For the second year in a row, University of Wyoming students in the design, merchandising
and textiles bachelor’s degree program have been recognized for their quality interior
design work in the Interior Design Educators Council (IDEC) Student Design Competition.
The competition invites interior design students from universities around the world
to solve a prescribed design problem, which typically aims to meet the needs of an
underserved or marginalized population.
Britt Bardman, a senior from Bondurant; Abby Metzger, a junior from Colorado Springs,
Colo.; and Corah Miller, a senior from Jackson, were awarded an honorable mention
for their design, “The Harbor,” a sanctuary that “provides dedicated space for neurodiverse
students to dock during turbulent mental weather.” Their design was ranked in the
top four in a field of 101 international submissions.
Imagined as a hub for mental health, the building features a double-curved façade
that would allow plenty of healing, natural light into a community atrium and small-scale
collaboration space. Deeper within the space, the team conceptualized privacy pods
for bright light therapy sessions to help combat seasonal affective disorder.
“Participating in the IDEC design competition with my team was an immensely rewarding
experience,” Metzger says. “Exploring the prompt to create a healing space for neurodivergent
individuals not only ignited our creativity, but it also sparked a profound sense
of purpose.”
Every fall, IDEC introduces a new competition that challenges students to harness
the powers of empathy, research, space planning and creativity to design spaces that
allow occupants to thrive.
Design competitions are “pedagogical powerhouses” in UW Senior Lecturer Treva Sprout
Ahrenholtz’s interior design courses.
“Competitions like IDEC’s highlight and advance the best of what interior design has
to offer society,” Sprout Ahrenholtz says. “Student success and recognition in these
competitions over the last few years only underscore what we have known all along
— our students are outstanding.”
Last year, Miller and Wheatland’s Elyse Rutherford, who graduated from UW last spring,
were awarded second place in the IDEC Student Design Competition. Their design, “Fallout,”
highlighted the imagined journey of a nuclear refugee family and how they could design
a shelter out of a limited number of objects in the high plains of Mongolia. Students
had one week to research, design and present a feasible idea that would suitably and
safely shelter the occupants.
“I am very honored for my design work to be awarded by IDEC two years in a row,” Miller
says. “So much work and thought went into both ‘Fallout’ and ‘The Harbor,’ and I could
not have done it without my brilliant project partners. I also am immensely proud
to have the University of Wyoming recognized through our work. I appreciated the IDEC
Student Design Competition for creating a collaborative environment, where I could
work with peers to research and develop human-centered design solutions.”
To view “The Harbor,” go here, and to view “Fallout,” click here.
For more information about IDEC, visit https://idec.org.