Competition judge and architect, Tsai of Y Tsai Design as, praised Laughton's winning work, "Very impressive. The attractive, multi-functional design reflects current thinking. She has produced a custom-built product which can be easily created using recycled material and that facilitates group work and shared learning. It is a design that is perfectly aligned to the modern 'new-school' way of thinking about education."
The first runner-up, Sarah Coppings from Redhill High in Gauteng, also addressed the issue of over-crowding in classrooms and lack of infrastructure by building a smart desk out of a recyclable crate.
Tarryn Christie Taylor from Durban Girls' College in KwaZulu-Natal was the second runner-up and she developed an advocacy campaign to promote tolerance of people with dyslexia in the school environment.
This year's competition theme, 'Building a Better School through Design' highlighted the vital role that design plays in addressing social and environmental issues. The competition inspired Grade 10, 11 and 12 learners from nearly 400 participating high schools to come up with innovative sustainable ideas in surface, product, environmental, and visual communications design categories. The top entries will be exhibited on the Woolworths stand at the 2014 Design Indaba Expo, creating a bridge for high school learners to interact in the cutting-edge, working world of design.
Woolworths educational programme manager, Peter Twine congratulated the winners on behalf of the sponsors. "Once again a host of South Africa's design learners rose to the challenge of using the power of design to create a better world and we are seeing them raise the bar in terms of quality ideas each year.
"The business is passionate about design and is committed to raising awareness of design's potential to improve South African's lifestyles. That's why it is part of our Good Business Journey to enrich design education, to mentor aspiring designers at high school level and to give them the opportunity to address real-world design challenges."
