Students from the College of Architecture’s chapter of the National Organization of Minority Architecture Students (NOMAS) took first place in this year’s student design competition held in conjunction with the National Organization of Minority Architect’s (NOMA) annual Conference in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, October 1 – 5, 2014.   The 2014 Barbara G. Laurie NOMA Student Design Competition challenged 16 student teams to reprogram and restore the historic Divine Lorraine Hotel and surrounding area into a youth-based facility and community-based annex.  The Georgia Tech team included Bachelor of Science in Architecture students Gloria Wood, Naimo Bakar, Ishrat Lopa, Sabrina Hussien, Candice Cobb, Brooke Chafin and Master of Architecture students Desmond Johnson and Mario Rodas. Faculty advisor Professor Herman Howard, Interim Chair and Professor Richard Dagenhart, local architect Danita Brown, and President of NOMA Atlanta Garfield Pert mentored the team.  Senior Brooke Chafin commented "The competition not only allowed us to create and present an idea, but share ideas with colleagues and mentors in the professional world." 

The team’s underlying mission of their design proposal is to provide a new type of living and learning facility for the comprehensive care of Philadelphia’s at-risk children – mind, body, and spirit – in an urban development that not only stimulates the growth of this inner-city neighborhood, but also encourages the growth of the youth who reside there.  The project strives to contribute to a healthier, more sustainable future that is informed by the framework of the past, utilizing Reverend Divine’s concepts of modesty, dignity, and social welfare to inform the programmatic framework and a series of historic elements for the site’s formal framework.

"The project has two very simple design aims. The first is to cultivate the growth and development of the at-risk youth who will call the facility home. The second is to simultaneously cultivate the economic growth and development of the surrounding community," said Desmond Johnson.

Senior Gloria Woods, president of GTNOMAS said, “I was a part of the competition last year and we didn't place at all. This year had to be different. GTNOMAS is filled with talented designers and I knew we could win. Competing this year was more than just building my portfolio, it was proving to everyone that Georgia Tech is a great place for architects.”