Penney, Ella

As I have gotten older, I find that it is important to be dependable in every aspect of life. To be a valued sister, friend, coworker, or mentor, I need to be honest and considerate toward the people around me. This leaves me in a place of constant motivation to be a better human being for others. In turn, I feel like I have value for the world around me and can make decisions purposefully to improve. How should we do all this while remaining positive? The answer is to think outside of the box, be clever, be curious, and be exceptional. Find innovative solutions to your issues and strive to reframe every hardship into a lesson. A reason to be better

Do you have any plans after this semester?

After this semester, I plan on securing my internship for the Summer of 2024. I will also be spending quality time with my family and friends from home in Dallas, Texas.

What type of designer would you like to be?

Although I am super interested in residential design, I am also open to the Hospitality, Retail, and Education sectors of commercial design.

Can you tell me about any problems you ran into in the studio or outside?

In studio this semester, I struggled to balance school, my job, and my social life. But overall, I think I did a good job at managing my time.

What kind of place would you like to design next?

I would love to design a childcare facility or an elementary school.

What do you think makes a good workplace?

I think a good workplace takes into account each individual employee in order to create a stronger whole. Designing to make each and every employee feel comfortable, healthy, and valued is of the utmost importance.

Can you tell me what evidence-based design means to you?

Evidence-based design can help the designer find the best solution for a specific design problem in the space. To me, it means creating spaces backed by science in order to positively impact the experience of the users.

Compared to previous semesters, the semester may be challenging in many ways, but you may be able to see your accomplishments. Reviewing your accomplishments, what did you learn from this studio?

Throughout the course of the semester, I learned how to effectively carry out my design concept throughout the entire space as well as how to use evidence based design to drive my design decisions. In addition, I learned the true impress

Would you like to share anything with future students of this studio?

Treat college like a full-time job if you are able to. If you spend Monday through Friday at Fay Jones working from 9am5pm, you will have so much time to do what you want to do because you will already have completed the things you need to do.

Located in Dallas, Texas, NEXT is looking to grow its prosperous Interior Architecture and Design Firm at this new location. This building is a prime location for NEXT to expand due to its adjacency to the Dallas Design District, the Arts District, and Uptown Dallas. NEXT has three departments and the challenge of this design is incorporating all the key values of the firm without sacrificing function within the office. Next wants to create meaningful relationships whether that be between colleagues or client—designer rapport. In addition to that, NEXT wants to create diversity, equity, and inclusion to widen the design perspective within the office as well as make spaces with a plethora of users in mind. It does not end there! NEXT also has goals to restore the office environment after COVID-19 and cultivate an atmosphere that pulls people into work. The firm has big goals and important values that need to be articulated in this new office design.

“a whole form by combining several elements”