Crossville, Tenn.—Crossville will host four students from the University of Tennessee College of Architecture and Design at NeoCon 2017. These students earned the trip by creating winning, tile-focused projects as part of Crossville’s sponsorship of a semester-long Design Studio held in partnership with the university.

The studio provided the company a direct opportunity to educate the next generation of design professionals on the specification of tile products. As part of the studio experience, students completed projects in which tile was an essential design element.

“The studio exposed students to tile and challenged them to think and create differently with tile as a surfacing solution,” said Robin Rhea, Crossville’s director of brand marketing. “It’s a great chance to educate future specifiers to tile’s technical and design benefits, and, likewise, we get a better understanding of their perspectives, questions and needs.”

The academic semester began with an intensive, two-week design course that focused on innovative approaches to tile use. Based on the teachings, students were then asked to create projects intended to expand the interior use of tile by devising the proper construction details for customizing standardized material tectonics.

Taking the experience further, Crossville held a competition to select the four top projects created during the studio. Judges from Crossville’s corporate office chose honorees based on the merits of the projects they designed. Following are the winners:

• Mary Morgan Smith – Young Mothers’ Sewing Center
• Andy Thompson – Sensory Gym
• Susan Stewart – Mappery Center for the Blind
• Polly Ann Blackwell – Reflection Center for Domestic Violence Facility