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.