What a year it’s been for Design LAB! In mid-March many classrooms were finally getting to one of the best parts of the program – building! Teams of students were selecting their clients, collecting supplies, and deciding what sustainable features they wanted to include on their dwellings. Shortly thereafter, schools quickly transitioned to distance learning.
We knew students were bummed that they wouldn’t be able to continue working on their original designs with their classmates, so we were determined to continue the program in some way. After a few brainstorming sessions, the Quarantine Building Challenge was born!
We invited builders of all ages to participate. The rules were simple. Each dwelling had to have a client and site, building materials had to be sustainably sourced, and participants had to use their creativity to really push the envelope.
We’re thrilled to share that we received over 40 entries. Each and every project blew us away. On June 26th we hosted a very special event on Facebook Live where we celebrated all of our amazing designers and announced the winners of the Quarantine Building Challenge.

COMPREHENSIVE CONSTRUCTOR WINNER
Designer: Chase
School: Madeira Elementary
Project: Room 204 2.0
Client: Mrs. Wilson
Site: Madeira Elementary School, Room #204

JURORS’ CHOICE WINNER
Designer: Anderson and Harper
Project: Pig Panther Palace
Client: Black Panther and Olivia (The fancy pig)
Site: Wakanda

COMPREHENSIVE CONSTRUCTOR WINNER
Designer: Ellie
Project: Queen’s United
Client: Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Red-Riding Hood, and Snow White.
Site: Red-Riding Hood’s Kingdom

INSPIRED INNOVATOR WINNER
Designer: Cole
Project: Mesa’s Plateau
Client: The designer’s cat, Mesa
Site: Inside the designer’s home

SUSTAINABILITY SURVEYOR WINNER
Design Team: Mahathi and Medhini
School: Mason
Project: The Amazon Treehouse
Client: Jane Goodall
Site: Rainforest

JURORS’ CHOICE
Designer: Brynne
School: Indian Hill Elementary
Project: A House for Matilda and Ms. Honey
Client: Matilda+Ms.Honey from Roald Dahl’s Matilda
Site: England

JURORS’ CHOICE
Designer: Emma
School: Bedminster Township
Project: Riverside Home

JURORS’ CHOICE
Design Team: Vann, Renn, Keene, Kristi, Carl
School: Madeira
Project: Hanok (traditional Korean home build for thousands of years)
Client: Vann
Site: Madeira Elementary School

Designer: Olivia
School: St. Pius X
Project: Pride Rock
Client: Cincinnati Zoo- Zoo Keeper
Site: Cincinnati Zoo, Cincinnati, Ohio

Design Team: Max, Tea, Ixi
Project: Zero Waste Home
Client: A man, his wife, and their dog
With the help of our favorite furry assistant, on July 2nd we traveled from Northern Kentucky to West Chester to everywhere in between to deliver prizes to our very talented winners. We loved having the opportunity to meet some of the amazing kids and families that spent their quarantine building and designing.

Thank you to everyone who participated in Design LAB’s Quarantine Building Challenge! Stay tuned for what Design LAB 2020-2021 has in store.