The team from Anderson University (SC) is composed of students Samantha Childers, Lorianne Kinard and Hannah Koke, along with faculty member David Greer. The team was recognized for their submission titled “Roots” at the 2024 Annual Meeting last month in New York City.
The 2024 IDEC Student Design Competition, Mind-Scape, charged students with creating a place of respite and restoration for college students on an existing campus to help them cope with the stress and pressures of college life that affect their mental and physical well-being. The design challenge is a response to the increase in mental health issues facing college students in the post-COVID environment. College of Health Professions instructor Monica M. Morehead served as a helpful resource on mental health for the Research component of this project.
The competition limited the total area of the facility to approximately 550 square feet with no height restrictions. Students were responsible for defining the required spaces in the facility through research into mental health stressors faced by college students, an understanding of common mental health conditions and their triggering factors, and insight into the experience of the typical user in the context of the culture of the college campus where the facility is located.
The Anderson University School of Interior Design is one of only nine such programs to be offered in a Christian institution of higher learning and has graduates working as professional interior designers across the nation and internationally.