Washington, DC—Each year, the National Organization of Minority Architects’ (NOMA) Barbara G. Laurie (BGL) Student Design Competition brings together hundreds of architecture students to showcase design thinking and innovative, community-centered design. The National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB) was proud to support the 2025 BGL Student Design Competition, featuring proposals from 41 National Organization of Minority Architecture Students (NOMAS) chapters across the country.
The BGL Student Design Competition is one of the highlights of NOMA’s Annual Conference. With a prompt tied to community growth and impact on the conference host city, the competition asks students to demonstrate culturally responsible development approaches while generating creative and thoughtful design solutions. For the 2025 competition, students were asked to propose a model for housing in Kansas City that prioritizes those made more vulnerable by generations of racialized disinvestment—participants were able to choose if they wanted to situate their proposal in Kansas City, Missouri, or Kansas City, Kansas.
First round proposals were submitted in July 2025, and finalists were selected in late August. In October, finalists presented their proposals during NOMA’s Annual Conference, with winners announced during the annual NOMA Awards Show.
NCARB was proud to provide financial support for this year’s BGL Student Design Competition as part of our ongoing commitment to supporting the next generation of architects. In addition to general conference sponsorship, NCARB’s support ensured that NOMAS representatives were able to attend the conference in person to present their designs.
For more about the BGL Student Design Competition, visit NOMA’s website.
About NCARB
The National Council of Architectural Registration Boards’ membership is made up of the architectural licensing boards of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. NCARB, in collaboration with these boards, facilitates the licensure and credentialing of architects to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the public.
To achieve these goals, NCARB works with its Member Boards and volunteers to develop and facilitate standards for licensure, including the national examination and experience program. NCARB also recommends regulatory guidelines for licensing boards and helps architects expand their professional reach through the NCARB Certificate. Connect with NCARB on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube.