Young designers under spotlight at the Office Exhibition

Sareh Ameri-Mills and Mahnaz Mohammadpour, both interior design students at the American University of Dubai and Ahmed Hamdi Mustafa from the Ajman University of Science and Technology were selected for their innovative conceptual designs and 3D models of cluster workstations, office chairs and filing systems.

The short-listed entries were critiqued live at The Office Exhibition by Sergio Lion, Managing Director and Architect at Frezza SpA, sponsors of the competition, and Paolo Favaretto, Architect at Favaretto and Partners.

Lion said, "The standard of entries for this year's competition was very good. The students are still learning and will continue to learn throughout their careers, but their entries showed an understanding of design principles and theory gained in their university courses."

Favaretto said, "In critiquing the entries, we were looking for new concepts and ideas. The world is changing rapidly and considering the current financial crisis and environmental issues, students are in a good position to design with the needs of tomorrow's market in mind."

The winning students will travel to Venice and Milan in Italy, for a week-long educational visit, where they will tour the internationally renowned Frezza furniture factories and learn the secrets behind manufacturing high-end office products.

"The competition is good for students as it emulates a real working environment, including meeting deadlines and strong competition within the industry. The winning students will be exposed to the latest design innovations and given the opportunity to network with some of the biggest names in the industry," said Favaretto.

The young designers were thrilled to be a part of the competition, which inspired students to employ the skills they have developed at university to design new and original office furniture.

Exhibition Director Sinead Bridgett of dmg world media said she was impressed by the high calibre of competition entries.

Bridgett said, "For the second year running, the Loft Student Design Competition has proven to be a huge success. All of the entrants showed enthusiasm and talent, and the winners have a wonderful educational experience to look forward to. Visitors and exhibitors were impressed by the standard of entries, which have been on display at the show. The competition offers a great opportunity for interior design students to practice the skills they have learnt at university and have it critiqued by industry professionals. It also offers a great opportunity to add pieces of work to their portfolio for future employers."