Fanshawe professor wins Interior Designers of Canada Design Research Award

Header image for Interrobang article CREDIT: PROVIDED BY NATALIE ROWE
Fanshawe Professor Natalie Rowe was awarded the IDC Design Research Award at the IDC's Annual Meeting in Montreal. Her award was for her research that links interior design and Alzheimer's care facilities.

Professor Natalie Rowe of the Fanshawe honours bachelor of interior design degree program has demonstrated exceptional skills in her field and was awarded the Interior Designers of Canada (IDC) Design Research Award.

This was the third year of the award and Rowe was awarded the prize at the IDC’s Annual Meeting in Montreal on Oct. 19. The award recognizes interior designers that have shown innovation through interior design research. Beginning in 2015, the IDC paired up with Miliken and created this award to celebrate innovative research in the interior design field.

The award is given to one recipient in the Educator/Practitioner category for research at a masters or doctorate level and another to a final year student. Each recipient is awarded a certificate and the winner of the Educator/Practitioner category receives $5,000 and the student is awarded $2,500.

With Rowe’s focus on non-family caregiver perspectives on current and future Alzheimer’s care facilities in London, she was able to use a unique topic and connect it the profession and the human experience.

Rowe’s research looks into non-family caregiver’s knowledge and experience with spatial advantages and disadvantages to provide information that could be used in the design of future Alzheimer’s care facilities.

As the amount of literature on this topic is limited, it shows that Rowe chose a unique and innovative topic. She performed quality research on a topic that uses interior design for a different purpose. Rowe said that she believes interior design research has the ability to strengthen relationships between interior design and health care to enhance a more efficiently built environment for Alzheimer’s care facilities.

“Winning the award is an exciting opportunity to bring awareness to Canadian perspectives about current and future dementia care environments, and contribute to the growing body of Canadian research,” Rowe said.

Rowe completed a Bachelor of Interior Design (BID) at Ryerson University and a Master of Interior Design (MID) at the University of Manitoba. From there, she worked for Hamilton Design in Orillia and Marshall Cummings and Associates in Toronto. She has designed resorts in Muskoka, restaurants, corporate offices, healthcare environments and more.

Since 2003, Rowe has been a full-time professor in the Faculty of Interior Design at Fanshawe. She has demonstrated a passion for educating young people and shifting the way interior design is used.

Rowe’s advice for young interior designers is, “Be curious and creative. Interior design is a rewarding and exciting profession. Look for opportunities to contribute to Canadian interior design projects and research.”

In addition to this award, the IDC foundation offers a number of scholarships and bursaries to interior design students and professionals. To find out more about IDC, visit idcanada.org.