The National Kitchen and Bath Association (NKBA) has announced 10 winners of the 2015/2016 NKBA Student Design Competition, which awards $10,000 in scholarships and prizes annually.
This year’s theme, “Schoolhouse Charm”, challenged students to design a kitchen and a bath for a home that was originally small school. The first place-winning kitchen, designed by Sydney Melnyk of Lakeland College in Alberta, Canada, is currently being built into the client’s home. Upon its completion, the clients will move forward with the bath installation which will be based on the winning bath design by student Tiffany Murphy of Front Range Community College in Fort Collins, Colo.
As the competition called for designs for an actual build, students considered restrictions such as space, colors, and products. For the kitchen, sponsor Waypoint Living Spaces (a division of American Woodmark Corporation) provided a specified cabinet line.
Naomi Mason
From a pool of several hundred entries, a panel of NKBA-certified kitchen and bath industry experts selection the following winners:
Kitchen Design
1st Place: Sydney Melnyk, Lakeland College, Vermillion, Alberta, Canada
2nd Place: Brittany McQueen, Lakeland College, Vermillion, Alberta, Canada
3rd Place: Suzy Morris, Front Range Community College, Ft. Collins, Colo.
Honorable Mention: Sara Downing, Lakeland College, Vermillion, Alberta, Canada
Honorable Mention: Carol J. Reamer, Century College, White Bear Lake, Minn.
Bath Design
1st Place: Tiffany Murphy, Front Range Community College, Ft. Collins, Colo.
2nd Place: Tommy Chin, Georgian College, Barrie, Ontario, Canada
3rd Place: Rachel Elizabeth McGinley, Front Range Community College, Fort Collins, Colo.
Honorable Mention: Irina Iseson, Palm Beach State College, Lake Worth, Fla.
Honorable Mention: Naomi Mason, Lakeland College, Vermillion, Alberta, Canada
The winners will be honored at the NKBA Design Competition awards event held at Disney’s Epcot in Orlando during the Kitchen & Bath Industry Show (KBIS) in January.
“The quality of this year’s student entries was very competitive and made it tough for our judges to narrow the winners,” says Mark Kovich, vice president of sales and marketing for Waypoint Living Spaces and NKBA Student Design Competition sponsor.
“The kitchen and bath designs created by students using Waypoint products were impressive. We take great pride in cultivating young designers who represent the future of our industry. I look forward to presenting the student awards at KBIS in January and jump-starting some careers.”
