Key details
Date
- 26 June 2018
Read time
- 4 minutes
From a living sculpture that cleans the air, to tasty treats that combat dehydration in dementia patients, The Royal College of Art (RCA) has announced the winners of the Helen Hamlyn Awards 2018. The annual awards, organised by the Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design, recognise the best RCA graduate projects dedicated to developing inclusive design solutions to improve people’s lives.
Key details
Date
- 26 June 2018
Read time
- 4 minutes
There are six main award categories and each winner will receive £2,000 prize money to support further development of their project. Winners were chosen by a panel of experts from a shortlist based on evidence of a real social issue or problem, rigorous research including user-testing and worthiness of solution.
The Snowdon Award for Disability (Sponsored by the Snowdon Trust)
Winner: Jelly Drops (Lewis Hornby, RCA and Imperial College London MA Innovation Design Engineering)
Dementia is the biggest killer in the UK and one of the leading causes of death among those with the disease is dehydration. Patients require help carrying out simple tasks, such as drinking. Jelly Drops are super-hydrating treats presented in an easy-to-eat ‘chocolate box’ format that excites patients and encourages them to independently feed themselves throughout the day. Eating a box of Jelly Drops can be the equivalent to drinking over 750ml of water.
Frances von Hofmannsthal, competition judge said:
‘I was really moved by the very personal understanding of the problem and the excellent scientific and compassionate solution – combining essential hydration with a bit of joy’.
IA Interior Architects Award for Work Futures (Sponsored by IA Interior Architects)
Winner: SYMBIONT (Andriana Faidra Nassou, RCA and Imperial College London MA Global Innovation Design)
The air we breathe in the places we live and work is often 5 to 10 times more noxious than walking on the street, and prolonged exposure to high CO2 levels negatively affects our physical and mental state. Symbiont is a living object that fosters the growth of micro algae to purify the air of indoor spaces based on symbiosis. Using sunlight as the energy, micro algae Chlorella Vulgaris consume carbon dioxide, and release oxygen into the air as a by-product.
Tim Hardingham, competition judge said:
‘Taking biophillic design to another level, this project addresses issues of wellness, sustainability and productivity in the workplace. SYMBIONT makes us feel better by reducing CO2 levels in indoor working spaces and is embodied in an engaging and scaleable product.’
TCS Design Award for Digital Inclusion (Sponsored by Tata Consultancy Services)
Winner: LARA (Bethan Mitchell RCA MA Service Design)
10 per cent of the UK population are dyslexic, which is equal to three children in each primary school classroom. Each of these neurodiverse children holds a unique processing style and a different approach to problem solving. The current education system values technical precision in literacy and the majority of teachers receive less than a day of dyslexia training. LARA equips primary teachers to create inclusive learning experiences. It is designed to be used twice weekly as part of routine lesson planning and enables teachers to provide holistic, individually tailored dyslexia support in class.
Shey Cobley, competition judge said:
‘The LARA project demonstrated an inclusive and responsive approach to the design process resulting in a solution that was deceptively simple in design and would support the needs of all children in their learning journey, as well as provide timely and relevant support to teaching staff. The use of technology to help unleash the potential of dyslexic children in particular was inspiring.’
MIE Design Award for Healthcare (Sponsored by MIE Medical Research)
Winner: The Illusion of Touch (Dongyuan Li, RCA and Imperial College London MA Innovation Design Engineering)
In traditional palpation training, costly rubber training models are used. The Illusion of Touch is a clinical, physical examination system based in a virtual reality environment that enables medical students and trainees to be trained effectively.
Brian Firth, MIE Medical Research, competition judge said:
‘Training enough doctors at affordable costs will be an increasingly difficult challenge as the world population continues to grow. This project signals the future’.
Scott Brownrigg Design Award for Inclusive Spaces (Sponsored by Scott Brownrigg)
Joint winner: Agriact (RCA MA Architecture Joel Cunningham) and SYMBIONT (RCA and Imperial College London Global Innovation Design)
Agriact is an architecturally based business focusing on critical issues within agricultural labour in southern Europe, addressing the Mediterranean migrant crisis. The foundation of the business is to provide commercial strategies that improve the domestic conditions of seasonal agricultural workers that encourage them to return year on year by using innovative accommodation solutions and services such as pay-as-you-go WIFI, international phone booths and other services.
Laurence Orsini, Scott Brownrigg, competition judge said:
‘Agriact aims to improve the grim living conditions of migrant workers and could work on many levels: with the development of shelters, the introduction of essential amenities and even a sense of community’.
Helen Hamlyn Award for Creativity
Winner: Collapsible Emergency Spinal Board (Sara Pagani RCA MA Design Products)
A spinal board is a piece of medical equipment that is required every time a stretcher is used to secure the body of the injured to a rigid structure. Secondary injuries can be caused from moving the person from one spinal board to another, as there isn’t a spinal board that can fit to all different stretchers. Collapsible Emergency Spinal Board (CESB) is a collapsible, easy to assemble and radio-transparent spinal board made from high performance material that adapts to different temperatures and works with all stretchers. It had been designed to be used in emergency situations for Mountain Rescue, the Army, on construction sites and Humanitarian incidents.
Lady Helen Hamlyn, competition judge said:
‘This addresses a common problem in emergency medical care that can be seen around the world. It can make a difference between life and death, between walking and not walking. We love the designer’s ambition to simply want to save lives.’
Highly commended: TypeCase (Dougie Mann RCA MA Innovation Design Engineering)
TypeCase allows users to operate their mobile phones without looking with an all-in-one gestural chorded keyboard that synthesises and condenses the functionality of a keyboard and mouse. Although initially designed for one-handed users such as amputees, stroke victims and hemiplegics, this concept extends to the blind by providing them with a novel physical typing mechanism. TypeCase also has the power to reduce repetitive strain injuries, speed up text input, and is useful in poor weather conditions.
Lady Helen Hamlyn, competition judge said:
‘The creativity of this project needs to be encouraged. An out-of-the-box solution that thinks in a radically different way, allowing you to use a smartphone without looking at it.’
ENDS
For further information or images please contact RCA Communications Office on t: +44 (0) 20 7590 4114, e: media@rca.ac.uk
Notes to Editors
About the Royal College of Art
Engaging in teaching and research, the Royal College of Art offers the degrees of Graduate Diploma, MA, MRes, MPhil and PhD across the disciplines of art, architecture, design, communications and humanities.
It offers 28 highly specialised programmes in Art & Design to over 2,000 Master’s and doctoral students and more than 800 professionals interacting with them – including researchers, art and design practitioners, along with advisers and distinguished visitors.
About the Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design
The Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design is the Royal College of Art’s largest centre for design research and international leader in people-centred and inclusive design and has completed over 280 projects with around 180 partner organisations.