Lakeland College was one of the first post-secondaries in North America to participate in Materialbank's beta program of their design student portal in 2020.

Brea Holt and Carolyn Stensrud, now second-year interior design technology (IDT) students, were in their first year when they received verified access to the platform and were among the first design students to do so.

“Materialbank has shown me there are no limitations. If you want cork wallpaper or even a leather option, you can find it. It's expanded my mind to what is available for design,” says Holt, who found the resource “extremely helpful” during their sustainable cabin design project.

Materialbank is an online platform for design professionals to search and order free samples of architectural, construction and design materials. The student portal is the same as the professional one, except for receiving samples.

“The program was recommended by a peer from an NKBA affiliated institution.  The personal connection with Kelly simplified enrolling our students through the website,” says Rochelle Horne, IDT instructor.

The students also toured the platform with Materialbank representatives, including Kelly Weertz, Materialbank's executive director of Architecture and Design Initiatives, in 2020 and 2021.

“I found that it's a great resource to explore, especially when I don't know where to start on a design project,” says Stensrud. “The filter feature is super helpful because it helps us find materials with specifications like green-certified, sustainable, dimensions, colour options, residential or commercial. It has everything and makes designing easier for students.”

Lakeland's interior design department also participated in another Materialbank pilot project in 2021. Students and faculty could pick from categories of materials and receive gently used samples for the department's sample room at the Vermilion campus.

“This new sample program has already gifted us five boxes of current materials for the students to explore and a feedback form has been issued so we could make suggestions, for example, how many boxes of materials a program could use each semester. They are looking to expand the program to more schools,” says Horne.

When Holt, Stensrud and their classmates graduate, their student profile will convert to a professional profile with access to the entire platform and its features.

Photos: Interior design technology students Brea Holt and Carolyn Stensrud navigate Materialbank.