Designs for Life competition organized by Le Mirage Real Estate gains momentum

Le Mirage Real Estate, Qatar’s leading real estate development and property management company, is pleased to announce that the recently launched “Designs For Life” competition in association with Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts in Qatar (VCUarts Qatar) has received an enthusiastic response.

As the competition, which is designed for talented interior design students, approaches its mid-way point, the enthusiasm of students is palpable as they will be, for the first time, able to transform their design ideas into reality.  

The excitement is expected to grow as industry experts and designers from the interior designing industry join this creative journey as jurors coming on board to judge these extremely talented entries along with the representatives from VCUarts Qatar, Le Mirage Real Estate and Qatar Green Building Council. The ‘Designs for Life’ competition, part of Le Mirage’s community and education outreach program, is providing VCUarts Qatar’s third year interior design students with a great platform to put their skills and design knowledge to good use. The competition, a pioneering industry-academia partnership, is in line with Qatar National Vision 2030 and its vision of building a sustainable future for generations to come.

The contest invites creative design talent from VCUarts Qatar’s Interior Design program junior students, in teams of two, to produce fresh ideas and visualize interiors for a typical two-bedroom apartment at the 400-apartment luxurious Marriott Executive Apartments Doha, Le Mirage City Walk. The students are tasked with designing the interiors of a two-bedroom apartment – an apartment which is specially designed to make life easier for residents and will meet universal design needs. The uniqueness of this competition stems from the fact that students will be asked to design spaces giving special attention to cultural influences, sustainability principles and universal design.

Amer Fares, CEO of Sharaka Holdings, the parent company of Le Mirage Real Estate, said: “We are elated to receive such an encouraging response to this competition. Our collaboration with Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts in Qatar (VCUarts Qatar) for this incredible journey has been great for the industry at large and provides young talented designers with a platform to present their innovative ideas. With a powerful lineage of design architects and members of the Qatar Green Building Council joining us as jurors, the event takes on greater significance. With this competition, we are confident that we will be able to offer not only a strategic platform to our young interior designers but will also be able to benefit from sustainable designing ideas ensuing from these talented young designers.”

Cherif Amor, the Chair of the interior design department at VCUarts Qatar, stated: “Le Mirage Real Estate design competition has paved the way for a great opportunity for students to work on a real live project. Students are amply benefiting from this partnership as they are addressing three challenges: sustainability, culture, and universal design. The partnership with Qatar Green Building Council and local interior design firms for critiques and feedback is adding a remarkable dimension to this project. So far, the schematic phase has generated very stimulating and innovative design solutions. We are longing to see the final outcome in the first week of December.”

The first prize winning team will earn a trip to a leading international interior design exhibition in Italy while the second prize winners will earn a two-months paid internship at Le Mirage Real Estate. Teams entering the contest will also see their designs showcased on Le Mirage and VCUarts Qatar social media.

The contest is open exclusively to VCUarts Qatar’s 3rd year students with all submissions due by mid-November. Judging will begin the following week with the winners announced by mid- December.