2026 High School Design Competition
Public Event
Tue, Feb 24 8:00 AM - 3:30 PM PDT
About this event:
Design Charrette (Initial All Participant Activity)
Date: Tuesday, February 24th, 2026 from 8:00 AM - 3:30 PM
Two locations available to choose from, pick the one that is closest to you:
- North County Location: Room G106, Allan Hancock College at 800 South College Drive, Santa Maria, CA 93454
- South County Location: Room 304 of the West Campus Center, Santa Barbara City College at 721 Cliff Drive, Santa Barbara CA 93109
Juried Review (12 Finalists Activity)
Date: Saturday, February 28, 2026 from 8:00 AM - 1:30 PM
Location: Elverhoj Museum of History & Art at 1624 Elverhoy Way, Solvang
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This competition is an in-person event, please contact Lydia Rao, Executive Director at lydia@afsb.org or (805) 965-6307 with any questions.
Have you ever imagined how much fun it would be to design a home for yourself or create a truly unique building?
Be the first of your friends to take part in a Design Charrette (Shuh-ret)!
Join us for a fast-paced, exciting, mind expanding, creative experience designing a building or space in a limited amount of time. ***Drafting Skills Are Not Required***
Each year, a new interesting community design project is chosen for the Charrette. You will not know what the project will be until you arrive. Examples of a community design project include a community center, fire station or museum.
Although you may be one of 50 designers at the Charrette, no two solutions will be alike. There is no right or wrong design. Each student will address the issues presented on their unique way bringing experiences and insights to their work.
You can draw, sketch, paint or use any media to illustrate your ideas on paper. Architects will then evaluate your work and select 12 finalists, who will later be invited to appear at a Juried Review to present their design to a panel of four design professionals and educators. Competition winners will then be announced!
More details about the competition:
- Open to all 9th - 12th grade students in any Santa Barbara County school
- No cost to enter
- Food is provided for students during the Charrette and for those invited to the Juried Review
- "Certificates of Participation" are awarded to all participants, with special cash awards and prizes for the 12 finalists
- Designers must arrange to be dismissed from regular classes the day of the Charrette and for transportation to and from the event site
- This is an "open book" competition, you may bring reference materials, even Google
- Your completed work will be created by hand, on paper provided to you. Again, drafting skills are not required, however you must draw with drafting tools or freehand to scale. This is required so you can be sure that the room you design (for example a bedroom) is large enough to contain a 6'0" x 5'0" bed and other furniture.
The following tools can be found at the Architectural Foundation of Santa Barbara website www.afsb.org
- Competition materials
- Helpful videos explaining design creativity, scale and drawing techniques
- Additional information relating to the High School Design Competition
Registration closes February 23, 2026
You may also contact the Executive Director of the Architectural Foundation directly for more information: Lydia Rao at (805) 965-6307 or lydia@afsb.org.
Thank you to our 2026 Sponsors (listing to date):
Architectural Foundation of Santa Barbara, Santa Ynez Valley Rotary Club, Santa Barbara Rotary North, Allan Hancock College Foundation.
Thank you to our 2026 Supporters (listing to date):
Tri-Co Reprographics - Santa Barbara, Direct Relief International, Inklings Printing - Solvang, Allan Hancock College, Elverhoj Museum of History & Art.
Free
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