JBC Masonry Innovation Competition

Overview

IMI’s JBC Masonry Innovation Competition wants your ideas for transformative masonry design. We’re challenging practicing and aspiring architects and engineers to advance the future of masonry design and construction.

Registration is now open for the 2026 competition! Get more information below or download our competition brief to start innovating.

REGISTER

THE CHALLENGE​

Your ideas have the power to tackle today’s biggest challenges — from climate resilience and sustainability to community health and well-being, affordability, accessibility, and social equity. We want to see your bold new concepts that show how masonry can solve challenges and better our built environment. We’re also looking for ideas that have the potential to change the way we design and build with masonry and create growth opportunities for our industry.

Your solution can focus on innovations in:

  • Materials/material science
  • Construction methods or processes
  • Design approaches
  • Business models
  • Aesthetic or functional uses of masonry

Whether your concept improves an existing system or proposes something groundbreaking, it should demonstrate value, relevance, and constructability.

SUBMISSION SCOPE

We welcome imagined, proposed, or completed projects of any scale or program — from schools and hospitals to public spaces and housing. Model your ideas in BIM and use BIM for Masonry (BIM-M) tools to bring your vision to life.

WHY IMI?

At IMI, we know that great design and skilled craft go hand in hand. As a labor-management partnership, IMI has long fought for economic and social justice by
bringing workers and employers together to ensure fair pay, good benefits, and safer jobsites for all.

IMI and IMTEF’s state-of-the-art training prepares BAC craftworkers and contractors to meet the demands of complex, high-performance masonry construction.

Together with innovative architects and engineers, we can create a better built world for everyone. Show us your innovative solutions!

Key Information

Registration opens: January 15, 2026

Submission opens: February 15, 2026

Submission deadline: July 31, 2026 (11:59 p.m. EST)

Winners notified: September 2026

Winners announced: October 2026

The competition is open to:

  • University students enrolled in a design, architecture, or engineering program
  • Architects
  • Engineers
  • Architectural and Engineering Firms

Entrants must be 18 years or older and residents of the U.S. or Canada. Residents of, and entities registered in, Quebec are not eligible to participate in this Competition.

Download the competition brief for complete information, including the challenge, key dates, entry requirements, and more.

Access the complete Official Rules for more detailed information about the program. Upon registering for the competition, you’ll be asked to agree to comply by and be bound to the Official Rules. 

Questions may be directed to IMI at jbcaward@imiweb.org.

PRIZES and entry categories

Monetary awards will be provided to 1st place winners in each of the 3 entry categories.

Winners will also receive special publicity and promotion.  This includes being highlighted in IMI’s digital publications, presenting on IMI’s webinar series, and being honored during an awards ceremony with industry professionals.

There are 3 entry categories:

  • Students: Undergraduate or graduate students enrolled in a design, architecture, or engineering school.
  • Young Architects/Engineers: Any architects or engineers under the age of 40.
  • A/E Firms, Individual Architects/Engineers, & Cross-Category: Architecture/engineering firms, architects and engineers age 40 and over, and cross-category teams.

Multidisciplinary teams are encouraged in all categories to help facilitate a well-conceived solution, but individual entries are also permitted. There are no restrictions on team size.

Each team or individual may only submit one entry.

University
STUDENTS

$5,000 to student team
$5,000 to university program

YOUNG ARCHITECTS AND ENGINEERS

$10,000

Firms AND Individual Architects / Engineers

$10,000

JURY

Entries will be evaluated by a prestigious panel of renowned architects and leaders in the masonry design and construction industry.

The following criteria will be used to judge submissions:

  • Innovation (45%): The idea provides a groundbreaking proposal for positioning masonry. The idea generates added value or usefulness, improvement, or increases masonry’s relevance.
  • Execution of idea (30%): The idea is clearly communicated and understood.
  • Creativity (25%): The solution shows original thinking.

Registration

Registration opens January 15, 2026.

Registering is quick and easy: only basic contact information is collected and there’s no cost to register. 

If you’re entering as a team, please choose a team lead to register an account. After registering, you’ll receive an email asking to confirm your account by clicking the provided link. You must confirm your account to complete registration.

REGISTER

Submission

HOW TO SUBMIT

The online entry and submission system will open on February 15, 2026. Through the system, you can start and save your entry in progress and return at any time using the login created during registration.

DELIVERABLES

During the online entry submission period, participants are required to submit the following deliverables as a part of their entry:

  • Two digital presentation boards depicting your project. Include plans, sections, details, BIM images, 3D images, and any other information needed to explain your design solution. Digital boards should be landscape-oriented at 24″(h) X 36″(w) and saved as JPEGs at 150 dpi resolution in RGB mode.
  • A project statement (1200 words max.) that explains how your concept rethinks the innovative potential of masonry and addresses program requirements outlined in the competition brief. 
  • Contact information, as requested during registration and on the entry form.
  • For Student Category Entrants Only: Proof of current enrollment in a design, architecture, or engineering program.

Participants are encouraged to submit all information they consider necessary to explain their solution above and beyond the required deliverables, including, but not limited to, video, images, written, or multimedia content.

PAST WINNERS

2024

Masonry AR
Modular Ecologies
Clayscapes

Read about the 2024 winners.

2022

St. Joseph’s Arrupe Hall
Eric Pros Body of Work
University of Waterloo

Read about the 2022 winners.

2020

2018

Mashrabiya 2.0
Alterable Brick Wall
Masonry Unit for Space

Read about the inaugural winners.

About Joan B. Calambokidis

Joan B. Calambokidis served as President of the International Masonry Institute (IMI) from 1995-2017.

The JBC Masonry Innovation Competition was founded in 2018 to honor Joan’s legacy of masonry innovation, including groundbreaking advancements in training, education, research, and technical development.

Joan’s leadership was instrumental in creating IMI’s renowned training programs for craftworkers, contractors, and design professionals. Her vision for training has helped to bring an unprecedented level of skill, quality, and craftsmanship to masonry construction projects across the U.S. and Canada. Joan also led the development of IMI’s International Training Center, a multi-building, state-of-the-art facility in Maryland that has educated thousands of craftworkers and design professionals since its opening in 2007.

During Joan’s tenure, IMI helped curate Masonry Variations in 2003, a National Building Museum exhibit co-sponsored by the International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers (BAC) and IMI. The exhibit featured innovative works by four architects, demonstrating the versatility of stone, terrazzo, brick, and autoclaved aerated concrete. The installations explored the relationship between material, technology, and collaboration.

Joan was also responsible for the creation of Masonry Camp, a nationally-recognized IMI program dedicated to building collaboration between designers and craftworkers.

Through the JBC Masonry Innovation Competition, IMI honors and carries on the tradition of innovation that Joan established in the masonry industry.

LET’S BUILD RESPONSIBLY.

Work with our multi-disciplinary team to help you deliver high-performing projects.