Prize winners

Students at NTU regularly enter national design competitions and exhibitions, with much success. Our courses encourage students to develop ideas that are truly special. Last year was another successful one for the School of Architecture, Design and the Built Environment. We are thrilled and proud to see so many students winning prestigious national competitions.

Taking part in these challenges is not only fun, but it also gives you priceless experience, helping to build your confidence and CV enabling you to stand out from the crowd. Below you can find out about a few of last year’s outstanding students. Well done to everyone and, who knows, next year it could be you!

Winner, Lighting Association Student Lighting Awards 2012

Oliver Hruibak
Course: BA (Hons) Furniture and Product Design, final year
Prize: £1,500 and opportunity to exhibit at the Interiors Show at the NEC in Birmingham
Project: Frank
‘Frank’ is a contemporary table lamp for the domestic environment with distinctive features and lasting charm. Characterised by obvious construction, Frank demonstrates truth to materials and truth to manufacture; combining the utilitarian feel of metal with the natural warmth of wood. By tilting and swivelling the shade to direct light, ‘Frank’ can be used either as a task light or an ambient light.
Read more about the Lighting Awards winners.
Winner, Lighting Association Student Lighting Awards 2012

Oliver Hruibak
Course: BA (Hons) Furniture and Product Design, final year
Prize: £1,500 and opportunity to exhibit at the Interiors Show at the NEC in Birmingham
Project: Frank
‘Frank’ is a contemporary table lamp for the domestic environment with distinctive features and lasting charm. Characterised by obvious construction, Frank demonstrates truth to materials and truth to manufacture; combining the utilitarian feel of metal with the natural warmth of wood. By tilting and swivelling the shade to direct light, ‘Frank’ can be used either as a task light or an ambient light.
Read more about the Lighting Awards winners.
Winner, New Designers John Lewis Award 2012

Oliver Hruibak
Course: BA (Hons) Furniture and Product Design, final year
Prize: £1,000
Project - Finn
‘Finn’ is a domestic lounge chair inspired by Scandinavian functionalism that aims to be functionally and aesthetically long lasting. The powder-coated steel frame provides functional strength, visual simplicity and a lightweight appearance, yet the flowing forms of the solid ash arms and veneered plywood backrest relieve the sterility of the frame to deliver balance, elegance and comfort.
Read more information about the New Designers awards and the prizewinners.
Winner, Business Design Centre New Designer of the Year Award 2012

Craig Foster
Course: BA (Hons) Furniture and Product Design, final year
Winner, Business Design Centre New Designer of the Year Award 2012
Prize: Includes £1,500 and a dedicated half-day with design sector PR consultancy Articulate Communication
2nd prize, Lighting Associations Student Lighting Awards 2012
Prize: £1,000 and opportunity to exhibit at the Interiors Show at the NEC in Birmingham
Project: Kurk
Kurk is an environmentally friendly, flat-pack, self-assembly desk light. The light, made from cork, requires no glue or screws to assemble, with each part able to be recycled or reused individually when no longer needed as a light.
The judging panel described the light as “A pared down design that doesn't lose integrity and demonstrates commercial thinking. We can see further development potential.”
More information about the New Designer of the Year Award and the Student Lighting Awards.
Winner, Business Design Centre New Designer of the Year Award 2012

Craig Foster
Course: BA (Hons) Furniture and Product Design, final year
Winner, Business Design Centre New Designer of the Year Award 2012
Prize: Includes £1,500 and a dedicated half-day with design sector PR consultancy Articulate Communication
2nd prize, Lighting Associations Student Lighting Awards 2012
Prize: £1,000 and opportunity to exhibit at the Interiors Show at the NEC in Birmingham
Project: Kurk
Kurk is an environmentally friendly, flat-pack, self-assembly desk light. The light, made from cork, requires no glue or screws to assemble, with each part able to be recycled or reused individually when no longer needed as a light.
The judging panel described the light as “A pared down design that doesn't lose integrity and demonstrates commercial thinking. We can see further development potential.”
More information about the New Designer of the Year Award and the Student Lighting Awards.
Winner, The Power of Aluminium Extrusion in Design 2012

Tom Brittain
Course: BSc (Hons) Product Design, final year
Prize: £1,000
Project: Modular shelving system
The Power of Aluminium competition allowed final year Product Design BSc students to explore technical profile designs and how they can be used to generate extrusions creating innovative products.

Investigating properties of aluminium alongside existing products delivered a detailed and comprehensive approach into manipulating the extrusion process. The project was a competition hosted by ALFED (Aluminium Federation).
Tom took inspiration for this modular shelving system from train tracks, using 5 profiles to create a customisable shelving array. The final product is contemporary, easy-to-assemble set of shelves which can be customised to fulfil the consumers individual functional and aesthetic needs.
Read more about The Power of Aluminium Extrusion in Design competition.
Winner, The Power of Aluminium Extrusion in Design 2012

Tom Brittain
Course: BSc (Hons) Product Design, final year
Prize: £1,000
Project: Modular shelving system
The Power of Aluminium competition allowed final year Product Design BSc students to explore technical profile designs and how they can be used to generate extrusions creating innovative products.

Investigating properties of aluminium alongside existing products delivered a detailed and comprehensive approach into manipulating the extrusion process. The project was a competition hosted by ALFED (Aluminium Federation).
Tom took inspiration for this modular shelving system from train tracks, using 5 profiles to create a customisable shelving array. The final product is contemporary, easy-to-assemble set of shelves which can be customised to fulfil the consumers individual functional and aesthetic needs.
Read more about The Power of Aluminium Extrusion in Design competition.
Winner, Paul Smith NTU competiton 2012

Rebecca Ransom
Course: BA (Hons) Furniture and Product Design
Prize: Travel to London to meet Sir Paul, with a guided tour of the design studios and shop, a summer internship and a £250 voucher for Paul Smith stores.
Product: Hooks
One of the world’s most famous designers, Nottingham’s own Sir Paul Smith, develops a brief each year exclusively for NTU students. Our BA (Hons) Product Design and BA (Hons) Furniture and Product Design students were set the task of designing a new piece of retail furniture Paul Smith store. They could choose to design a hook, shoe mirror, hanging tie system, fitting room stool or freestanding clothes rail.
The judging panel described Rebecca’s design as “Good sense of proportion, a workable idea that could be good for example in our New York or San Francisco stores. Has a bahaus feeling but still looks modern.”
Read more about the Paul Smith competition and prizewinners.
Winner, Design Innovation in Plastics Awards 2012

Jamie Mansfield
Course: BA (Hons) Furniture and Product Design, Year Two
Prize: £1,000 and a placement at Bayer Material Science in Leverkusen
Project: Flexible flat-pack clothing hanger
The brief was to design a product to help those with physical or cognitive impairments that is also appealing to the mass market.

By developing a unique, integral mechanism, Jamie designed a plastic coat hanger with flexible arms that collapse and spring back. This allows the user to attach clothing via the neck without having to take the hanger from the rail or undo buttons.
Robin Kent, Managing Director of Tangram Technology, said: “I have never seen this mechanism before in any form - let alone a coat hanger. It works well because it offers a strong initial resistance to movement, but once the 'break' has been made, it is then quite flexible. It’s a good mechanism with other potential uses, particularly in safety applications."
Read more about Jamie's winning entry.
Winner, The Power of Aluminium Extrusion in Design 2012

Jamie Mansfield
Course: BA (Hons) Furniture and Product Design, Year Two
Prize: £1,000 and a placement at Bayer Material Science in Leverkusen
Project: Flexible flat-pack clothing hanger
The brief was to design a product to help those with physical or cognitive impairments that is also appealing to the mass market.

By developing a unique, integral mechanism, Jamie designed a plastic coat hanger with flexible arms that collapse and spring back. This allows the user to attach clothing via the neck without having to take the hanger from the rail or undo buttons.
Robin Kent, Managing Director of Tangram Technology, said: “I have never seen this mechanism before in any form - let alone a coat hanger. It works well because it offers a strong initial resistance to movement, but once the 'break' has been made, it is then quite flexible. It’s a good mechanism with other potential uses, particularly in safety applications."
Read more about Jamie's winning entry.
Winner, Sociable Surveyors internship

Will Buttery
Course: BSc (Hons) Real Estate
Prize: two-week fully expensed placement with leading international property consultancy Knight Frank in Shanghai
Will Buttery, a second-year on our BSc (Hons) Real Estate course, was awarded the two-week fully expensed placement through the 2012 Sociable Surveyors Global Internship Scheme. Sponsored by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), Sociable Surveyors provides surveying internships at industry leading firms, helping students and recent graduates to widen their professional experience in global offices.

Will was awarded the placement after uploading a two-minute video CV that demonstrated his passion for the industry. He said: “The graduate jobs market is highly competitive at the moment, and you need to set yourself apart from the crowd. I couldn't believe it when I got the call, and I still have to pinch myself when I think about it.”
“Shanghai is the largest city in the world, and is rapidly growing. To be able to experience this international market first-hand is an invaluable opportunity, particularly at this stage of my career.”
Read more about the prize.
Visit the Sociable Surveyors website
RICS Auctioneering competiton, Winner

Russell Homer
Course: BSc (Hons) Real Estate
The national auctioneering competition is run by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) in conjunction with Allsop Auctioneers. The competitors were required to auction several fictitious lots, including the Olympic Stadium, 51 Albert Square Walford, and Horse Guards Parade. Bidding was conducted by a floor made up of experienced professionals and challenges were thrown at the auctioneers in order to put them off their patter.
Read more about Russell's auction experience.
CIAT Student Award for Technical Excellence, Winner

Reuben Davies
Course: BSc (Hons) Architectural Technology
The Institute for Architectural Technologists (CIAT) Student Award for Excellence is open to all students studying on a CIAT accredited course. It gives entrants the opportunity to demonstrate their achievement of technical excellence in architectural technology.
CIAT President, Colin Orr, commented: “Reuben’s entry shows excellent technical aspects which are of a realistic and buildable nature. The design embraced the principles of architectural technology linked to the design and production process along with the building performance of this project. I look forward to following Reuben’s career progression within the discipline.”
Read more about Reuben's winning entry.