Interior Design Students Win Top Honors at Design for Impact Challenge

Two George Fox students are part of a winning team that successfully designed a classroom space for a high school in Southern California.

Fourteen students came together for a powerful day of creativity and collaboration at the recent Design for Impact Challenge, held in partnership with industry leaders and higher education design programs and hosted by BORA Architects at the company’s Portland office.

Among the participants were nine students from George Fox University’s interior design program and five from Portland State University's architecture program. The event provided an incredible opportunity for students to step into a real-world design experience, working across disciplines to respond to a high-impact design prompt for social change.

Each student team, featuring both interior design and architecture students, was paired with an industry mentor – a practicing architect or designer – who worked alongside them throughout the day. The challenge? To design a new entry and classroom space for a high school in Southern California, with the exciting promise that real ideas from these student proposals would be incorporated into the school’s upcoming renovation.

Over the course of five hours, teams dove deep into the prompt, sketching, modeling and refining their concepts. The students’ energy and creativity were on full display as they tackled the design from all angles, balancing aesthetic innovation with practical application. At the end of the work session, each team presented its design to a panel of professional jurors from the architecture and design industry.

The winning team, which included George Fox interior design seniors Ava Heflen and Kali Braukmiller and their mentor Shawn from VIDA Design, was recognized for a solution that reflected a strong understanding of biophilic design, incorporating native and location-specific plants to support wellness and environmental integration.

Their design also embraced trauma-informed design principles through the use of choice and flexibility in furniture and seating, attention to classroom acoustics, and open sightlines paired with AI-powered security systems to create safe, calming spaces. Curved elements in finishes and furnishings added a sense of softness and approachability to the environment, rounding out a truly thoughtful and future-forward design solution.

"Participating in the Design for Impact Challenge was such a memorable experience,” Heflen says. “I loved getting to collaborate with architecture students. It gave me valuable insight and made the project feel like a real-world design scenario. Having a mentor to provide feedback along the way was incredibly helpful and encouraging, too. The collaboration process was not only refreshing but also sparked so many creative ideas. It was also so inspiring to see the diverse and thoughtful designs from everyone else in the challenge!"

A second team, guided by mentor Melissa from Gensler Portland, was awarded Best Concept for their visionary approach and compelling presentation. It included George Fox interior design students Sam Kinsman and Michaela Vega.

The Design for Impact Challenge gave students a rare opportunity to not only collaborate with peers from other institutions but also to receive direct mentorship from working professionals and feedback from respected jurors.

For George Fox students, the experience underscored the impact of design thinking in real-world scenarios and highlighted the power of intentional, human-centered design in shaping the future of education spaces.