Laminate can be so much more than a surfacing material for furniture or countertops, some aspiring designers have discovered during Formica Corporation’s inaugural SurfaceSet 2016 Student Innovation Competition. The competition challenged students to conceptualize a commercial space using a minimum of three products from the manufacturer’s SurfaceSet 2016 laminate collection. In the end, a jury panel — including veteran product designer Jonathan Adler — named three winners.
Farmer’s Kitchen
Elizabeth Ickes, of the University of Cincinnati, won first place with her Farmer’s Kitchen concept. Said Ickes of her project: “More often than not, people are buying food one meal at a time, instead of stocking the pantry. In response to this, food retailers are focusing on bringing more quality, fresh prepared food options to their consumers.” Her resulting commercial kitchen and marketplace design thus proposed spaces for use by local food vendors to prepare, display, and sell their wares. “Another major trend in food retail is transparency,” stated Ickes. “Customers want to know exactly what they are buying, where it came from, how it was grown, and who prepared it.”
Farmer’s Kitchen
This intriguing entry incorporated SurfaceSet 2016’s Thermo Walnut, Crème Lacquered Linen, Artichoke, and Concrete Formwood. “These finishes speak to the honest aesthetic of the fixture as well as add texture to flat surfaces.” In addition to a $5,000 prize, Ickes received a signed vase from Jonathan Adler.
NEXT
The second-place prize of $1,000 went to Megan Miller, of the University of Minnesota. Her entry NEXT (also shown at top) proposed a co-working office space designed to appeal to a millennial workforce. “Layering and overlapping have a large presence in the design,” Miller stated of her proposal. “Spaces overlap one another and include areas for spontaneous social interactions between and within each space. Ceiling forms layer upon and overlap one another — creating transitions that allow for users to stop and connect between functions.” Her renderings incorporated Oxidized Beamwood to add warmth to the mostly white and gray space, Folkstone Hex to represent the overlapping and layering concept, and Orange Lacquered Linen to promote social interaction.
NEXT
Finally, Caitlin Bakofsky, of Philadelphia University, won the third-place prize of $500 for her design of a luggage retail space in which she envisioned the heavy merchandise in displays that seem weightless. “Nothing is anchored to the ground,” stated Bakofsky, “which enables the elements in the space to appear as though they defy gravity.” To stay within the provided budget, she proposed applying laminate to the ceiling, columns, cash-wrap, and display fixtures. Her sophisticated, soft, and warm palette included Concrete Formwood, Thermo Walnut, and White Twill.
Luggage retail space
In addition to Jonathan Adler, the jury consisted of Renee Hytry Derrinton, Group Vice President of Design for Fletcher Building’s Laminates and Panels Division; Gerri Chmiel, North America residential design lead for Formica; and Scott Dannenfelser, North America commercial design lead for Formica.
