CAT Interior Design student Becky Bors makes the Top 10 with her design solution for the 2021 FORM Student Innovation Competition.

“I’m pleased to inform you that your entry into the 2021 FORM Student Innovation Competition was chosen as a finalist, meaning you earned a spot in our top 10 designs (out of 245!). While your entry fell just outside the top three, we were so thoroughly impressed by your design and it was incredibly exciting to see how the judges rated it. You should be very proud.”

Imagine receiving the above email from a competition you have entered? This very happy occurrence was recently experienced by CAT Interior Design student Rebecca Bors, regarding her entry to the above competition.

“It was very exciting to hear that I was selected over so many students across Canada and the US. To get recognition like that means that you might know what you are doing and that is pretty satisfying,” says Rebecca.

“Placing top 10 in this competition has given me more confidence in my designs and it encourages me to compete in more things like this. I enjoy a good healthy competition and it is always interesting to see how everyone interprets it differently. For my career going forward, I think it will look good on my resume to have this achievement and will help showcase my creative abilities.”

The FORM competition is now in its fourth year, and invites interior design, architecture and furniture design students across Canada and the U.S. to create furniture using Formica® Brand products. A record total of 244 entries from more than 35 universities across the U.S. and Canada were submitted under the theme of “Design for the Next Generation,” which called for students to interpret their design vision for a variety of post-pandemic commercial settings using products from the 2021 Specialty Collection by Formica Corporation.

“The theme for the project was designing for the future so I created this piece with the intention of making something timeless that will last,” explains Rebecca. “The competition was held by Formica, and we were required to use at least three laminates from their 2021 collection. My inspiration came from my first laminated selection which was a beautiful terrazzo pattern, everything else fell into place after that. The wall unit is called “Dalmata Dreams” and it is a combination of storage and a table when open. There are two cube chairs which are pulled out when in use and the table folds down to create a perfect little workspace. When the unit is not being used, it is folded up and looks elegant against any wall with it’s open shelving.”

“We are so excited for Becky!” say Jennifer Yeo, Advanced Interior Design and Technology Department Head. “What I think makes Becky’s design successful is that it speaks to the current situations in which, due to the pandemic, people find themselves working out of their homes. In small space living, many people do not have the floor space to dedicate to dining/working areas or additional working areas, so this solution offers an option to address not only the storage of a worksurface but also the seating. In addition, both the design function and aesthetic are appropriate for either a residential or commercial space which was a component of the design brief.”

Becky is also grateful for all the things she has learned at CAT that helped her to do well in this competition.

“There is a long list of people I could thank for gaining the knowledge to build this design, but it is safe to say every single teacher at CAT helped contribute skills which came together in this design project,” says Becky. “I have learned so much from all of them and it is very exciting to be implementing those skills into real life projects.”

“This year again, the quality of the designs and the number of entries speak for themselves!” says Christelle Locat-Rainville, Marketing Director at Formica Canada. “The FORM Student Innovation Competition attracted 102 entries from across Canada. In their projects, the students demonstrated a great deal of care, creativity and talent.
We are particularly delighted that students from our country distinguished themselves and won, for the second time in a row, the first place of the competition.”

The top ten designs this year will be highlighted on the Formica® website, as well as ‘Design TV’, a digital program hosted by Interior Design magazine.

Words by Deborah Lampitt-McConnachie.