This is a design competition based on a real project brief, where participants are required to develop practical and well-resolved design proposals in response to the given requirements. Selected entries may be taken forward for further development or execution, subject to further communication.

You can participate either individually or as a team. Team size limits vary by competition, but most allow up to 5 members per team. Solo participants can register as a single-person team.

You are required to design a mixed-use development consisting of a commercial block and residential building(s) on the given plot, along with common amenities and compliant circulation/parking strategy.

Yes. 20% of the total permissible built-up area must be allocated to commercial, and it must be planned along the main road frontage (36m road edge).

The minimum intent is ground-floor shops with offices above. Participants are free to add supporting commercial spaces as required (lobby, toilets, services, etc.) as long as the commercial intent remains clear and buildable.

Complete segregation of commercial and residential is mandatory. Both must have separate entries, separate circulation, and separate parking, ensuring commercial activity does not disturb residential life.

Residential entry and drop-off must be planned only from the 7.5m internal road.

The permissible total built-up area for this project is 3,65,000 sq.ft.

The project must not exceed 100m height. Building height is subject to applicable clearances and norms. For heights beyond 45m, step-margin / higher height provisions as per UDCPR must be followed.

The residential development must follow a fixed typology mix. 50% of the total dwelling units must be 2BHK apartments of approximately 800 sq.ft saleable area with 645 sq.ft RERA carpet area, excluding terrace and dry balcony. The remaining 50% of the dwelling units must be 3BHK apartments, to be divided between 3BHK-A (1100 sq.ft) and 3BHK-B (1400 sq.ft). The proportion between 3BHK-A and 3BHK-B is left to the participant’s discretion.

No. Terrace and balcony areas are not counted in the RERA carpet area for the proposed flats.

Mandatory amenities include a rooftop terrace, multipurpose hall, kids play area, sit-outs, indoor games room, senior citizen park & yoga lawn, medical room, and co-working space. Participants may add additional amenities (such as a gym) as long as they remain coherent and buildable.

No. MHADA reservation is not applicable for this competition.

No. Amenity space reservation is not applicable in this project.

Basement is permitted up to 7m. Podium is preferred. Mechanical parking should be minimal (stack parking allowed).

No. The exact location remains undisclosed due to confidentiality. However, all essential context required for design development has been shared in the brief.

No. Only the Area Statement is required as a separate document. Estimation and design consultancy fee quote are not required at this stage.

If a design is selected to move forward, the winning team will collaborate with IPDS to refine the proposal toward execution, subject to project viability and approvals beyond the competition stage.

For this competition, submissions will be accepted only via email and not through the website or portal. Participants must email their submission to submission@archdais.com with their Team Code as the subject line. Two separate PDF files must be attached: the Design Proposal and the Area Statement, exactly as specified in the brief.

You are required to submit two separate PDF files: the Design Proposal and the Area Statement, in the format, naming system, and file size limits specified in the brief.

No. For this competition, submissions are not being accepted through the website or portal, so issues such as the submit button not appearing, the submission page not loading, or the website crashing near the deadline will not affect the submission process. All entries must be sent only via email to submission@archdais.com with the Team Code as the subject line.

Since all submissions are reviewed manually, confirmation is shared only after the submission deadline has closed. This allows participants to make corrections or revised submissions, if required, before the deadline. Once the deadline has passed, please allow 3–4 working days for the Archdais team to review the submission and share confirmation.

Yes. Participants may submit revised entries anytime before the submission deadline. Only the latest valid submission received before the deadline will be considered for evaluation.

Entries will be evaluated based on design clarity, planning efficiency, innovation, adherence to the brief, and overall feasibility.

Participants are advised to ensure that their email attachments are within standard email size limits. If files are large, a shareable drive link may be used with proper access enabled.

For the 2BHK unit, the internal room areas should add up to approximately 645 sq.ft, excluding terrace, balcony, and dry balcony. After adding these usable spaces, the overall flat size should be approximately 800 sq.ft. For the 3BHK units, the areas mentioned in the brief — 1100 sq.ft for 3BHK-A and 1400 sq.ft for 3BHK-B — should be understood as the overall flat size, including terrace, balcony, dry balcony, and similar usable spaces. Participants may plan the internal room distribution as per their design approach, while ensuring that the overall unit sizes remain aligned with the typologies mentioned in the brief.

Along the 7.57m road side, the road width includes the 4.57m existing road + 3.0m internal road / road-widening portion. The building setback should be considered after the 3.0m internal road / road-widening portion. In simple terms, the edge condition should be understood as: 3.0m internal road / road-widening portion + 6.0m clear side margin + building footprint The 3.0m portion should not be treated as private buildable area.

Along the 7.57m road side and the 36m road side, the 6.0m side margin remains applicable, even if the building height goes beyond 45m. For the remaining two sides, if the building height goes above 45m and up to the maximum permissible height, participants should follow the applicable higher-height margin / step-margin provisions as per UDCPR.

The effective commercial entry width from the 36m ROW road should be considered as approximately 9.0m. The additional 3.0m portion is part of the road-widening / internal road condition and should not be considered as part of the commercial entry width.

There is no fixed target dwelling yield prescribed beyond the development parameters, permissible built-up area, and unit mix mentioned in the brief. However, since this is a real project-based Design & Build competition, the proposal should remain financially and practically viable from a development perspective. At the same time, maximizing unit count alone should not become the only objective. Participants should aim for a balanced proposal that makes intelligent use of the development potential while still ensuring livability, daylight, ventilation, privacy, circulation, amenities, and clear residential-commercial segregation.

The office component may be planned as flexible business / commercial office use suitable for a mixed-use urban context. Participants may consider small to mid-sized professional offices, consulting/work studios, co-working spaces, service-based offices, or similar business-use spaces above the retail edge. There is no fixed tenant or specific office user prescribed. The commercial block should remain practical, adaptable, and clearly segregated from the residential component.

The commercial component should primarily be understood as neighbourhood-serving retail and office infrastructure that responds to the surrounding urban context. The intent is to create an active street-facing edge, not a large destination-oriented commercial centre. Compatible supporting uses may be introduced if they strengthen the commercial logic and remain practical and buildable.

There is no fixed preference for either taller compact towers or lower/slab-based configurations. Participants are free to choose the massing strategy that best resolves the site, provided it follows the brief, applicable UDCPR norms, fire access, setbacks/margins, light, ventilation, privacy, parking, and segregation requirements.

MEP and service spaces should be considered at a planning level. Detailed working layouts are not required at this stage, but essential service zones, shafts, fire services, plumbing routes, garbage/waste management, and other major infrastructure provisions should be reasonably planned and indicated wherever relevant to explain the feasibility of the proposal.

Participants may consider these parameters at a conceptual and planning level. Health and well-being, embodied carbon, water performance, and engineering operations can be addressed through strategies such as light and ventilation, thermal comfort, responsible material choices, water conservation, efficient services, and long-term maintenance thinking. There are no fixed numerical targets specified in the brief for these parameters.

Yes. There are existing trees, majorly along the periphery. Participants are encouraged to respond sensitively to these existing conditions while developing the proposal.

The restricted area shown in the drawing is not part of the project land and should not be considered within the developable site area for this competition.

Team formation is participant-led, and Archdais does not officially assign or connect teammates. However, participants looking for teammates may post an Instagram story mentioning that they are looking for a teammate for The Housing Puzzle 2.0 and tag @archdais.competitions. Archdais may repost such stories so interested participants can connect directly. Solo participation is also allowed, so participants do not need to wait for a team to register.

You will receive your Team Code only after completing the registration process. You can also find it in your profile under My Orders.

The Team Code must be used in the email subject line, file names, and on the submission sheets as specified. It is the only identifier used during evaluation.

Yes, multiple entries are allowed. However, each entry must be registered separately using a unique email ID and will receive a separate Team Code.

Please first check your spam or promotions folder. You may also find your Team Code in the My Orders section under your profile on the Archdais website. If you still do not receive it within 24 hours of payment, kindly write to us at competition@archdais.com and share your payment confirmation or screenshot. Our team will assist you further.

Please email us at competition@archdais.com and we will guide you with alternate payment methods.

Your Team Code is your only identification for the competition. It must be used wherever requested by the organizers, including on your submission sheets and in file names, as mentioned in the submission guidelines.

Yes, updates to team member details are allowed until the registration deadline ends. Please email competition@archdais.com with your Team Code and the updated details.

Participants may use either metric or imperial units. Ensure dimensions are clearly marked wherever required.

The official language of the competition is English. All explanatory text in submissions must be in English.

Participants are requested not to publicly share their competition proposal before the winners are officially announced, to maintain anonymity and fairness.

Yes. All participants receive a digital Certificate of Participation irrespective of winners.

A promo code is a special discount code that may be offered for certain competitions. It is not mandatory for registration, and participants can register without one at the regular fee. Promo codes, when available, may be shared through Archdais’ official social media handles. If any offer is active, the promo code can be applied during registration to avail the discount.

Yes, a group discount is available for a minimum of 5 teams registering together. While registering, you can keep adding teams and their team members under the same registration process. Once the minimum requirement is met, the group discount will be applied automatically. After registration, each team will receive a separate Team Code. If you face any issue while availing the group discount, please write to us at competition@archdais.com and our team will assist you.

Submissions that do not follow the required format, anonymity rules, file naming, or submission limits may be disqualified.

No. The registration fee is non-refundable.

All Terms & Conditions and updated rules are available on the Archdais website under the competition page.

Only if absolutely necessary, Archdais may make limited changes to the competition timeline, submission requirements, or related guidelines. In such cases, the updated information will be shared through the official competition page and/or Archdais’ official communication channels. Participants are advised to check the competition page regularly for any important updates.

No. The competition follows an anonymous evaluation process. Your submission sheet must not contain your name, logo, college name, firm name, watermark, or any other identifiable mark. Any such information on the sheet may lead to disqualification

You may use any clear and readable font style in your submission. There are no specific restrictions on fonts; however, participants are advised to avoid overly decorative or hard-to-read fonts, especially where clarity of information is important for evaluation.

Yes. Team members may be updated or changed any time before submission. To request a change, please write to us at competition@archdais.com, and our team will guide you further.

Yes. You may add a team member after registering, provided your total team size remains within the maximum team limit allowed for that competition. To request this, please write to us at competition@archdais.com, and our team will guide you further.

If you have made the payment twice by mistake, please write to us at competition@archdais.com and share screenshots of both payments. Our team will review the details and assist you further.

Yes. Hand-drawn submissions are allowed, provided they are neatly scanned and submitted in the required format mentioned in the brief.

No. For this competition, the Design Proposal must be submitted as a maximum of 5 A1 sheets in landscape orientation, along with the Area Statement as a separate A4 PDF, as specified in the brief. Participants are requested to follow this format strictly to ensure consistency in review and evaluation.

No. The ownership of your design remains with you. However, by participating in the competition, you grant Archdais the right to publish, feature, and promote your submitted work across its platforms and communication materials, with due credit to the participant/team. If a design is selected for further development or execution, the respective participant/team will be contacted separately by IPDS for further communication regarding the next stage, including design fee and associated terms.

Yes. Please name your submission file using your Team Code only.

All competition deadlines and timings are based on Indian Standard Time (IST), regardless of the participant’s country or time zone. Participants are advised to convert the deadline accordingly from IST to their local time zone to avoid missing any stage.

No. To ensure a fair and anonymous evaluation process, only your Team Code is shared with the jury. Participants are requested not to contact jurors directly regarding the competition or their submission.

Yes. Registered participants do receive deadline reminders through email and/or Archdais’ official communication channels. Participants are also advised to check their spam or promotions folder in case any email is missed.

Yes. Group discounts are available for five or more teams registering together. The teams may be from the same college, different colleges, or even from different disciplines, as long as the required minimum number of teams is met during registration.

Yes. For any competition-related queries or clarifications, participants may write to competition@archdais.com. They may also use the “Ask us a Question” section available on the Archdais website after logging in.