Architecture Student Wins Design Award
A
design by Nicholas Turner, a fifth-year architecture student from Jefferson
City, MO, has been chosen to receive first prize in the 2009 EDRA Student Design Award.
Founded in 1968, the
Environmental Design Research Association (EDRA) is an international and
interdisciplinary organization to advance and disseminate environmental design
research, thereby improving understanding of the interrelationships between
people, their built and natural surroundings. In keeping with EDRA’s goal to facilitate the
creation of environments that are responsive to human needs, the Student Design Awards recognize work that is
interdisciplinary, concerned with human factors in the design of the built
environment, and committed to promoting links between design research and
practice.
A distinguished panel from
the University of Kansas juried the entries. Turner will receive a one-year
EDRA membership, a travel voucher, and registration to attend the 40th
EDRA conference to take place later this year in Kansas City, MO. He will be
recognized at an awards ceremony during the conference.
Turner’s winning entry-a
poster and abstract-proposes the design of an ideal room in an in-patient
hospice house. Traditionally,
hospice care has been offered through in-home services. As the ‘baby boomer’
generation is aging, a growing need for health care facilities, including
in-patient hospice houses, is anticipated. Turner’s proposal is intended to
contribute to the development of the hospice house as a new building type.
Entitled
“Hospice: A
Healing Environment for the End of Life,” Turner’s knowledge-based design
proposal explores the ideal architectural characteristics for a hospice patient
room. He highlights several themes: residential
intimacy gradient, a network of social support allowing for the dialogue
between privacy and community, a connection to nature and the patient’s sense
of control.
Turner states, “The design
themes explored in this project are intended to have a positive impact on the
well-being of the room’s users. It is hoped that this project informs health
care professionals and architects in their ongoing search for a hospice
architecture which caters to the multidimensional needs of the patient, family
members and staff.”
The
abstract and design proposal were developed as part of a graduate level
architectural design studio. His major professor and studio instructor for this
project was Professor Susanne Siepl-Coates.
Turner
expects to receive his master of architecture degree later this month. He began
his architecture studies at the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC)
before transferring to K-State at the start of his third year. He also studied
at the Czech Technical University in Prague, Czech Republic during his fourth
year. He worked at Schaefer Johnson Cox Frey Architects in Wichita, KS, for
several summers. A member of Tau Sigma Delta, Golden Key, and Phi Kappa Phi
academic honoraries, Turner has been a scholarship recipient during his
matriculation at K-State. He was also one of six finalists in the 2009 Summer
Scholars Program sponsored by Hanbury, Evans, Wright, Vlattas + Company in
Norfolk, VA. During his time at the
UMKC program, Turner participated in the UMKC Search Symposium where he
presented a poster and model of two semester final projects. He was also awarded
second prize in the Bud Prize Scholarship Competition sponsored by Helix /
Architecture + Design in Kansas City, MO.
Turner will join the office of Beat Kaempfen
Architect in Zurich, Switzerland, this summer.
Click here to see the winning entry.
For more information, contact:
Susanne Siepl-Coates, 785.532.1122
CAPD@ksu.edu, 785.532.1090