Welcome to Dranoff Goes Green!

This fall, undergraduate interior design students at Drexel University are embarking on a term-long challenge to design the ultimate green living space for the hospitality suite at Dranoff Properties’ LEED-registered 777 South Broad.

This Blog is designed to help students share their experience designing the ultimate green living space.

During the challenge, groups of students in Professor Debra Ruben’s Competition Studio class will compete against one another to design a space that meets standards in sustainability, function, and budget. Ruben is a LEED AP and head of Drexel’s Interiors Program sustainability curriculum. Design plans will be judged by a jury comprising Dranoff; Katherine Gajewski, Director of Sustainability for the City of Philadelphia; and Kerri-Lee Halkett, anchor of Philadelphia’s Fox-29 News, design junkie, and lover of all things green, and Daniel Garofalo, University of Pennsylvania’s Environmental Sustainability Coordinator and Senior Facilities Planner. Dranoff Properties will install and assemble the winning design in the hospitality suite, ready for the opening of 777 South Broad in Spring 2010.

Students will be divided into five groups of three. They will be required to apply their knowledge of sustainability, light, space, and human needs to design the two-bedroom, 1,100 square-foot suite on a $15,000 budget. Students will source green products, including furniture, accessories, household appliances, bedding, linens, lighting, electronics, and so on. They will incorporate these products into their designs, research their environmental impact, and contact manufacturers for availability.

Throughout the class, professionals in the field of green building, construction, interior design and project management will serve as a panel of advisors. Advisors will guide site tours, provide site plans and renderings, offer professional design consultation, and provide vendor contacts. At the end of the semester, students will present their plans to the jury. Submissions will be judged for suitability of design to the project challenge, originality of design solution, and successful integration of interior finishes and furnishings. Winners will be announced in December. Students will receive class credit and a grade for their participation.