The results are in for the Blackhawk Hills Regional Council’s 2025 Northwest Illinois Housing Design Competition.

Eleven entries were submitted by designers and scored by a nine-person judging panel with experience in accessibility, community and economic development, and design. Additionally, the competition featured a public voting component open to northwest Illinois residents.

Five judging panel awards went to Access Green Design Group (“Effortless Living Homes for Generations”), Fifth Start Architecture and Design (“Within Reach”), Mackenzie Knautz (“Home 3”), Quinn Follett (“Blackhawk Housing Initiative”) and Studio GWA (“Expand-It Mod-Homes”).

The public vote winner was Gertrude Heimerdinger (“Pocket of Love”). Additional participants were Anthony Adelmann (“House with Two Rooms”), Converge Architecture (“Will You Be My Neighbor?”), Jia Ba Bue (“Discover Your Perfect Nook”), Studio K Architecture (“The Prairie Duplex”) and Theo Woessner (“Green Space Neighborhood”). All participants will receive at least $500.

Submissions and further details are viewable at housing.blackhawkhills.com. BHRC will work with participants to display their designs in 2026 at local civic and cultural institutions. The website will be updated with exhibiting locations and dates.

Local governments interested in hosting a build of one of these designs in northwest Illinois should contact BHRC at info@blackhawkhills.com. BHRC hopes to bring to life at least one of the designs in cooperation with a willing county or municipal partner.

The BHRC, located at 309 First Ave., Rock Falls, is northwest Illinois’ regional planning organization and economic development district serving Carroll, Jo Daviess, Lee, Ogle, Stephenson and Whiteside counties.

The competition was conceived as a way to highlight housing challenges in those counties and encourage new builds addressing such challenges. BHRC asked participants to consider key housing concepts – such as multigenerational living, accessibility and affordability – and place their house in an existing neighborhood in the region, demonstrating how a design’s configuration might work on a real parcel.

BHRC received partial funding for the competition from AARP. The AARP Community Challenge is a grant program to make tangible improvements in communities that jump-start long-term change. It is part of AARP’s nationwide Livable Communities initiative, which supports the efforts of cities, towns, neighborhoods and rural areas to become great places to live for people of all ages. To learn more, visit AARP.org/livable.