2008 Winners Announced

The suspense is over! Congratulations to Jennifer Gilmore of University of Maine at Augusta and Michelle Pyne of Virginia Tech, who entered the winning designs in the 2008 JELD-WEN Student Door Design Contest. Michelle and Jen will each receive a $3,000 scholarship. Their designs were chosen by a panel of judges from among a record-breaking 349 entries from 289 students at 89 colleges, based on suitability of the design for today’s architecture, creativity, uniqueness and attention to detail.

Organic Inspiration
Jen’s winning tree door design puts the environment at the front and center of a home, showing that sustainable design can incorporate nature with technological advances to soften the division between home and the outdoors. One judge commented that this design works well, both conceptually and aesthetically: “I especially like her thoughts about the reflection of the tree silhouette.”

Contemporary Style
Michelle’s modern door design was specifically inspired by the work of Frank Lloyd Wright’s residential design in Chicago for Ward M. Willitts. She was struck by the simple, beautiful proportions of the stucco squares and the long beams of wood. So were the judges. “I love the simplicity and spareness of this design,” said one judge. “The contrasting splines show off the wood's beauty. The balance between glass and wood feels right.”

Judges included top editors at leading design publications: Ruth Altchek, senior editor at domino!; Leslie Ensor, editor of Custom Home; Linda Lentz, products editor from Architectural Record, and door experts from JELD-WEN. Thank you to the judges, and best wishes to every contestant.

Winner Jen Gilmore, Maine

I began my design process by brainstorming ideas, focusing on using rails and stiles in a more expressive way than one typically sees. After coming up with a number of ideas that seemed feasible I then perused the current JELD-WEN catalog to see which of my designs might complement or add to the existing options. I narrowed my designs down to two, continued developing both of them, and entered them both. Both designs are based on natural themes - one based on a tree, the other sunrays.

My inspiration for entering the JELD-WEN contest was actually a field trip to Boston. After visiting the Genzyme building, I researched the architects behind it, Behnisch, Behnisch & Partner. I was fascinated to learn that most of their business comes from competition entries. Upon learning this, I decided that I should get into the habit of entering contests. I didn’t think I would win, but I wanted to be sure that I started entering contests to get experience and add to my portfolio.

JENNIFER GILMORE
Freshman Architecture Major
University of Maine at Augusta

Winner Michelle Pyne, Virginia Tech

After discussing the JELD-WEN door design competition in my design studio, the first place I looked for my inspiration was an old architectural history book. I flipped through the pages and paused on a few that I liked. There was one page I kept going back to - a house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1902. The house was designed for a rising businessman, Ward M. Willitts on Chicago’s South Side. It had a symmetrical façade of stucco accented by thick wooden beams. This particular house was not one of Wright’s famous public works but it had a simple design quality that I was striving for with my door. The beautiful proportions of the stucco squares and long beams of dark wood were striking. In my design the thick beams were replaced by thin strips of lighter wood that accent the proportional divisions in the door. The stucco to wood contrast is altered with a glass to wood contrast in the door design. The sleek cold feeling of the glass is offset by the warm traditional feeling of the wood, making it suitable for both contemporary and traditional homes.

MICHELLE PYNE
Junior Interior Design Major
Virginia Tech