STLCC Interior Design Students Win Big in Regional Design Competition

St. Louis Community College students captured several honors during the Boardwalk 2019 Regional Interior Design Competition hosted by STLCC-Meramec in January.

Students from seven area interior design programs, including 15 from Meramec, competed in the event. STLCC students took home 11 of the 16 awards, including first place in four of the seven design categories.

Ermias Admassu took first place in both the hospitality and residential categories.

“I was very happy and excited to see that my hard work was rewarded,” said Admassu. “It encourages me to do even more and strive for excellence.”

Katie Laird and Allison Steinbach captured first place in the group design category.

“Lots of thought and planning had to go into this project,” said Laird, who will graduate with her associate degree in interior design in May. “I learned that I am capable of creating a successful design. The deadlines, communication and balancing the work reflected how designing for a company’s client in the future will actually be.”

Other STLCC students who received awards were: Sarah Witte, first place, kitchen and bath design; Karyn Applegate, second place, kitchen and bath design; Lindsay Weber, honorable mention, kitchen and bath design; Carmen Portwood-Imergoot, Supriya Patil and Emily Stephens, second place, group design; Maggie Filla and Anna Entringer, honorable mention, group design; Madelyn Piccininni, second place, residential; and Natalie Slavik, honorable mention, residential and hospitality.

Erin LeCLerc, program coordinator for interior design, is proud of her students and the STLCC interior design program.

“All of the projects submitted by STLCC students were originally assigned as part of their classroom experience,” she said. “Projects took anywhere from three to eight weeks to complete, but all of them were wonderful examples of the type of work our students can produce.”