THIRD year interior design student, Ashleigh Bennett is a runner-up in the PG Bison 2021 1.618 Education Initiative.

The Durban North resident, who is a student at IIE Vega, Durban, took home R25 000.

This annual design competition, that took place in Johannesburg recently, is aimed at third-year architecture and interior design students around South Africa and has been running for 29 years. Entries are judged by a panel of industry experts.

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This year’s brief was set in Cape Town and required students to create a design to develop the historical Strand Street Quarry as an attractive tourist destination and a connection hub along the city’s planned Heritage Route.

“I enjoy learning how to use new technology, such as modelling and rendering programmes. These programmes allow you to build and develop your design and then see the final outcome come to life in such a realistic way, it is incredible,” she said.

For her entry, Bennett decided a 3D model would be a good start.

“I grabbed the most ideal objects closest to me – staples – and began modelling. I quickly realised the meaning behind staples – joining, connecting, binding and healing. This was the perfect concept for the brief. This concept inspired me to create a space that connects the past with the present, the locals with the tourists, and brings people, as well as heritage destinations, together,” she said.

Bennett added that the goal was to create a space that is an experience within itself.

This was done with experiential draw cards such as Malay cuisine cooking classes and Teppanyaki style restaurant tables.

“Incorporating local Malay traders and making use of colour, pattern and a Cape Dutch architecture style in a contemporary way, merged the past with the present. The building design is reflective of the quarry site by making use of raw stone to merge with the land. My ideas centre around uplifting, healing and breathing new life to Bo-Kaap, the community and the heritage route,” she said.

Bennett plans to use her prize money either to invest in further education or as seed funding for a start-up interior design firm that offers user-centred design while taking sustainability into consideration.

“My dream job would be working at an Interior design and architecture firm, being able to participate in exciting projects and be able to watch my own designs being created in real life,” she said.

“This will provide knowledge and experience to one day be able to start my own interior design business.”  

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