Kelly Gluck gets design students involved in her building project

Interior design program co-ordinator Kelly Gluck at the building site in Lyantonde, a small town in southern Uganda. (Courtesy)

JESSICA LABERGE BLAKELEY
LIFE REPORTER

Humber’s interior design program co-ordinator Kelly Gluck works with sustainable design everyday and has extended it to Uganda.

Gluck has partnered with the Salama Shield Foundation to design a school for at risk youth in Lyantonde, Uganda, an area particularly effected by the AIDS epidemic.
“I just got back from my fourth trip,” she said.
The project is in its second year and is expected to take three more to complete.
“We’re looking to finish the design drawings and then put it out for construction tender,” Gluck said of the project’s current state.
Gluck said the school’s students will be selected from the community based on leadership skills and need.
While the school is a personal project for Gluck, she has gotten her design students involved in the planning.
Fourth-year interior design student Jessica Roloson said Gluck’s experience in Uganda helped the design process.
“We really did have to use a lot of Kelly’s knowledge, from her being there, on how we could improve what they have without making them feel like we’re taking North America and putting it in Uganda,” said Roloson.
Roloson said understanding Ugandan culture is an important part of the project.
Marija Dujic agrees.
“When we were designing the project we researched construction materials of Uganda and how they build their buildings,” said the fourth-year interior design student. “We can actually implement their ways into building.”
Since electricity can be scarce, Dujic said they tried to design buildings that were energy efficient.
“They use generators so we tried to use as much natural light as possible, natural ventilation and things like that,” Dujic said.
Sustainability deals with environmental issues, but Gluck said it also relates to the school’s ability to be self-sufficient.