Up and coming interior designers training at Southampton Solent University have designed the interiors of two show homes as part of a scheme devised in conjunction with Linden Homes Southern.
The students on the interior decoration course were asked to mock up a show home design for two different types of homes, based on a brief provided by Linden Homes. The brief detailed the location of the homes, the type of customer that was likely to be interested in the home and the cost of the properties to the market.
The homes chosen for the project were at Linden Homes’ Millstone Copse development in Hedge End. Under the theme of ‘The Catwalk’, the design students were asked to focus on the process of show home design and decorative styling linking interior trends with modern fashion trends.
The students had to choose two current design trends and select products, furnishings, surfaces and fabrics in order to describe the space. They were also asked to design four fabric or wallpaper designs.
Of the 35 students, five of the best designs were selected by Senior Lecturer Glenda Strong. These students were invited to pitch their ideas to a panel of Linden Homes Southern personnel and an interior design expert, Richard Ornelas from Claude Hooper Interiors.
Emma Morley, Seema Sachdev, Emma Coates, Louise Hooper and Melissa Page visited one of Linden Homes’ developments, Nightingale Park in Sarisbury Green where they were asked individually to present their concepts to the panel. From here, the judges assessed the ideas based on originality and how effectively each student had digested the brief.
Melissa Page was selected as the winning designer and awarded £500 John Lewis vouchers. Melissa was noted in particular for her professional, well prepared pitch that provided good insight into how she chose the two designs, explaining the materials used throughout the room which helped bring the scheme alive.
Linden Homes’ head of sales Andrew Reynolds was on the panel of judges:
“All of the entries were excellent and we were really impressed with the students’ pitches – they were so professional and passionate about their designs. It is obvious that there is a tremendous amount of talent around and these students are proof that there is a lot to be excited about in this new wave of designers. We could really see the winning design being used in a Linden Show Home in the future.”
Melissa Page was delighted to win the competition and was grateful of the experience garnered through the exercise. They commented: “This experience has opened my eyes to an area of interior design which I would really like to go into in the future. I would love to work in a team like this.”
Richard Ornelas from Claude Hooper Design said: “This event is such a wonderful idea and a real insight into the life of a professional interior designer. The whole concept of the students presenting their schemes to a panel is excellent. Show home work for a new homes development is usually tendered to three companies. There is no comfort of a group deal to fall back on, so every presentation counts, this is a very real scenario the students have faced. Show home design is all about new ideas and making a statement and I have been really impressed with the concepts the future designers have shared.”
Glenda Strong, Senior Lecturer at Southampton Solent University commented: “I'm very proud of the real world learning experiences we are able to offer our students on the interior decoration course. I would like to personally thank Linden Homes Southern for enhancing our students learning as they work towards becoming interior design professionals with a specialism in decoration.”
Andrew Reynolds concluded: “This new partnership with Solent University is one we plan to grow over the coming years and we hope this initiative becomes an annual event that the students look forward to being a part of.”
There are still some two and three bedroom homes available at Nightingale Park. For more information about these homes available in Sarisbury Green, please call 0844 644 1591.
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For further information, contact Claire McCowan or Emma Cox at Remarkable Group on 01962 893893.
