Unable to reach anyone in time, that project was put on hold. But the fire had been ignited in Fuchs, who was determined to find something that mixed a comprehensive interior design project with benevolence.  

Around that same time, she read an article about Camp Restoration, a planned community of homes made of shipping containers for homeless veterans in southwest Louisville. The objective of Camp Restoration is simple: to help those veterans get back on their feet.

As the idea for the community came from Jeremy Harrell, founder and CEO of the Veteran’s Club, who recruited Paul Sirek, an architect at Luckett & Farley, to conceptualize what those homes would look like.

Coincidentally, Sirek works with Fuchs’ husband. So, she asked if her critique class could participate in the project. Initially, the class was approved to design two of the planned 25 container homes.   

“After we had a critique with Jeremy Harrell, he was so happy about how different each design was, that he said we could do more,” Fuchs said. “He wanted the veterans to be proud of their homes and show them off to encourage socialization.”

The 20 students went through the entire design process, coming up with three different schemes each and choosing one to pursue. At one point, there were 36 different single-family home designs and 24 different family home designs.

The junior class (eight students) had the family home, which consisted of four containers, while the sophomore students (12) had the single container home to design. However, the project entailed much more than just interior design. Each home has to be tailored for challenges like PTSD, for example.

With adaptive reuse of a shipping container, the students were initially required to design homes within the containers, similar to  interior design programming in most projects, Fuchs said. But the project grew as the students began their work.

“After working with the students, I thought they needed to learn how to work on the process of how to create great design as they all were so talented. So I adapted that style of studio, similar to how an architecture traditional studio is run,” she said. “Design is design and it needs rigor to accomplish anything worthwhile.”

The students’ process for the “adaptive reuse project for homeless veterans” included:

• A summation of nine readings covering design theory, PTSD, homelessness and sustainability.
• The creation of three collages and models.
• Site visits of other container-built structures (the Russell Neighborhood Community Center, Copper & Kings and Jeremy Semones Core Containers).
• A lecture and critiques by Jeremy Harrell of the Veteran’s Club and architect Paul Sirek.

All of that was even before the design development for a 9-foot-by-40-foot shipping container. The students created a thesis, designed at least four schemes and generated four plans, four elevations, one section and renderings in perspective/axonometric. They also created color and furniture finishes for the project and endured several in-class critiques before creating the construction documents. The documents included dimensions, plans, elevations, sections, schedules and cut sheets/specs.

Additionally, two students, Kayleigh Garner and Micheal Blanton, taught themselves how to use AutoCad drafting software during the project and then taught other students how to use the programming as well.

According to Fuchs, working on this “real” project allowed the students to gain the experience of solving problems within conditional parameters. 

“They learned the structural limits, had to learn codes for egress, fair housing requirements of room sizes, natural light, zoning and where to put the electrical box. These are real problems interior designers face every day and the sooner you know what your parameters will be, the better designer you will become,” she said.

Despite the abrupt shift to remote operations in March due to COVID-19, the project, and the students’ enthusiasm for the project, continued.

“Even during quarantine, the students were able to create construction documents,” Fuchs said. “The students really rose to the challenge and went way beyond my expectations. Their enthusiasm for a real project that will help so many veterans was amazing. I loved their designs and how deeply they thought this through. They worked so hard and I am so proud of them and their efforts.”

Although COVID-19 has put most things on hold, the groundbreaking for Camp Restoration was still held over spring break and the community is expected to be completed in 2021.

Meanwhile, fundraising continues for the community, and Fuchs plans to do what she can for that effort through a new, online free design service called Design for Everyone. The idea is that anyone can submit their home design problems and Fuchs and a few UofL students, acting as interns, will come up with a solution.

“In exchange we are going to ask for donations to be sent to Camp Restoration,” Fuchs said. “It is going to be fun. I had been wanting to have a real project that could give back to the community for my two interior design classes, as I believe good design is for everyone.”   

The shelving graphics, called endcaps, highlight call numbers for Bridwell’s collection, displayed over multilayered, fragmented images from within the library’s art books. Not only is the design of high quality, it showcases the talent of UofL graphic design sophomore Jenna White.

Bridwell Director Sarah Carter was first introduced to White in Fall 2015, when UofL Graphic Design faculty member and Power Creative designer-in-residence Leslie Friesen approached Carter with the idea of allowing Friesen’s graphic design class to use the library as a blank canvas of sorts, for environmental graphics within the space. Carter would be under no obligation to implement a design, but if one emerged, the library had the option to see the project to completion. The class gave students real-world experience, but also allowed them to explore the limits of their creativity without feeling too constrained by the client-artist relationship.

Eager to upgrade the library’s interior, and loathe to turn down an opportunity to work with student designers, Carter agreed.

“I was happy to offer our space as their laboratory,” said Carter. “I knew we really needed something to display the call numbers at the end of the stacks shelves, something functional but with aesthetic parameters. So I agreed.”

The students first met with Carter to hash out details and learn about the library’s collection, color palette, furniture, lighting and environment. They then immersed themselves in the library’s interior space for several weeks, poring over stacks of art books, taking notes and pictures and “learning about us,” said Carter.  After a design charrette where Carter offered a critique of students’ work, they refined their designs.

“It was really gratifying to see, as a client, how they listened and met my needs,” Carter said. “The trickiest part of the design was that the call numbers were variable, ranging from short to long, depending on how the books are catalogued, so the design had to be flexible for future updates and additions to the collection. Many of the students had innovative ideas, but they were not flexible or modifiable.”

Carter said the chosen design “accomplished the functional goals we had, enhanced wayfinding, but was aesthetically pleasing and visually exciting  ̶  and most of all, it was flexible.”

“I felt so honored to have my design selected,” said White, a UPS-sponsored sophomore and graphic design intern with the Alumni Association. “It was just a class project; we had no idea it would be implemented, but when it was, it was such a great opportunity.”

Finding the balance between aesthetically appealing graphic design and practicality was the main challenge, she said. “I was good at coming up with the creative side of things, but I had to work with Sarah quite a bit to make sure it fulfilled all the needs she had, like wayfinding. That was all new to me and more of a challenge.”

Carter says the process of working with a designer as a client helped her understand the patrons she serves much better. “It was really important to me, because I need to learn what they need so I can help them do their research,” she said. “I really wanted to invigorate the space and the endcaps really have done that. They help visitors conceptualize what we have on the shelves, and who we are.”

White entered UofL as an art major and was involved in studio art, eager to grow as a painter. “But after I took my first graphic design course, I thought, ‘this is it.’ I just felt pure enjoyment and I was so successful, and then all these opportunities came my way.”

Carter was so impressed with White that she hired her as a student assistant for the library after the project was completed. White is also a graphic design intern with the Alumni Association. Beyond those two commitments and her full class load, White works the night shift at UPS from 6 p.m. to 8 a.m. three days a week.

Even though she stays busy, she has welcomed new requests for design work. “I try to say yes as often as possible,” she said. “I love UofL. It’s a wonderful place. I feel like I’m leaving a mark.”