Megan’s bright idea
Fri, 17 Aug 2012 09:57:00 BST
Student wins an award for her concept to counter the miseries of light deprivation
AFTER young designer Megan Whale had been kept in the dark during a daily commute, the experience gave her a bright idea to ensure that workers in poorly-lit offices or people on night shifts do not suffer from health problems caused by light deprivation.
The University of Huddersfield student (pictured) came up with a design she called “Hello Day”. It is a communal structure with three rooms, all of which have openings carefully positioned to admit the maximum amount of natural light at different times of day, according to the position of the sun. The unit would also be equipped with special therapy lamps.
“Hello Day is a place to recharge mind, body, soul. Our circadian rhythms, which run in line with nature fall out of sync with the lack of daylight due to long working hours, causing fatigue and stress,” explained Megan.
“By tracking the sun’s path, Hello Day aims to recharge users by offering them a place to top up their light levels on a daily basis,” she added. “Users are divided into three key groups: night, morning and day. Each with their own set of needs, groups are allocated rooms designed to be flooded with daylight at their time of use. “
It is a radical idea. And it won Megan an award when it impressed judges at the prestigious annual contest run by the London-based organisation New Designers, which for the past 30 years has sought out the best talent among the UK’s design graduates.
Megan’s concept – which for which she provided designs and graphic material- was entered in a category sponsored by the InterContinental Hotels Group. The stated aim was to find “an intrinsically innovative and environmental solution that makes life better for the user”.
Megan, aged 23, is from Faversham, and has now graduated in Interior Design from the University of Huddersfield, where her four-year course included a year-long placement with London-based Portland Design.
Her New Designers prize includes a work placement with leading UK multidisciplinary design firm Priestmangoode. Megan is looking forward to the experience and was delighted by her success in the contest. “I was pretty amazed to win! It was so overwhelming!” she said.
“I was drawn to the issue of light deprivation because of a personal experience of the commute - when in the winter I was both leaving and returning home in the dark,” she explained.
Below: One of the display boards created by Megan that impressed judges at the New Designers awards
