PR for Architects: How to Get Your Projects Published
For most architecture firms, PR means getting built work published in the design press, and the order you submit in matters more than most firms realise. Dezeen predominantly publishes exclusives and Architectural Record asks for exclusive first publication, while ArchDaily publishes non-exclusively. Send a project to the wrong one first and you can close the other door. Below: the steps, each outlet's rules from its own pages (checked 23 September 2026), a submission template, and the awards with dates.
Photograph the finished building professionally, then offer it as an exclusive to your best-fit outlet (Dezeen or Architectural Record). Once it runs or they pass, submit to ArchDaily, Designboom and Architizer, which need no exclusivity. Enter the awards that fit.
Dezeen: [email protected], images at least 3000 px on the shortest side.
ArchDaily: built projects completed after 2014, at least 15 photos 2880 px wide, non-exclusive.
Next deadline: AIA national awards (2027 cycle), 3 November 2026, $450 per project.
We checked the architecture PR firms that rank on Google for this search (23 September 2026). Of five we could check, one publishes a price: £750 to £2,250 a month, from a London firm.
The other four: no price; custom programmes, an assessment call or email first.
How long clients stay: one firm says its average engagement runs more than four years.
Doing it yourself: Dezeen, ArchDaily, Designboom and Architizer are free to submit to.
Step by step
- Wait until it is built and photographed. ArchDaily only takes built projects, the Dezeen Awards refused renderings, and every outlet that states specs asks for professional photography.
- Assemble the package: photos, plans, sections and elevations, a short text, and full credits (see below).
- Decide where the exclusive goes. Dezeen, Architectural Record or a print title such as Dwell, depending on the project.
- Offer it to that one outlet, saying clearly that it is an exclusive.
- After it runs, or if it passes, submit to the non-exclusive outlets: ArchDaily, Designboom and your Architizer profile.
- Enter the awards that fit the project and your calendar, and use every feature in the next pitch.
The order to submit in
The rules differ on the one point that matters most:
- Dezeen says it predominantly publishes projects sent to it exclusively, and asks you to say so clearly if you are offering an exclusive.
- Architectural Record asks for exclusive first publication among print and digital design publications, and does not take simultaneous submissions.
- Designboom says you have a better chance if the work has not been published before, and asks for exclusivity for a couple of days.
- ArchDaily publishes under a non-exclusive licence, and Architizer is a profile you publish to yourself.
So the practical sequence is exclusive first, then non-exclusive. Offer the project to Dezeen or Record; if it runs there, or they pass, send it to ArchDaily and Designboom and publish it on Architizer. Doing it the other way round, putting it on ArchDaily first, can cost you the exclusive-only outlets. The same logic applies if your project also suits the interiors titles covered in our guide for interior designers, most of which also want unpublished work.
Where to submit, and their rules
| Outlet | How to submit | Key rules (from their own pages) |
|---|---|---|
| Dezeen | [email protected] | JPEGs 3000 px+ on the shortest side, text and links; plans, sections and film welcome. Mostly exclusives. Cannot reply to everyone but looks at everything; a gentle reminder is fine. Credit everything. |
| ArchDaily | Submit-a-project form, with files on Dropbox or Google Drive | Built projects completed after 2014. At least 15 images 2880 px+ wide by an architectural photographer, clear drawings, full credits. Non-exclusive; contributions are unpaid. |
| Designboom | mail(at)designboom.com | English text, images, sketches, plans and sections. Better chance if unpublished; asks for a couple of days' exclusivity. Not everything is published. |
| Architizer | Publish projects on your firm's profile | Its editors browse the directory weekly for features, and A+Awards winners and finalists get priority. |
| Architectural Record | Email the editor of the relevant section with a Dropbox or WeTransfer link | Professional photography, drawings with scale and north arrow, 300 dpi+. Six months ahead of the building-type issue. Exclusive first publication; no simultaneous submissions; PR-firm material discouraged. |
| Dwell | [email protected] | Short description and images; say where else it has appeared. Replies within five business days if interested. Exclusivity period in contracts. |
| The Architect's Newspaper | Editorial submissions contact on its contact page | A 2026 editorial calendar is linked from the same page; AN Buzz is a separate community-news space. |
Two outlets are closed to cold submissions. Wallpaper*'s contact page says it will not review editorial submissions or press releases sent to its general address, and Frame points submissions to its Frame Awards, whose entries are published on its site.
Photography and drawings
Images are the one thing every outlet specifies. The stated minimums: Dezeen 3000 px on the shortest side, ArchDaily 2880 px wide and at least 15 images, Architectural Record 300 dpi and 4x5 inches. Commission an architectural photographer, agree up front that you can supply the images to publications, and get the credit line right. Dezeen notes it is rarely able to pay for photography, so the rights need to be cleared by you.
Drawings matter too. Record asks for plans with scale and north arrow as PDF or EPS (not CAD files), and ArchDaily wants clear drawings. Clean, legible drawings are often what separates a published project from a portfolio.
A submission email template
Subject: Exclusive submission: [Project name] by [Firm], [city, country]
Dear [Editor name or team],
We'd like to offer [publication] an exclusive on [project name], a [building type] in [city] completed in [month, year]. It has not been published anywhere.
[Two or three sentences: the brief, the site or constraint, and the architectural idea.]
Images ([number], [photographer], [px]), plans, sections and project text: [link]. Credits: [architect, team, engineer, contractor, garden design, interiors, photographer].
Happy to answer questions or provide more drawings.
[Name], [Firm], [phone], [website]
For ArchDaily, the same content goes into its form, without the exclusive line. For Record, address it to the section editor and send it six months ahead of the relevant issue.
Awards and deadlines
| Award | What the organiser states |
|---|---|
| AIA Architecture Award / Interior Architecture Award (2027 cycle) | Due 3 November 2026, 5pm ET. $450 per project, $100 for each additional award the same project enters. Must name an AIA Architect member; completed since 1 January 2021. |
| Architizer A+Awards | 15th edition opens in October 2026; fees and deadlines not yet posted |
| AN Best of Design Awards 2026 | Deadline extended to 2 October 2026 |
| ArchDaily Building of the Year | No entry: projects published on ArchDaily in the previous calendar year are included automatically, then nominated and voted on by readers |
| Dezeen Awards | 2026 closed. Entry fees ran from £105 to £540 per category by deadline and firm size; completed projects only, no renderings; no fees for winners |
| IIDA Global Excellence Awards 2026 | Open to 13 October 2026, $350 to $650; projects outside the US only |
ArchDaily's award is a reason to get projects onto ArchDaily within the calendar year they complete. AIA chapter awards run on their own calendars and fees, and draw from a smaller field than the national programme.
Paid and sponsored options
Some of this press sells space, and it is labelled. Dezeen's partnerships page says all partnership content is clearly labelled, and lists paid formats including Dezeen Showroom for product launches, competitions, promotions and branded videos, with pricing on request. Designboom has a paid reader-submission route, reviewed before payment and published in a separate readers section. Paid formats buy reach, not editorial endorsement; for a building, the free editorial routes above are the ones that carry weight.
Hiring an architecture PR firm
Page one for "PR for architects" is mostly built-environment PR firms, so we checked their websites for prices on 23 September 2026:
| Firm (ranks for this search) | Specialism | Published price |
|---|---|---|
| October Communications (London) | Architecture and design | PR retainers of £750, £1,500 and £2,250 a month (Launch, Growth, Established) |
| UpSpring | Built environment only | None published; says its average client engagement runs more than four years |
| Future-Future | Architecture only | None published; advisory or project-based |
| Pierce PR | Architecture, engineering, construction | None published; starts with an "opportunities assessment" |
| Violet PR | AEC is one of five sectors | None published; custom programmes |
A Design Partnership, which ranks for the interiors version of this search and also covers architecture, publishes PR from $4,500 a month on a six-month initial commitment. So the visible range runs from a UK retainer under £1,000 a month to US retainers in the thousands, and most firms do not say.
What an architecture PR firm adds is judgement about which outlet gets the exclusive, well-written project texts, and relationships with section editors. What it cannot change is Architectural Record's own guidance, which discourages material from PR firms. For many practices the efficient split is to handle design-press submissions in-house, in the order above, and hire help for launches, awards entries and the wider business press. Our PR agency pricing study covers general agency retainers.
Beyond the design press
Design titles reach other architects. Clients often read something else: local business press, regional newspapers, trade publications in the sector you design for (healthcare, education, hospitality), and the blogs of the organisations you work with. A school published in an education trade journal, or a clinic in a healthcare facilities magazine, can do more for new business than a design-site feature. Pitch those with the client's story, not the architecture. Our guides to getting featured in the news and pitching media cover that side, and architecture marketing agencies covers what firms pay for wider marketing.
Architecture blogs are receptive
Below the big outlets is a long tail of architecture blogs, visualisation and tools sites, and resource directories. When MentionAgent pitched 129 of them about their architecture posts for customers between July and September 2026, 12 replied and 8 said yes or started negotiating, a yes rate of 6.2%, more than double the 2.7% across all of MentionAgent's outreach. Only one asked for a fee. The sample is small, and 109 of the 129 sites were pitched for one customer, an AI rendering and virtual staging company. That same customer pitched interior design sites too, and there half the replies were a price. Same product, same pitch, a very different response from the two kinds of site.
Those mentions build the search and AI visibility that makes a firm findable, and they are what MentionAgent automates: finding the sites, pitching the person who runs each one and handling the replies. If you want to write for these sites yourself, architecture write for us lists ones that accept guest posts.
Mistakes that cost coverage
Putting it on ArchDaily first. It is non-exclusive and easy, which is exactly why it should come after your exclusive pitch, not before.
Pitching renders as a finished project. ArchDaily takes built work only, and Dezeen's awards refused renderings.
Under-sized images. Check the pixel minimums before you send.
Incomplete credits. Dezeen asks you to credit everything; missing names mean emails back and forth, or a pass.
Sending Record a release through a PR firm. Record says it discourages PR-firm material; the firm's own architects pitching the section editor is the stated route.
Frequently asked questions
How do architects get their projects published?
Photograph the finished building professionally, then submit it through each outlet's own route. Offer it first as an exclusive to Dezeen ([email protected]) or Architectural Record, which want to publish first, and afterwards submit to ArchDaily, Designboom and Architizer, which do not require exclusivity.
How do I submit a project to Dezeen?
Email [email protected] with JPEGs at least 3000 px on the shortest side, a project text and links; plans, sections and films are welcome. Dezeen says it predominantly publishes projects sent exclusively, so say clearly if you are offering an exclusive. It cannot reply to everyone but looks at everything.
How do I get my project on ArchDaily?
Use ArchDaily's submit-a-project form with your files on Dropbox or Google Drive. It accepts built projects completed after 2014, and asks for at least 15 images at least 2880 px wide by an architectural photographer, clear drawings and full credits. Publication is non-exclusive and contributions are unpaid.
When is the AIA awards deadline?
For the 2027 cycle, the AIA Architecture Award and Interior Architecture Award are due 3 November 2026 at 5pm ET. The fee is $450 per project, and entries must name an AIA Architect member.
How much does PR for architects cost?
Of five architecture PR firms that rank on Google for this search, only one publishes a price: October Communications in London, at £750, £1,500 or £2,250 a month. A Design Partnership, which also covers architecture, starts at $4,500 a month with a six-month commitment. The others quote on request. Submitting to Dezeen, ArchDaily, Designboom and Architizer is free.
Is it worth paying for placement in architecture media?
Paid formats such as Dezeen's partnership content are labelled and buy reach, not editorial endorsement. For a building, the free editorial routes carry more weight; paid options suit product launches and recruitment more than projects.