  • Presentation and archiving of the project on a special online platform for the national architecture awards – submitted materials will be published;
  • Through the SHARE platform;
  • Presentation of the project and its author team before the jury and the public within the International Architecture and Engineering Forum SHARE Sofia 2025;
  • Presentation through media partners;
  • Opportunities for authors to participate as speakers at the SHARE international architecture and engineering conferences in Romania, Poland, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Hungary, etc.

Project Requirements

Registration and Participation

 

Applications are submitted only electronically—by registering on the “Bulgarian Architecture Awards” website and by sending an email to: baa@kab.bg

It is not necessary to print and send hard copies to the organizer.

The following documents are required in digital format:

Materials to be submitted by 15 November 2025

Presentation boards - 3 pcs. PDF format, A2, 300 dpi, up to 15MB per board
Photos and sketches of the project, not included on the boards - 10 pcs. JPG format, minimum resolution 1000px x 1000px
Project description in Bulgarian and English in 4 sections Initial site conditions; Project goal; Project essence; Impact on the surrounding environment.

Deadline

15 November 2025, 23:59 (EET). After this time, no further entries will be accepted.

Language

All projects must be submitted in Bulgarian and English.

Contents of the Competition Boards

 

The three competition boards must include the following information:

 

A map (or photographic map) showing the location of the building (not to scale)


A photoshoot of the site (preferably before and after construction and from the same angle, up to 5 pcs.)


Plans and other drawings, as well as architectural visualizations that best present the project

Text explanations in Bulgarian and English, if necessary