The Great Big Home & Garden Show 2018: “21st Annual Student Model Home Design Contest”

Cuyahoga Valley Career Center will be the site for the judging and awards presentation portion of The Great Big Home & Garden Show 21st Annual Student Model Home Design Contest. The judging will take place on Friday evening (1-26-18) at approximately 5:30 p.m. in the commons.

This year’s student contest theme is “The Great Modern Frank Lloyd Wright Spec House.” The speech and awards presentation will be Saturday morning (1-27-18) starting at 10 a.m., also held in the school commons. Scheduled to appear as keynote speaker and help present the awards will be Fred Unwin, a local Frank Lloyd Wright historian. The presentation will conclude at approximately 11 a.m.

Also scheduled to appear will be Ashley Andrykovitch, Curator of Education at Fallingwater as part of the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, along with her team of Amy Humbert, Max Adzema, and Kristen Morris.

The top ten winning models and drawings will be displayed at The Great Big Home and Garden Show, February 2-11 at the I-X Center (booth #1693). The grand prize winner will be awarded a $1000 scholarship to further his/her education in a related technical field. Additional awards include the 6 specialty categories of “Architectural Design Award of Merit,” “Best Presentation,” “Best Model,” “Best CAD/3D Drawings,” “Best Green Building,” and “Best Smart Home Technology.”

Sponsored by the American Concrete Institute NE Ohio Chapter, 84 Lumber, Brian Gilbert of Coldwell Banker, Northeast Ohio Technology & Engineering Educators Association, The Chas. E. Phipps Company, and Marketplace Events, these future architects, engineers, designers, contractors, and artisans were challenged to design a house that’s marketable, innovative, energy-efficient, and addressed the wants and needs of a family of four.

Architects, designers, builders, and contractors often design a “Spec” (specification) house to be the shining jewel of a new residential development. It typically is the benchmark house to showcase new styles, building features, details, and technologies to lure potential customers. To celebrate his 150th anniversary, this “spec” home will be a design inspired by the celebrated American architect, Frank Lloyd Wright. Students were to create a functional and aesthetically pleasing residence, incorporating the above grade concrete system (i.e., ICF – insulated concrete form) system into the design. The house is to be no larger than 2,500 sq. ft. with green & smart technology features, and they were to incorporate appropriate and creative use of other building elements, such as energy efficient and environmentally conscious products and systems to reduce energy costs.

Concrete building technology design offers homeowners increased energy efficiency, lower maintenance and substantial cost savings. Because of their unique construction properties, concrete buildings can be designed with virtually any type of exterior and interior. Concrete is one of the most fire-resistant construction materials available, and the strength and durability of concrete walls offer unmatched resistance to the devastation of major storms.

Using their knowledge of architectural design, green building design technology, smart home technology, and concrete construction, student entries will include floor plan & elevation drawings as well as the much anticipated scale model homes. They will be judged in 15 separate categories, including design, planning and innovations, energy-conserving features, drawing presentation, model presentation, and exterior design. Schools entered this year include Auburn Career Center, Excel TECC (Mayfield Schools), North Royalton High School, Orange High School, Theodore Roosevelt High School (Kent), Westlake High School, and host Cuyahoga Valley Career Center. A panel of building industry professionals from across the area will evaluate the student designs.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS! The Great Big Home & Garden Show February 2-11, 2018 at the IX Center