Commercial Class to Host Design Showcase

Thursday, November 29^th the Interior Design Department will be hosting a Commercial Design Showcase! This fall RCC’s second year, Interior Design Students, under the instruction of Emily Reynolds, were given an 8,000 square foot building shell to develop a boutique hotel concept. The semester was spent developing the first floor of the hotel, which includes a lobby space, a restaurant, and either a retail store or a spa. Three industry professionals will be coming as guest judges for the student presentations: Robert Carmac, Kate Zylstra and Debbie Gesser. More information about our guest judges, the project, and other course highlights can be found below.

About The Guest Judges
Robert Carmac is an Architect with Smith Sinnet Architecture in Raleigh. He holds his architectural license and LEED Accreditation. Mr. Carmac has also taken and passed the CSI’s (Construction Specification Institute’s) CDT (Construction Document Technologist) exam. His recent work can be seen in RCC’s new Continuing Education and Industrial Center (CEIC) that is located on campus and is set to open in early January. This building will likely be the first LEED certified building in Randolph County.

Kate Zylstra is a designer at Furniture Land South. She holds her Bachelor’s degree from Illinois State University and her Master’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Her design research interests are in historic preservation and sustainability. She holds her LEED Accreditation and is an Allied Member of the American Society of Interior Designers. Her recent work includes charitable contributions of time for the Chic Chateau project, which raises money for Habitat for Humanity. She works with national and international projects, including multi-million dollar projects from the Middle East.

Debbie Gesser works out of Jamestown, NC for Commissioning WorcX, a company that specialized in building commissioning. She has passed the NCIDQ exam and is a LEED Green Associate Professional. Recently, she has been working with Robert Carmac on RCC’s CEIC building. She is also a professional member of the International Interior Design Association (IIDA).

About the Project
Students were given an adjacency matrix and a bubble diagram from which to begin their space planning endeavors. Public and staff/service areas within hotel design were explained. Each student was given the opportunity to select and develop their own hotel design concept, along with making the site selection. Very early in the semester building codes, LEED building credits, and multi-floor planning were discussed. Traffic flow diagrams were created to show the important connection between the side parking entrance and the street front entrance.  Students progressed through block plans and into full sized floor plans in CAD, which were redlined and continued on in development. Furniture and finishes were selected for the hotel lobby, restaurant and spa or retail space. These three core spaces were developed by each student in Sketch-Up, had light applied to them through Podium (a Sketch-Up lighting program) and, finally, were refined in Photoshop. Presentation boards were assembled to showcase the projects, which turned out extremely well. It has been really fun to see the diversity in concepts carried through to the final projects. On the back of each student’s site board is a LEED project checklist showing which LEED points their project could potentially earn. Students were then required to complete their project with a small set of construction documents including: an Architectural Floor Plan with dimensions, a Furnished Floor Plan with all furniture and finish keys, Furniture and Finish Schedules, and Cut-Sheets for selections that were made. A lot of information was covered with these second year students during the semester. However, being able to fully grasp the larger picture of the design process is one key educational element that was sewn throughout the course. Presenting their projects in front of industry professionals, though nerve wracking for the students, will help them to gain experience and confidence.

Other Course Highlights
The class following presentations, will consist of an NCIDQ Space Planning Practicum. Students also completed NCIDQ Life Safety Practicum and Restroom Practicum charettes this semester. Visits to local 4-year schools started the conversation about the importance of continuing their design education. A lunch and learn seminar was offered to discuss resumes, job shadowing, interviewing techniques, professional dress, and information about their upcoming spring internships. We had a wonderful time visiting Furniture Market in High Point, NC this past October. Students were especially inspired by the Baker showroom! The Commercial II class also completed a group project called the 100+ List where students were given an hour to compile a digital list of over 100 commercial design manufacturers with links to each manufacturers website. Tammy Rogers, a representative of DHA of The Carolinas, came to showcase the various commercial lines available through their company, which includes: Anzea, Bernhardt Design, Bernhardt Textiles, Bright Chair, Carnegie, Datesweiser, Resolute, and Takeform. These second year students received the privilege of seeing RCC’s CEIC building, a LEED registered project, last spring during the initial stages of construction, then again this summer during mid-construction, and this semester they were able to see the project near completion. All of the students are excited to get a tour of the building in early January when it will be completed.

If you are an industry professional and would like to attend the Commercial Design Showcase, please send an e-mail to Emily Reynolds at ejreynolds@randolph.edu.

Hey Holly! A Message from your Department Head

As I sit at my office desk today before leaving for the Thanksgiving holiday I realized the many things that I have to be grateful for at the conclusion of this semester. 

As the Interior Design Program marked its 45th anniversary this year I am grateful for those Department Heads and Instructors who laid the ground work for the success of our Interior Design program.  It was wonderful seeing some of the them at our anniversary celebration last month and thanking them for their initiative and contribution to RCC.   I feel honored to be but a part of this program's history and hope to see 45 more years of promise from the program and our students.

 Many people are not as fortunate as I to get to work in a creative environment where I can share gifts and knowledge with others.  Its my students that keep me motivated and challenge me to grow more, give more,and try to do my best everyday.  My greatest success is seeing my students and grads succeed.  I am happy to report that one hundred percent of our 2012 graduates have been placed in employment since May.

I have a great faculty who each bring their own unique talents and understanding of design into the classroom.  Our instructors give sacrificially many hours of time and talent beyond the required to see that our students and their education are first.

Above all I am thankful for the next four days off from work, and I know that you are too!  Wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving!

Students get WithIT at Student Day of Mentoring

The interior design program visited the High Point Furniture Market this past October for a two day tour to catch up on the latest fashion and trends in the Home Furnishings Industry. 

First year students attended the WithIT Day of Mentoring which pairs a student with a design professional in their area of interest to gain an insider’s perspective on the international furniture market. Students participated in two round table discussions with knowledgeable industry leaders on various design related topics include:  leather furniture, marketing and resume writing, social media, to marketing art.  Following round table discussions students tours showrooms of interest.  Lunch and the event was sponsored by our dear friends at Palliser.

Second day of the High Point IHFM our second year students got a peek into the much anticipated Fall debut of the Moore Councill showroom.  RCC Interior Design grad and Showroom Manager, Jenni Booth, toured students of the showroom and spoke to them on new product and the importance of visual merchandising.

Following the Moore Councill Showroom we had an amazing tour of Baker and showrooms inside 220 Steele Building.



WithIt is a national organization dedicated to encouraging and developing leadership, mentoring, education and opportunities for professional women in the home furnishings industries.  To learn more about design opportunities or join WithIT visit their website at  www.withit.org

Pictured Above:  Interior Design Instrcutor, Emily Reynolds with second year students students (from left to right) Amy Wagner, Brittany Privette, Claudia Wilson, Megan Loftin, and Rachel Harris. Article Posted by:  Holly Barker Woodward, Department Head of Design Programs at Randolph Community College

Students Research for Upcoming Bernice Bienenstock Furniture Library Competition

Second year Residential Design Students, under the direction of Holly Barker, Department Head of Interior Design; will compete this winter in the Bernice Bienenstock Furniture Library Harmony House Competition. 

The Harmony House Competition is a $10,000 scholarship competition which challenges students to create a three- story unconventional youth shelter located in Seattle, Washington specially targeted for runaway youths aged 10-17 who are in crisis.

The first floor of the facility houses a sandwich shop and soup lunch shop featuring organize and locally harvested items operated by a creative and motivated team who mentor the teens as they learn responsibility and life skills.  The second and third floors and identical and provides gender neutral rooms, a counselors' station, two lounges, and a computer/reading room.

To prepare for the project students visited the Furniture Library in High Point to research various topics from youth furniture, to sustainable products and living, healing environments, floor plan layouts, and color theory.
Students researched ways to create a positive healing environment which can reduce problems associated with runway youths and strengthen family relationships and encourage stable living.

To check out student progress on the project refer each individual second year student blog to the right.

To learn more about the Bernice Bienenstock Furniture Library you can visit their website at
www.funriturelibrary.com

Article Posted by:  Holly Barker, Department Head, Design Programs at Randolph Community College.
 

 

Design Grads Create A Chic Chateau

Recent Interior Design Grads Meredith Allen and Monique Kidd partnered with Habitat for Humanity and the Greensboro Builders Association to showcase their creative talents for the Chic Chateau Design House Event at Brassfield to sponsor the Greensboro Habitat for Humanity.  Allen and Kidd were two of 24 Interior Design professionals to be showcased in the charity event which ran from September 20th-30th.

Each designer was given a minimal budget and challenged to re-purpose, recycle, and reuse items from flea markets, Habitat Re-Store, or consignment.  The pair re-designed the Bonus Room by re-purposing an old 1960s stereo into a credenza and creating custom bookshelves from reclaimed crates.  To see Meredith and Monique's work you can check their design and others featured on Fox 8's website at:

http://myfox.com/2012/09/20/chic-chateau

Our Students Get the Job Done!

We are happy to announce that all our May 2012 graduates are employed or self employed.  The Interior Design Program is committed to giving students design skills and real world experience to enhance employment.  We continue to have a 100% employment success rate six months after graduation.

Design Student Featured in Blog

Second Year Interior Design Student, Brittany Privette was featured in the Bernice Bienenstock Furniture Library Blog.  To find more information out on the Furniture Library refer to their website at:  www.furniturelibrary.com

 Randolph Community College
One of the things I enjoy most about my profession is the opportunity to meet and work with the talented design students attending or graduating from design schools.  Thankfully, we have the privilege to host interns several times each year.  This is an opportunity for both the students to learn the “real world” of design, as well as educating us about the quality and caliber of education these students are receiving.
Randolph Community College is one of the schools from which we have been fortunate enough to host interns.  The program at RCC is aggressive and fast-paced, earning them respect from their peers.  According to the RCC website: “Our program is based on the foundations of the principles of sustainability with an equal representation of residential and commercial design. Course of study includes drafting and presentational drawings, textiles, product and furniture design, professional practice, and portfolio development.”  This year, RCC is celebrating its 45^th Anniversary making it the first Interior Design program in the state of North Carolina and one of the oldest design programs in the Southeast.
As any design student will tell you, design projects are one of the most important – and rewarding – components of design school, even if they are hypothetical.  Over the 2012 summer students were given two bare shell side by side buildings as a mock project for the summer.  The design intent was to turn one side into a Go Red Clinic and the other side into a new headquarters for the American Heart Association in Dallas, Texas.
Through this summer long exercise, students advanced their design knowledge on the following topics:
Space Planning
Building Codes
Commercial Furniture Manufacturers
Commercial Finish and Textile Manufacturers
Healthcare Design
Office Design
Programming, schematics and design development
Advanced AutoCAD, Sketch-Up and Podium renderings
Evidence Based & Sustainable Design
To complete this 7000 square foot project, students were given an adjacency matrix and strict furniture requirements.  That information combined with Evidence-Based design articles about constructing healthy work environments provided the material they needed to create bubble diagrams, followed by block plans and finally floorplans.  As with any intense, time-driven project, students quickly identified their strengths and weaknesses.  One such student is second year Brittany Privette who learned that she was very talented at space planning.  Brittany’s clever use of an odd-shaped space stood out to the RCC faculty as well as her peers.  Not only did she appropriately and cleverly lay the space out, she also addressed the shared courtyard, a space that many inexperienced designers may overlook.
Brittany did an excellent job with her renderings of the American Heart Association lobby and workstation area conveying her understanding of space and the importance of branding.


RCC is an excellent program that is educating the future leaders of design.  To learn more about their design curriculum visit:  Randolph County Community College Interior Design Program
Christine Barbour is the founding partner of Barbour Spangle Design Group out of High Point, North Carolina.  Awarded the prestigious ADAC Commercial Designer of the Year in 2010 along with numerous ASID awards, Christine works on a variety of projects across the United States.  Her client list includes work for large retail brands, University and Elementary education, medical office facilities, retail stores, corporate offices, luxury residential and showroom displays. She has lectured in the southeast on design trends, the importance of merchandising and building a design business.   Barbour authors the blog DESIGN LOFT 228 which routinely discusses the influence of fashion, technology, art, history and travel has on the design world.

Written by:  Christine Barbour is an Allied member of ASID and WithIt.  She is LEED accredited and volunteers her time for breast cancer awareness.

Design Student Rachel Harris selected a Foundation Ambassador and Rotary Scholar

The Randolph Community College Foundation has announced the 2012-2013 Foundation Ambassadors and Rotary Scholar. The students are selected through a competitive interview process, according to Joyce Wolford, executive director of the Foundation. Eligible students may be nominated by a staff or faculty member and also may self-nominate.

            The Randolph Rotary Scholar is Bill Cranford of Asheboro. The Foundation Ambassadors are Todd Allmon of Asheboro, Robert Cheek of Randleman, Amanda Fritz of Asheboro, Rachel Harris of Thomasville, Albert M. Jones IV of Asheboro, and Jon Tostoe of Seagrove.

Cranford, 31, is majoring in Machining Technology at RCC, but has already earned an Associate in Arts degree and an associate degree in Business Administration from RCC. He is a graduate of Southwestern Randolph High School. Cranford served in the U.S. Marine Corps as an aviation ordnance technician from 1998 through 2002 and worked for Pet Dairy/Dean Foods in route sales for nine years. He is an active church member at First Baptist Church in Asheboro, where he is chairman of the buildings and grounds committee and assistant director of Vision Quest Camp(for children from foster and single parent homes in Randolph County). He is married to Kendra Cranford, and he hopes to work as a sales and set-up technician in the machining industry upon graduation from RCC.

An Industrial Engineering major, Allmon, 23, is a graduate of Southwestern Randolph High School. He graduated from RCC’s Student Leadership Academy in March, and he has worked at The Timken Company since 2006. Married to Jana Allmon, he is the son of Brian and Jennie Allmon (father and stepmother) of Asheboro and Rhonda Harris (mother) of Asheboro. Upon completing his degree, he wants to work in industrial engineering or project management.

Cheek, 19, who is enrolled in RCC’s Associate in Arts (College Transfer) program, earned his high school diploma from ACTS Homeschool. Active in the scouts, he earned his Eagle Scout designation from the Boy Scouts of America in July 2011. He holds a Red Cross Lifeguard certification, and he has worked as a lifeguard at Ten AquaPool, as a camp counselor for the Woodmen of the World camp, and is currently a lifeguard at Acme-McCrary. He is the son of William and Ellen Cheek of Randleman.

A graduate of the Cary Academy, Fritz, 25, is majoring in Radiography at RCC and is currently serving as president of the Radiography class. She previously studied sociology at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte for two years. The daughter of Debbie Fritz of Cary, she plans to continue her studies after graduating from RCC to earn a bachelor’s degree in Radiologic Sciences.

RCC Interior Design major Rachel Harris, 22, graduated from Trinity High School. At RCC, she made thePresident’s List for the fall semester 2011 and spring semester 2012. She previously worked at Subway and B&H Pool and Patio Shop. She is married to Nathan Harris, and she is the daughter of Charles and Pamela Morgan of Trinity.

Originally from Wheeling, W.Va., Jones, 63, attended West Liberty State in Wheeling and Toledo University in Toledo, Ohio. At RCC, he is double majoring in Networking Technology andComputer Information Technology. Jones has served on several charity and community outreach teams through Firelight Baptist Church at Greystone, and he volunteers with the Randolph County Christian Men’s Ministry. He has been a participant with RCC’s GATE program for the past two years, taking Small Business Center classes that helped him start his own business, Asheboro Computer Service. After graduating, he hopes to work as an IT professional with a local company or expand his business. He is married to Marti Jones and has one daughter, Amanda L. Cox Birdwell, 21. He is the son of Charlotte and William Reinbold of Palm Cay, Fla.

Jon Tostoe, 24, is enrolled in RCC’s Associate in Science program and plans to transfer to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to major in pre-med, then attend medical school. He attended Southwestern Randolph High School, but earned his General Educational Development (GED) diploma from RCC. He is active in RCC’s Student Government Association and was named the new president for the group this spring. He was named to RCC’s Honor List for fall semester 2011 and the President’s List for spring semester 2012. Tostoe has worked at Timothy’s Restaurant in Asheboro since April 2011. He is the son of Penny Tostoe of Seagrove.

To be eligible to be a Foundation Ambassador/Rotary Scholar, students must be enrolled in an associate degree program, have completed at least six credit hours in the fall semester, have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.0 with no grade less than a “C,” be enrolled in the spring semester in which they are nominated, and must not complete their program of study before the following spring semester. Foundation Ambassadors and Rotary Scholars represent RCC and the RCC Foundation at on-campus and community events. In return, they receive an honorarium from the Foundation.

Congratulations to our Graduating Class

The Interior Design Program would like to congratulate the graduating Class of 2012!  We are so proud of you and your accomplishments.  Best of wishes in your Design Futures!

Meredith Allen
Lee Ann Burkhart
Amber Goodman
Monique Kidd
Chelsea Rush
Ashlee Spainhour
Janell Voigt