MORGAN KING

UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE, KNOXVILLE FORTH YEAR INTERIOR DESIGN GRADUATION: MAY 2015 - GPA: 2.82 (End of Fall 2014)

Contact Info:mking37@utk.edu931-206-2864559 POND APPLE RDCLARKSVILLE, TN

This was a space designed for Tennessee Orthopedic Clinics. We were given two floors and 13,000 square feet of space to design the clinic. This concept was bent on the efficiency of the staff and a positive patient experience.To reduce the level of stress on the patient, we hid certain objects in a clinic that may cause stress, such as needles. We completely separated the staff experience from the patient experience. The staff is located toward the center of the building, and the circulation for patients is along a heavily fenestrated wall that overlooks the city of Knoxville. The nurse stations are designed to be efficient, allowing nurses to see the exam room doors, which glow with the color of each room’s status, which replaces the flag system on the side of the clinic door. Overall the clinic is focused not only on efficiently handling patients needs, but also on keeping them relaxed during a stressful time.

TENNESSEE ORTHOPEDIC CLINICSpring 2014: TEAM MEMBERS TORI STAHL, EMILY JOHNSON

This is a design for a Steelcase competition. The company is NEXT, an organization focused on assisting inventors with the development of their products. We were required to use mostly Steelcase furniture, but this design includes a few custom installations, such as the wall separating the front desk from the cafe space. I developed this concept from NEXT refining an innovator’s ideas. The entrance to the space is organic and soft. As you circulate back into the main office space, the design becomes more rigid and streamlined.

NEXT STEELCASE COMPETITIONFALL 2013

While in a construction class, we designed and built two kitchenettes for the school, which included an aluminum and steel frame clad in wood, with concrete countertops and sink. We re-purposed wood from old drafting desks to form the cladding on the aluminum frame, so as to conserve resources. From this project, I learned not only how to pour concrete, but also how to weld. The final product is now in use in the third and fourth floors of the architecture building.

Max-Min ConstructionSpring 2014: TEAM MEMBER HUNTER TODD

T-FUSIONFALL 2014: PRODUCT DESIGN

During a class focused on product design and Kickstarter, I learned essential marketing techniques for selling a new product. Besides the product we made, we created a website and a Kickstarter page, with an attractive video to show off the product.

My product is a tea infuser, named T-Fusion. Unlike other infusers, this one includes a plunger that strains any remaining tea out of the leaves, ensuring none of the leaf goes to waste. Utilizing a 3D printer to make prototypes of this product, I furthered my understanding of ergonomics and complex connection mechanics.

This project was part of UT’s Smart Communities Initiative. The university chose a city to help revitalize its downtown area. The project is a multi disciplinary collaboration with fields including civil engineering, business, landscape architecture, graphic design, interior design, and many more. This enabled us to work alongside people with very different skill sets from our own, in turn enhancing our abilities to communicate with other disciplines.

The interior designers focused on the Cherokee Hotel, now the Cleveland Summit. It was a hotel in the 1920s, but has been turned into section-eight housing. Our mission was revive it into a hote, consequently bringing people back to the city. We faced many challenges due to the building not being in current code. Our overarching concept was Transmigration, celebrating the high points of the past lives as a hotel. We honored the Cherokee heritage of the land, and merged that with the deco style of the 1920s to create a unique brand for the hotel.

We made some bold moves by removing one of the mezzanine floors to create a double height space in the lobby, and by moving the main entrance to the back of the building, in order to allow cars to park and unload their bags without parking on the street. In addition, we designed a restaurant and a parking garage for the hotel guests’ convenience.

HOTEL CHEROKEEFall 2014: TEAM MEMBERS JOHN BALENTINE, JENNA CHAMBERS