Design challenge gives young architects chance to shine.

Cotton Bay Estates & Villas, operated by Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. and the first The Luxury Collection branded property in the Bahamas, is hosting a young architects' design competition judged by renowned architects Richard Meier and Laurinda Spear, former model and resident of the Bahamas, India Hicks, and New York-based architect Costas Kondylis.

Architects under 40 may submit a 3,000 s/f to 5,000 s/f one-story or split-level private resort home design on an estate lot at Cotton Bay, in Eleuthera, Bahamas.

Qualified architects can register online at the Cotton Bay Architecture Competition Web site architectural contest, discovercottonbay.com.

Cotton Bay is the first large-scale luxury resort property in the Caribbean owned by native Bahamians, and Hicks will help to judge submissions based on design excellence and innovation and the creative interpretation of Bahamian Colonial style.

As Cotton Bay is also working with the Audubon International Signature Program to preserve the natural island environment, special consideration will be given to submissions that preserve the island's natural surroundings and can maintain harmonious relationship among structure, vegetation and topography. Applicants are encouraged to incorporate natural energy sources into the design. For consideration, applicants are asked to submit a site plan, floor plans, elevations and a perspective drawing for one of the planned estate homes. Once registered, additional details of the competition, including architectural guidelines, view photography and a bid map will be available on the Web site.

All entries must be submitted no later than March 1, 2007, and the winning designs will be announced in June 2007.

The first-place winner will be awarded $5,000, second-place will be awarded $3,000 and third-place will be awarded $2,000. The architect with the winning design will also have the opportunity to work with the Cotton Bay team, who will promote the design to potential clients to build the estate home based on the winner's design and specs.

The T. Albert Sands Award of $5,000 will be given to the best design submission by a Bahamian architect, in honor of T. Albert Sands, the late visionary of Cotton Bay.

Cotton Bay will feature a spectacular 27,000 s/f clubhouse, opening in 2007, where a bar, a restaurant, an exercise room, a retail shop and an outdoor swimming pool, will be located.

Future phases will include expansion of the private marina, Davis Harbour, an 18-hole championship golf course, a wellness center/spa and additional real estate development.