Press Release
Wonderland Learning Center by Barbara Young Is Granted the Bronze A' Design Award in Interior Space and Exhibition Design
Barbara Young acknowledged for interior space and exhibition design by the international grand jury of the 2021 - 2022 A' Design Award & Competition
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COMO, Italy, April 22, 2022 /DesignNewswire/ A' Design Award & Competition has confirmed the Bronze A' Design Award in the Interior Space and Exhibition Design category for Wonderland Learning Center by Barbara Young. The recognition forms part of the 2021 - 2022 A' Design Award & Competition and was reached through blind peer review by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members, who scored anonymized entries against predetermined criteria.
What the Bronze A' Design Award Means
The Bronze A' Design Award is given to outstanding designs that showcase a high degree of creativity and practicality. It recognizes the dedication and skill of designers who produce work that stands out for its thoughtful development and innovative use of materials and technology. These designs are acknowledged for their professional execution and potential to influence industry standards positively. Winning this award highlights the designer's ability to blend form and function effectively, offering solutions that enhance people's lives and wellbeing.
About Wonderland Learning Center
Wonderland is an experiential learning center designed for school age children. The main space, called the Wonder Cafe, features a custom learning tree that holds a free book-share library and a computer bar where students can borrow devices. Two zones are planned on either side of a diagonal axis, giving different atmospheres of comfort and inclusion for a diversity of learners to work, socialize, create or learn. Transparent panels and laser cut screens keep views open for supervision, while varied seating types and privacy settings suit different needs and moods.
About Barbara Young
Barbara Young is an NCIDQ certified Interior Designer, registered in the State of Indiana, and LEED Accredited Professional with practice experience in commercial and education environments. As an Assistant Professor of Interior Design in the Rueff School of Design, Art, and Performance at Purdue University, Professor Young’s work explores the intersection of theory and practice which informs her approach to teaching and the classroom experiences she provides for graduate and undergraduate students. Barbara is passionate about using design to imbue dignity and respect for humans that inhabit built environments.
Award Record
This recognition makes Barbara Young a winner of 1 A' Design Award.
About the A' Interior Space, Retail and Exhibition Design Award
The A' Interior Design Award is an international interior design competition recognizing good interior designs by interior designers and architects worldwide. The competition is organized within the A' Design Award & Competition and is open to interior designers, interior architects, architects and decorators from all countries. Entries typically include residential interiors, restaurants, hotels, offices, galleries and retail stores. Awarded interior designs are published at https://designers.org/design-category/interior
About A' Design Award & Competition
A' Design Award & Competition is an international, juried design accolade organized annually since 2008. The competition is open to entries from all countries. The A' Design Award has a philanthropic mission to advance society through good design by recognizing and promoting superior products, projects and services that benefit society, and by creating a global awareness and appreciation for good design practices and principles. Entries are peer reviewed and anonymously evaluated by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members against predetermined criteria such as functionality, ergonomics, engineering, presentation, innovation, usability, sustainability and technology, with score normalization applied to remove biases. Awards are conferred at Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Iron levels. The A' Design Prize granted to eligible laureates includes the award trophy, the certificate of design excellence, the hardcover yearbook, a lifetime license to use the A' Design Award winner logo, exhibition of awarded works, an invitation to the gala night and award ceremony in Italy, inclusion in the World Design Rankings and Designer Rankings, and public relations and publicity services. Registration, the upload of a work and the preliminary score are free of charge, and Professional and Digital Edition laureates are not contractually obliged to pay further fees to claim the A' Design Prize. Further information is available at https://competition.adesignaward.com
Press Resources
- Winner Page: https://designers.org/135599
- A' Design Award Page: https://competition.adesignaward.com/135599
- Media Showcase: https://www.designnewsroom.com/!135599
- Laureate Profile: https://designers.org/d/321242
- Further Information from the Laureate: https://www.wonderland.education/
Media Contact
Giulia Ferrari, Press Office
Designers.Org
Via Leone Leoni 32, 22100 Como, Italy
press@designers.org
+39 031 4491953
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Fact Sheet
The Work
- Project
- Wonderland Learning Center
- Function
- Learning Center
- Category
- Interior Space and Exhibition Design
- Discipline
- Spatial Design
- Industry
- Architecture and Packaging & Retail
- Colors
- Rosy Brown, Silver, Gray, Dim Gray and Sienna
- Images
- 5
The Recognition
- Laureate
- Barbara Young
- Country
- United States of America
- Recognition
- Bronze A' Design Award
- Edition
- 2021 - 2022
- Design ID
- #135599
Credits
- Team
- Tong J Kim and Laura Bittner
Design Details
- Unique Properties
- Wonderland Experiential Learning Center provides hands-on, extra-curricular, educational opportunities for school age children. The concept design for this Wonder Café space features a learning tree for a free book-share program and a computer bar where students can borrow devices if they do not have their own. Planned on either side of a diagonal axis through the space, two different atmospheres of comfort and inclusion exist for a diversity of learners to work, socialize, create, or learn.
- Inspiration
- Wonderland provides opportunities for children to grow intellectually, creatively, emotionally, socially and physically through technology education. Growth elements are integrated throughout the design, including the learning tree, private tree house booths, collaborative savanna and climbing hills. Material and accent lighting selections also represent natural growth elements. A variety of areas are included to welcome all learners with diverse backgrounds and personalities.
- Research
- The designer has engaged in an extensive literature review of pedagogy, learning styles, early childhood education, and learning spaces which was incorporated into the main idea for flexibility, diverse settings, and defined areas in the space.
- Challenge
- The visualization needed to be accomplished in a very short amount of time (2-weeks). As a proposal, the design used parameters for the desired building but needed to be flexible enough to be adapted into any space.
- Realization and Technology
- The conceptual rendering for the Wonderland Experiential Learning Center is modeled in SketchUp and Rendered with Enscape. Plan diagrams were exported from Sketchup and completed with Illustrator. Videos and interactive 360 panorama walkthroughs were also created for the client for viewing on screen and in immersive VR headsets. The proposed custom learning tree is designed for ease of fabrication with a CNC router and laser cut "W" shaped wood screen inserts.
- Operation and Interaction
- The main space, or kids café, includes book shelving along the outside of the custom learning tree. This free library, conceived of as a book share program, will allow children to explore interests. Provided books will include materials that children can use in the adjacent maker labs (science/technology/craft/maker topics). The central learning tree incorporates transparent panels with natural elements and laser cut screens to provide interest and ensure that views can be maintained throughout the space at all times for safety and supervision.
- Project Duration and Location
- Concept design began in July of 2021 and was presented to the community school board 2 weeks later for support in acquiring space. Wonderland is currently operating in a temporary building and hopes to acquire or build a permanent home in the near future.
- Specifications
- The conceptual design was based on the typical size and structure of a junior high school gymnasium (roughly 25.5m x 30m x 5m to bottom of structural deck) because the client was in negotiations with a school board to repurpose an old middle school building for Wonderland. The visualization provided ideas to help the board see how the existing gymnasium could be repurposed for the Wonderland Kids Café and adjacent rooms could be used for specialty technology instruction.
- Keywords
- Interior Design, Education Design, Community Design, Makerspace
