Historic Resources Committee

The Holland Prize is an annual competition that recognizes the best single-sheet measured drawing of an historic building, site, or structure prepared to HABS/HAER/HALS standards and guidelines. The prize honors Leicester B. Holland (1882-1952), FAIA, chairman of The American Institute of Architects' Committee on Historic Buildings, head of the Fine Arts Division of The Library of Congress and first curator of the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) collection, a co-founder of the HABS program in the 1930s, and the first chair of the HABS Advisory Board.

The winner will receive a $1,500 cash prize and a certificate of recognition. Preservation Architect, the online newsletter of The American Institute of Architects' Historic Resources Committee, will publish the winning drawing. Merit awards may also be given.

1 August: Email deadline for submission of entry forms

1 September: Final date that HABS/HAER/HALS staff will review draft drawings and historical reports

1 August to 1 October: Completed entries accepted (postmark date)

October: Jury meets

Winter: Prize winner announced

Participants may be students, or professionals, working alone, or as a team. Anyone is eligible to compete in the Holland Prize competition except current HABS/HAER/HALS employees.

There is no cost to enter the competition.

Discover how you can participate on the competition website here.

The 2025 Leicester B. Holland Prize poster features the 2024 winning drawings by architectural designer Laura Pressley for drawings of the Wainwright Tomb at Bellefontaine Cemetery and Arboretum in St. Louis, Missouri, designed by the noted early American modernist architect, Louis Sullivan.