Häfele and Regal Kitchens help design students to a brighter future
For a third time, Häfele has teamed up with Chelmsford-based kitchen studio Regal Kitchens to host a workshop for interior design students from South Essex College.
The event, hosted by Regal Kitchens – one of Häfele’s Studio Partners – educated the group on how lighting can change the look of textures and colours used in a kitchen before the students were given a brief to design a fresh, bright kitchen in a space with limited daylight.
Led by Matthew Lissaman, regional sales manager for Häfele, Jamie Mclaren, national accounts service manager and Chris Shine, sales manager – resellers, the workshop introduced the company’s Loox lighting range and considered how various shades and implementation of white light impact on different materials and finishes.
The students, who are all completing design degrees at South Essex College, explored the importance of lighting design as an integral part of kitchen planning and how plug and play LED systems like Loox by Häfele can be used to enhance textures. The group also learnt about maximising space using intelligent storage solutions from Vauth Sagel.
Armed with their new knowledge, the students were set a brief from Regal to design a full kitchen including cabinetry, lighting, worktops, tiles and splashbacks. The students then presented their concepts to a panel from Häfele and Regal before an overall winner was chosen.
“We were extremely impressed with the students and their designs. Their presentations to the group and our Häfele representatives were amazing and it’s easy to see that they are all going to do brilliantly well in whatever career they choose after their course finishes,” said Emma Mcloughlin, Business Development Manager for Regal Kitchens.
Matthew Lissaman, added: “The standard of work from the students was incredibly high and it made choosing a winning concept very difficult. However, the winning team managed to follow the brief to the letter, showed a very good use of light and incorporated Häfele and Vauth Sagel’s innovative storage solutions into their design.
“Lighting can often be overlooked when designing a kitchen, but it was clear from the day’s presentations that the students really grasped the concept and we hope they’ll take what they’ve learnt forward as they develop their careers.”
Alongside its annual event, Regal Kitchens also hosts students from the College on work placements. Second year student Alice Connor recently completed a two-week stint at the studio: “The placement gave me a real insight into what it’s like to work in a studio. I learnt a lot in my two weeks from sitting in on customer meetings and shadowing members of the Regal team but my biggest takeaway is I’ve definitely chosen the right career path. Now I’m excited, rather than a bit daunted, about what it will be like when I start my first role after graduating.”
Concluding, Dani Ellis, Interior Design Course Leader at South Essex College said: “Our partnership with Regal Kitchens offers an opportunity for our students to have a first-hand experience with real life projects. This is a great opportunity to show the students the day to day running of a real project.
“The work experience provided by Regal Kitchens uplifts the students to participate in projects using their ideas and inspires them to put more effort into their university projects. We have constantly seen students that come back from working with Regal with different mindset and pushing for higher grades than before, and they fully immerse into becoming an Interior Designer. Working with Regal prepares our students to understand the industry and gives them inspiration to work as designers. It’s been truly great having a local business being involved with our students.”
For more information, visit www.hafele.co.uk.
For further details on Vauth Sagel visit www.vauth-sagel.de/en/ or for Regal Kitchens go to www.regalkitchens.co.uk