Central Campus CEA Student Runner-Up In Home Design Challenge
Can I Be Your Neighbor Design Challenge Wraps Up Affordable Housing Week
Des Moines, IA – April 18, 2015 –Brittany Gronewold, an East senior and student in the Central Campus Project Lead the Way course Civil Engineering & Architecture, finished runner-up in the Polk County Housing Trust’s Can I Be Your Neighbor Affordable Home Design Challenge, winning a $500 award from the Trust. The design was done as an extra-curricular project, meaning the design work was done outside of the normal class time, with critiques done during spare time during class. Other students who submitted designs were Matt Walker-Johnson and Jorden Smith.
Forty students from five central Iowa high schools were given the fictional background of who would be living in the home, the location of a vacant, in-fill lot in Des Moines, and parameters including maximum square footage and limitations on costs. The competition, managed by ASK Studio, a Des Moines architectural firm, included classroom visits by architects to provide feedback to the students partway through the process.
Five designs were selected for the competition at the John and Mary Pappajohn Education Center in
downtown Des Moines. Each finalist had up to five minutes to present their design, followed by a question and answer session with a panel of judges from Home Builders Association of Greater Des Moines, ASK Studio, Knapp Properties, Grand Homes & Renovations, and two tenants from Anawim Housing, which provides affordable rental housing for low-income families.
For more information on Project Lead the Way Civil Engineering & Architecture, please contact Clinton Gadbury at Clinton.gadbury@dmschools.org, or visit http://centralcampus.dmschools.org/engineering/project-lead-the-way/.
Design Runner Up Central Justine Brittany Eric 2015
Brittany Gronewald, a senior at Des Moines Central Campus, received $500 as a runner-up in the Can I Be Your Neighbor Design Challenge for Affordable Housing. Presenting the award, Justine Bangert, an Architectural Designer with ASK Studio and Eric Burmeister, Executive Director of the Polk County Housing Trust Fund.
ABOUT PCHTF
The Polk County Housing Trust Fund is the comprehensive planning, advocacy and funding organization for Affordable Housing in Polk County Iowa. It is responsible for crafting the community strategic plan for affordable housing and leading its implementation. That work will be realized in part through its leadership of Housing Tomorrow, the region’s first comprehensive plan for housing, which is part of the larger community sustainability initiative, The Tomorrow Plan.
The Polk County Housing Trust Fund also works to help communities understand the need for and benefits of adequate affordable housing. And finally, the organization is responsible for allocating community funds aimed at increasing and preserving the inventory of affordable units in Polk County and improving the lives of the people who live in them.
To learn more, please visit www.pchtf.org.
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