NEWS

Ankeny student wins housing design challenge

Special to the Register

Ankeny High School junior Zach Gavin was awarded first place and senior Jenna Iversen was runner-up in the 2016 “Can I Be Your Neighbor” Design Challenge for Affordable Housing on April 16 at Grand View University.

Five projects were selected to move to the final round of competition in which students presented their home design plans to a panel of judges. All five of those presentations were from Ankeny students.

Gavin was awarded a $2,000 scholarship from the Home Builders Association of Greater Des Moines. Iversen received a $500 scholarship from Ask Studio. Ankeny junior Rileigh Sheaffer was awarded a $500 scholarship from the Polk County Housing Trust Fund.

Ankeny senior Conrad Lynch and Ankeny Centennial senior Tasha Vipond were also finalists. The judges consisted of home builders, architects, developers and volunteers from Age-Friendly Greater Des Moines and Anawim Housing.

“Watching the final presentations, I was filled with pride for all the students and their hard work,” said Rory Vail, Ankeny High computer-aided design instructor. “It is an honor to work with such dedicated students, even those who do not make the finals work hard every day.”

In February, the students were given a biography of who would be living in the home they designed, where the vacant lot is located, maximum square footage and limitations on costs. Within these parameters the students were asked to design the most appropriate affordable home for the family.

“To stay within all of the limitations and find solutions for the family and their design needs requires focus, research and time management,” Vail said. “The students this year were exceptional at all of those skills.”

The design challenge, now in its fourth year, is part of the annual Affordable Housing Week, spearheaded by the Polk County Housing Trust Fund. Affordable Housing Week activities are designed to raise community awareness of the benefits that safe, stable and affordable housing brings to our community.