AARP Housing Design Competition Tool Kit

One way local leaders, universities, housing advocates and building professionals can encourage the creation of the housing we need is by hosting a housing design competition.

Produced by AARP Livable Communities with the RL Mace Universal Design Institute, the AARP Housing Design Competition Tool Kit explains how a design contest can be a stepping stone for developing housing that’s both needed and suitable for people of all ages.

Get the Publication

• Download a 16-page PDF (single pages, letter-sized paper)

• Download a 9-page PDF (spread pages, tabloid-sized paper)

Mentioned Resources

• RL Mace Universal Design Institute

• Better Living Design

• Home Today, Home Tomorrow Design Challenge

• Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs)

• Missing Middle Housing

Design Competition Examples

• Accessory Dwelling Unit Design Competition (San Antonio, Texas)

• ADU Design Competition (Lexington, Kentucky)

• ADU Design Competition (Roanoke, Virginia)

• ADU Design Competition (University of Kentucky College of Design)

• An ADU Awareness and Accessibility Campaign (Lake City, Minnesota)

• An ADU for U Design Competition (Omaha, Nebraska)

• An ADU for U Design Competition (Raleigh, North Carolina)

• Better Block Hawaii Affordable ARU Design Competition (Kaua'i, Hawaii)

• Casita Model Plan Design Competition (Tucson, Arizona)

• Duplex x Design Competition Guide (Omaha, Nebraska)

• Habitat for Humanity of Hillsborough County ADU Design Competition

• Homes to Opportunity (H2O) Accessory Dwelling Unit Design Contest (Suffolk County, New York)

• Housing + ADU Design Competition (Miami, Florida)

• New Housing on the Block (Fargo, North Dakota)

• Rhode Island ADU Design Competition

More About Universal Design

• Universal Design: An Introduction

• AARP HomeFit Model Ordinance: Local and State Legislative Guide to Universal Design in Housing

The cover of the AARP HomeFit Model Ordinance and illustrations of a bedroom and bathroom

More About Housing 

• AARP Community Challenge Photo Album: Housing

• AARP HomeFit Guide

• AARP Livability Library: Housing

_{Page published October 2024, updated July 2025}