W e s t l a k e H i g h S c h o o l
Date: 1-18-14
Contact: K. Scott Kutz, Westlake High School, Office Phone (440) 899-3075 Ext. 2041
Email: kutz@wlake.org
Re:
Ross Niinisto, Cuyahoga Valley Career Center, Phone: (440)746-8345
Email : rniinisto@cvccworks.edu
The Great Big Home & Garden Show 2014:
17
TH
Annual Student Model Home Design Contest
Cleveland, OH . - The Great Big Home and Garden Show, February 8-16 at the I-X Center, will showcase the top ten area high school model home designs from the 17th annual Student Model Home Design
Contest, held January 18, 2014 at Cuyahoga Valley Career Center in Brecksville.
The Westlake High School senior team of CHRIS TSUEI, CHRIS STONE, ROB SLATER, AND
CONNOR STANTON took first place and the overall grand prize winning the $1000 scholarship.
Second place overall and $300 went to the Westlake team of ETHAN FITZ, NAI-NING KUO, PETER
SLATER, & MINGDA CHEN. They also won two specialty category awards for “Best Presentation” and the prestigious “Architectural Award of Merit”.
Finishing third overall and taking the $200 cash award was the Westlake team of CAL CRAVEN,
LOREN KREIDER, NICHOLAS BUTTON & JAKE JOHANNI. They also won the specialty category award for “Best Model”.
The $100 cash award and finishing fourth overall went to the Westlake team of JIMMY NEMETH, ANNA
RENKEL, ELISE KENNEDY, CATHERINE TSUEI & MATT SCHNABEL .
The $100 cash award and finishing fifth overall went to the Westlake team of HON KWOK & PAIGE
RIMKO .
The remaining TOP TEN finalists were:
6 th
- $100 – the team of FRED PRILLAMAN, JACOB EARLS, & SHANE MOODIE (Kent Roosevelt High
School);
7 th – $50 - the team of the team of SEAN FREEMAN, JAMES LAZEVNICK, BILLY DREHER, JOHN
ELINSKY & AUSTIN KINNEY (Westlake High School);
8 th – $50 – the team of CARL JESSUP & BRENDAN PODER (Kent Roosevelt High School);
9 th – $50 - the team of KORY SENDERLING and ANDREI CHRISTOFF ( Kent Roosevelt High School);
10 th
- $50 – the team of JAMES ALBRIGHT, MATT MAUDER, & STEPHANIE RICH (Four Cities
Educational Compact of Wadsworth).

Winning a special ty category award for “Best CAD Drawings” was the team of CARL JESSUP &
BRENDAN PODER (Kent Roosevelt High School) .
All of the top ten winning entries will be displayed at The Great Big Home & Garden Show, February 8-16, at the I-X Center. Radio personality Jimmy Malone of WMJI is scheduled to formally announce the top ten finalists at the main stage on Saturday, February 8, 2014 at 10:00 am.
Sponsors of the contest included The American Concrete Institute NE Ohio Chapter, IMAGINiT
Technologies, Turner Construction, Northeast Ohio Technology & Engineering Educators Association,
Chas. E. Phipps Company, Thogus, rp+m, and Marketplace Events, producer of The Great Big Home and
Garden Show. In its 17 th
year, the student contest is nationally recognized by the International Technology
& Engineering Educators Association for promoting technological literacy, energy efficiency and environmentally conscious design, engineering, construction and architecture.
Keynote speaker for the awards presentation was Douglas Steidl, Dean of the School of Architecture at
Kent State University. He primarily spoke about design, architecture, and how it improves our lives through the use of visual appeal and functional interior space. He also discussed the new healthcare and landscape architecture programs just recently approved, as well as showing renderings of the new building planned for the school of architecture at Kent State University.
This year’s student contest theme was “The Great Influential Architect Designed House”.
Students were challenged to create a full-time primary residence, featuring the above grade concrete system (i.e.,
ICF - insulated concrete form) into the design, while incorporating appropriate and creative use of other building elements, such as energy efficient and environmentally conscious products and systems to reduce energy costs.
The 2500 sq. ft. home would be designed for the purpose of accommodating a young couple and their two children who planned to build in the northeast Ohio area. The family wanted a home that incorporates
“green” and “smart” technology, and have amenities and features seen in large contemporary homes. The couple embraced history, so they wanted unique architecture and a style influenced by one of the following architects: Gustav Stickley, Richard Meier, Frank Lloyd Wright, Thomas Jefferson, Robert Stern, Le
Corbusier, or Julia Morgan.
Concrete building technology design offers homeowners increased energy efficiency, lower maintenance and substantial cost savings. Because of their unique construction properties, concrete buildings can be designed with virtually any type of exterior and interior. Concrete is one of the most fire-resistant construction materials available, and the strength and durability of concrete walls offer unmatched resistance to the devastation of major storms.
Using their knowledge of architectural design, green building design technology, and concrete construction, student entries included floor plan & elevation drawings as well as the highly visual scaled model homes.
They were judged in 15 separate categories, including design, planning and innovations, energy-conserving features, drawing presentation, model presentation, and exterior design. Schools entered this year included
Bay High School, Kent Roosevelt High School, Wadsworth Four Cities Compact, Westlake High School, and host Cuyahoga Valley Career Center. A panel of building industry professionals from across the area evaluated the student designs.
“The students created houses that reflected the style of their chosen architect very well and were able to adapt them to a more modern look. Including many Green building features in the design was a great way to bring new const ruction technology into a project of this kind” said Jeff Bee, Engineering and CAD technologies instructor at Kent Roosevelt High School . “It’ll be a striking and visual display at the I-X Center for this year’s show. We are very fortunate to have The Great Big Home and Garden Show management

provide a firstclass venue to showcase the students’ work. It’s truly a great way to recognize and honor the outstanding efforts made by these future architects, engineers, designers, inventors, and artisans.”