Winning projects in NKBA’s 2020-2021 Student Design Competition blended a bohemian style with Indian heritage in a highly functional remodel that accommodates three generations.
By Dianne M. Pogoda
Creating beautiful, functional spaces and blending cultures in an Upstate New York cottage was the challenge for aspiring designers in the 2020-2021 Student Design Competition.
Both first place winners emerged from the same school: Mt. San Antonio College, an NKBA Affiliated School in Walnut, Calif., just East of Los Angeles. Rania Bouza, who graduated from the interior design program in 2020 and is completing her Kitchen & Bath program in December, took top honors for her kitchen design. Fatimah Satya, a fall 2021 graduate, won the bathroom competition.
Judges for the competition, all returning for a fourth straight year, included Danielle Burger, CMKBD, owner of Kitchen Vitality Design in Charlotte, N.C.; Mark Haddad, CMKBD, president of Interiology Design Co. in Watertown, Mass., and Mac Junker, CKBD, a designer for CQC Home in Durham, N.C. New to the judging team this year was Paula Smith, AKBD, marketing director— builder/designer for Fisher & Paykel, which sponsors the Student Design competition.
The student chapter and Students of the Industry membership programs are underwritten by Sub-Zero Wolf Cove. For this year’s competition, Chief Architect, provided floor plans and a sample submission. NKBA gratefully acknowledges the generous support from these industry partners.
The judges gave kudos to the general caliber of the entries in this year’s competition.
“While the quality of the work varies, I saw more consistency in the submissions this year over past years,” Haddad observed. “The technical merit still covers a wide range, but the parameters provided for the kitchen and bath submissions allowed for more variation and creativity. We even saw some that created additions to fulfill all of the requirements of the ‘homeowners.’”
He added that both winning submissions represented “out of the box” thinking, and demonstrated executability, efficiency, and creative. Both first-place winners were thoughtful in meeting the homeowners’ needs, both functionally and aesthetically, without being superficial or stereotypical.
“Overall, I thought the quality and creativity of the winning drawings were excellent, said Berger. “I was impressed with the level of detail in the renderings, specifications, and notation on the plans.” – Danielle Berger, CMKBD
“Overall, I thought the quality and creativity of the winning drawings were excellent, said Berger. “I was impressed with the level of detail in the renderings, specifications, and notation on the plans.”
For Smith’s part, she said that she was “very impressed” with her first student design competition, noting the thoughtfulness that went into each of the entries, as well as the technical skills shown in the projects.
“The students did a great job incorporating creative solutions, such as a flip-out window or an indoor herb garden, to address the clients’ needs,” she said. “I loved seeing the differences between the entries – from the layout to the color and material selection. It highlighted the fact that there can be multiple solutions to any individual design problem.”
The Challenge
The fictional clients in this year’s scenario are a couple with an active four-year old living in a small cottage. The husband, Owen, is an accomplished home cook, while the wife, Deepa, requires ample storage and a neat, organized space. Their elderly parents visit for extended periods, with Grandma suffering from a mobility disorder requiring some living-in-place accommodations in the bathroom they want to add on the first floor. The family loves to spend time grilling and eating on their patio, so access to the kitchen is important, and they want to make their kitchen more of a hub in the overall living space. They also wanted to incorporate elements of Deepa’s Indian heritage in the design, with an overall “rustic bohemian” vibe.
The two first-place students were each inspired by icons of Indian culture. Bouza, who hails from the Glendora suburb of Los Angeles, selected a custom textile for the built-in bench, vibrant chili red island cabinets, and shelves in the dining area to display pieces from the homeowner’s Indian heritage collection. Satya, from Monrovia, Calif., chose marigolds and turmeric, two items considered dear and sacred in the Indian culture.
A Bohemian Rustic Kitchen
To achieve the desired aesthetics, Bouza mixed earth tones and natural wood with a pop of vibrant color.
“The core of this style is personal and relaxed, opting for carefree layers of fun pattern, texture and color. It’s the style that gracefully interweaves earth tone colors and natural wood with a pop of vibrant colors,” said Bouza, adding that she has lived in different countries, inspiring a love of travel and learning about different cultures, and helping to inform the aesthetic of her designs.
“The most challenging aspects were creating one spacious, functional area for the family to enjoy and to make it the heart of the home while creating multiple organized zones for everyone to be working at the same time without feeling cramped.”
Bouza removed walls to open the floor plan, making the kitchen the hub of the living space. She included a new transitional space, and extended the interior kitchen out to the new outdoor kitchen with eco-friendly quartz countertops, creating bar-top seating and continuing in an L-shape to the Wolf gas grill on the new deck. The quartz countertops and porcelain backsplash designed to emulate stone are timeless, and will go with any future style changes the family might choose. She maximized natural light, and installed a garden window so Deepa can bring in herbs from the backyard in the cooler months. The chef’s island features a Wolf gas cooktop and griddle and powerful 1,200 cfm Wolf ceiling-mounted hood with LED light bars. The Wolf double oven and microwave drawer, Sub-Zero refrigerator, Cove dishwasher, generous prep space and storage, including custom pull-out cabinets for baking trays, can accommodate all the family’s cooking needs, from everyday to holiday meals.
“The entries all took into account the lifestyle of the family to ensure individual needs were met in the spaces, like the baking station for the mother, ensuring good traffic flow within the rooms, etc.,” said Smith.
Finally, to satisfy health and sustainability requests, Bouza chose reclaimed wood and specified an Aquverse water filtration system with refillable water bottles. To utilize space under the stairs, the design features a walk-in pantry with adjustable shelves and a nook with a dog bed and bowl-holders.
“I always loved design because it’s a career that celebrates thinking outside the box, imagining that the impossible is possible, and never stops creating and learning.” – Rania Bouza
“I always loved design because it’s a career that celebrates thinking outside the box, imagining that the impossible is possible, and never stops creating and learning,” Bouza said. “I also love that it is the career that works on solving people’s problems and making their spaces functional.”
A Stylish and Accessible Bath
Satya said she was inspired by the vibrant colors of both marigolds and turmeric and incorporated them into her winning bath design.
“They remind me of sunshine and warm hospitality. The marigold flower, central to Indian culture, is used in celebrations of life and is considered to be the herb of the sun,” she explained. “Marigolds are also very popular in Hindu weddings because they represent the sun, symbolizing brightness and positive energy. In Indian culture, the importance of turmeric goes far beyond medicine. The Hindu religion sees turmeric as auspicious and sacred.”
She muted the colors to make the bathroom more serene and spa-like, and incorporated Deepa’s design preference for earthy tones and natural wood. The flower-like pattern on the mosaic tile and gold hardware also plays into the design concept. There’s plenty of storage, and custom millwork is distressed to give the space a rustic feel.
“I strived to give the clients a clean layout with plenty of storage space, while also accommodating the needs of the family’s elderly parents. My ultimate goal is to make the space safe and functional for everyone.” – Fatimah Satya
Satya said her greatest challenge was to make the bathroom beautiful while prioritizing safety and accessibility. “I strived to give the clients a clean layout with plenty of storage space, while also accommodating the needs of the family’s elderly parents. My ultimate goal is to make the space safe and functional for everyone.”
To accomplish this, she specified grab bars next to the toilet and in the shower, included a fixed shower seat and storage nooks to keep necessities in easy reach, made the sink, vanity and toilet easily accessible, and included a curbless entry for the shower area. She used non-slip flooring by Porcelanosa, with Nanoker technology that’s durable and low-maintenance. The Veil wall-hung smart toilet by Kohler meets strict EPA flushing guidelines, using at least 20% less water than standard toilets. It has an automatic flush, a self-cleaning function with UV light to sanitize surfaces, LED lighting that illuminates the bowl and serves as night light, warm-air drying system, heated seat, front and rear wash mode and an automatic deodorizing system.
Satya, who is 33, said this is her second round in college.
“I’ve learned that education can stimulate and inspire a person to enact positive change in their life and career. You’re never too old to chase after your dreams! My interior design education helped me gain knowledge of a hobby-turned-career and also helped me improve my confidence,” she reflected. “My end goal is improving the client’s experience by better managing the space and creating a functional and stylish environment. I love that interior design is such an active profession, I feel I will never get bored — there’s always room to learn and grow.”
Final Thoughts
Burger said both winners displayed exceptional mastery of the CAD program they used. “The winning designs simply followed the rules and incorporated all of the needs of the family stipulated in the entry packet. For me, storage and ADA accessibility were a must, along with layout changes that were interesting but within the parameters of the assignment.”
Haddad said this year’s submission seemed to be more functional and useable spaces, and that more kitchens this year seemed to be executable than in the past.
“I was impressed with the use of higher end, luxury fixtures in both the kitchen and bath submissions —many of which require a deeper understanding of cabinet construction and engineering.” – Mark Haddad, CMKBD
“The students seemed to understand the requirements of the family and, in general, met the functional needs,” he observed. “More students seemed to understand the working parameters of a kitchen and made great strides to honor workspaces, seating areas, and operational spaces without losing aesthetic elements. I was impressed with the use of higher end, luxury fixtures in both the kitchen and bath submissions —many of which require a deeper understanding of cabinet construction and engineering.”
Smith concluded that the students showed proficiency in understanding the clients’ needs.
“As they grow in their careers, they will want to continue to learn about new products and solutions so that they can best address clients’ situations,” she offered. “One opportunity for growth is to possibly challenge what a client thinks they want. For example, it was very important for this couple to have a sustainable home, so there was an opportunity to replace the gas cooking appliance with an induction unit to better address this need.”
And the Winners Are…
Congratulations to the following students for earning top prizes.
Kitchen:
1st: Rania Bouza, Glendora, Calif., Mt. San Antonio College $5,000 scholarship
2nd: Elma Kim, Burlingame, Calif., Cañada College $2,500 scholarship
3rd: Darya Oswald, Philadelphia, Pa., Century College $1,000 scholarship
Bath:
1st: Fatimah Satya, Monrovia, Calif., Mt. San Antonio College $5,000 scholarship
2nd: Holli Jacobsen, Layton, Utah, Weber State University $2,500 scholarship
3rd: Shannon Larsen, Boulder, Colo., Arapahoe Community College $1,000 scholarship
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