Winners Announced for the BIID Student Design Challenge 2019

The British Institute of Interior Design (BIID) is delighted to announce University of Lincoln Interior Architecture and Design (BA) as the winners of the Student Design Challenge 2019, which returned for its fifth successful year at the impressive showroom of furniture manufacturer Herman Miller, London.

The competition, which took place on Saturday 23rd November 2019, offered final year Interior Design and Interior Architecture degree students from across the UK an invaluable experience to progress further in a design career. The teams taking part in the challenge this year included students from Buckinghamshire New University, the University of Hertfordshire, Plymouth College of Art, the University of Lincoln, De Montfort University, Heriot Watt University, the University of Bedfordshire and Middlesex University. Each team included six students, nominated by their course directors.

The top-secret design brief was only revealed to the teams on the morning of the competition, where students were required to design a zero-waste supermarket and café. They were asked to focus on the principle of the circular economy; aimed at eliminating waste and the continual use of resources, so their designs must be sustainable and environmentally aware. Each team was also asked to consider access requirements for customers, additional storage space, and the materials used, as well as choosing one piece of iconic Herman Miller furniture as part of their design scheme. 

One they had been given the brief, the groups were given six hours of design time and were each assigned a professional practicing interior as their mentor to offer advice and feedback on their designs. These mentors this year included:

• Lori Pinkerton-Rolet, Park Grove Design Ltd
• Matt Freeman, Goddard Littlefair, BIID Director
• Susie Rumbold, Tessuto Interiors Ltd
• Lester Bennett, Lester Bennet Design Consultant, BIID President elect
• Ciara Langley, StudioRUUF
• Claire Tull, Studio 12 Designs, BIID Director
• May Fawzy, MF Design Studio, BIID Director
• Liz Bell, Absolute Project Management

The CAD-free competition meant that students could only present hand-drawn sketches, drawings and models as part of their proposals. Each team were then given five minutes to present their final designs to a panel of judges. The judges then had a further three minutes to ask questions and provide comments to all groups. 

The judges for this year’s Student Design Challenge were Harriet Forde, BIID President and Director of Harriet Forde Design Ltd and Bertie Van Wyk, Workplace Specialist, Herman Miller. 

The judges were looking for a standout design that met the brief in the most innovative way, considering the needs of the clients and working within the existing space. After reviewing each proposal, the judges cast their winning votes, awarding University of Lincoln first place. The judges noted the team employed proper planning, great research and really considered the brief. The presentation was presented with confidence and cohesion, was visually arresting and met the requirements of the client with easy to understand solutions. 

The runners up were Plymouth College of Art and taking third place was De Montfort University. 

Harriet Forde, President of the BIID commented: “Year on year we’re incredibly impressed by the creativity and original ideas from the design students involved in the challenge. The theme this year was incredibly relevant too, as our awareness of the environmental impact our supermarket shopping habits have, has increased massively. We hope that the competition has inspired and encouraged young designers to develop their careers and explore new ways of design thinking. We’d also like to thank Herman Miller for generously hosting the event this year.”

The winning team from University of Lincoln included: Ellie Taylor, Chloe Sells, Molly Crawford, Hannah Cooper, Lexi Calton, Danielle Jensen, their mentor May Fawzy and Programme Leader Tonia Warsap. 

Congratulations to all the participating teams for making this year's Student Design Challenge a fabulously well fought competition!