The Association of University Interior Designers competition is an annual event that university designers nationwide participate in, where their work is reviewed and critiqued by professional practicing interior designers in the field.
Director of Interior Design Holly Hodge and Interior Designer Jenny Gonzalez were recently recognized at the 2022 Design Competition Awards from the Association of University Interior Designers (AUID) held at Purdue University.
Both Hodge and Gonzalez won first place in the New Construction over $500,000 category and overall Best in Show for their interior design work in Founders Hall and Innovation Hall.
In addition to their joint recognition for the work in Founders and Innovation Halls, Hodge placed third in the Renovations under $50,000 category for updates to the Porter Family Professional Development Center and Gonzalez placed third in the Speciality category for the two new outdoor classrooms located between Martin Alumni Center and Belk Library and the other in between the Inman Admissions Welcome Center and Loy Center.
“I think we do a lot of really cool things on campus, and there are very innovative interior spaces where students can flourish inside and outside the classroom. The recognition validates what we’re doing on campus,” Hodge said. “To me, the biggest recognition is when you see students experience a space for the first time and say, ‘This is so cool.’ That makes my heart smile.”
Gonzalez said from an institutional standpoint, “For Elon, the recognition further highlights our newly accredited engineering program and is another example of why students should choose Elon.”
Hodge and Gonzalez both recognized the talent of all the interior designers in the AUID and said they are humbled and honored that their work was selected as the best in this year’s competition.
When designing Founder and Innovation Halls, Hodge and Gonzalez said they were intentional about creating a space that would reflect the groundbreaking and unconventional engineering work that will take place in the building.
Having some of the structure deliberately exposed, making sure there is natural light throughout the building and the pops of color sporadically sprinkled in the halls were some of those unique intentional design decisions Hodge and Gonzalez said they made for the buildings.
Also, they wanted to incorporate innovative materials in the building which is the reason for the acoustical light fixtures on the second floor of Founders Hall and the three-story high dichroic glass, which displays multiple colors depending on the lighting conditions, in the Innovation Hall staircase.
Hodge and Gonzalez said that the recognition is bigger than just the two of them, but a collaborative achievement of everyone in the Planning, Design and Construction Management office.
“Our team here at Elon, the whole Planning, Design and Construction team, has a really good foundation,” Hodge said. “All the team players in our department had a big role in this and I’m very proud to work amongst such very talented, hardworking, dedicated people.”