Colorado State Students Compete To Design Best Barrier-Free Facility
Thursday, February 26, 1998
FORT COLLINS--Colorado State University's interior design
students are participating in a competition to help a Fort
Collins group plan a new facility for people with disabilities.
This year's Barrier Free Design Competition offers the
opportunity for 30 students to work with a community group on
plans that could be used to build a Fort Collins facility. The
Options for Long-Term Care Committee is a group of community
members advocating the construction of a long-term care facility
for disabled adults between 18 and 60 years of age. The student
designs will be used as part of the committee's research into
possible facilities.
The submitted designs will be on display at the same time
judges decide on winning entries from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. March 4 in
the Cherokee Park Room of the Lory Student Center on campus.
"Every year, this contest boosts student and community
interest in creating environments with increased handicapped
accessibility," said Brian Dunbar, associate professor of
interior design in the department of design, merchandising and
consumer sciences at Colorado State. "The students' past designs
have been the impetus behind some specific changes on campus, and
this year we hope the competition can help the Fort Collins
community design a new facility for people with disabilities."
The five-person judging panel will include representatives
from the Options for Long Term Care Committee, Colorado State's
Office of Resources for Disabled Students, Colorado State faculty
members in interior design and occupational therapy and local
design professionals. Students will receive first, second and
third place awards, and as many as three honorable mention
awards.
Contest winners will be announced at an awards ceremony from
7-9 p.m. March 25 on the Johnson Hall Mainstage on campus. The
ceremony is part of the university's annual Disability Awareness
Days March 23-27, and will include performances by the Colorado
State theater department. The winning designs will be displayed
from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. March 27 in the Lory Student Center Sunken
Lounge.
Students participating in the contest are juniors who are
members of two interior design studio classes. Students were
paired up to design facilities suitable for long-term care of
adults with multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, polio and
other disabilities. Each design incorporates common areas and 24-
hour nurse availability with private apartments. Student designs
include plans for how the facility would look as well as how it
would function. Students studied the standards of the Americans
with Disabilities Act, read books on handicapped-accessible
styles and visited a nursing home to help prepare for the
project.
The Barrier-Free Design Contest is sponsored by the Office
of Resources for Disabled Students.
For more information on the Barrier-Free Design Contest or
other programs that highlight disability-awareness issues,
contact the Office of Resources for Disabled Students at (970)
491-6385.
This page © 1997-1998 World Wide Express, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Many news stories on RamLine.com come from the Colorado State University Public Relations Office. You can get copies of the news releases directly by filling out this form.