Home designed by Lethbridge College students wins regional BILD award

The Daphne, designed by students Jessica Banman and Teunieke Anker, was named the top single-family home in its price range at the Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD) Lethbridge region awards on Feb. 7.

The home won in the $200,000 to $230,000 price range.

“They worked so hard that year on this home design with Ashcroft and they were just a great team together,” said Cherie Reitzel, interim chair of the interior design technology, architectural animation technology and virtual and augmented reality programs.

“We have Jessica, in year one, who designed this and Teunieke, who did the animation,” she said.

Ashcroft Master Builder in Lethbridge then built the three-bedroom and two-bathroom home and allowed the interior design technology students to work as interns on the project.

The students’ instructor says there definitely were some challenges along the way.

“We had a limit to the square footage, so they had to fit in the three-bedroom and two baths and everything that was needed in a tighter space than they would have wanted to as new designers,” Reitzel said.

“For me that was awesome, as a teacher to be able to encourage them to do that and continue to bring those numbers in,” she said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "For me that was awesome, as a teacher to be able to encourage them to do that and continue to bring those numbers in," she said.

The Ashcroft design challenge is an industry collaboration that allows design students to create custom homes as part of their curriculum.

“We try to give them as much guidance we can in terms of laying out, you know, we want this kind of square footage, these many bathrooms and bedrooms,” said Brock Fulkerth, an engineering design technologist with Ashcroft.

“I think from there.. just to see how creative they can become and get through the process is great,” he said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "I think from there.. just to see how creative they can become and get through the process is great," he said.

The design was chosen as the winner for its retro-modern look… something Ashcroft believes will meet market demand.

“This one definitely stuck out in its year… for just being different, the elevation was different from all of the other ones, the interior had a different layout, the kitchen’s very unique, there’s built ins in different places,” Fulkerth said.

The Daphne was built in Garry Station and it’s currently up for sale.