March 5, 2021

Drexel Interior Design and Interior Architecture & Design students swept the awards, winning first place for the fifth consecutive year in the annual HOK Philadelphia Futures Design Competition. Contestants worked in pairs and were given two weeks to design a health and wellness center in the Mill Creek neighborhood of West Philadelphia. Located at 47th and Lancaster, the conceptual project had indoor and outdoor spaces providing community nourishment and support through food distribution, kitchen classrooms, and hydroponic gardens.

The first-place team, graduate Interior Architecture & Design students Rachel Ayella-Silver and Kylie Huffman, based their design on the idea of a greenhouse as “a place for the community to gather, engage, and connect, both to each other and to the natural environment.” Second place went to graduate students Pooja Kalavagunta and Joe Schatzman, and third place went to undergraduate Interior Design students Abigail Karle and Alexa Nania.

HOK is a global design, architecture, engineering and planning firm with offices on three continents. The HOK Philadelphia office is home to a number of previous competition winners and Drexel alums, including Henry Whalen, Julia Keohane, and Xio Long.