An employee from Heritage Upholstery in Lincoln, which designs and manufactures furniture legs and castors, has won a prestigious scholarship from the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA).

The firm’s e-commerce Marketing Director Chloe Loader, who is also studying architecture at the University of Lincoln, has been awarded the 2017 RIBA Norman Foster Travelling Scholarship.

The annual £7,000 student scholarship enables the recipient to travel and research the future survival of our communities and explore sustainable urban planning in some of the developing world’s fastest growing cities.

After spotting the opportunity on a poster at the university, the 20-year-old from Luton submitted her proposal entitled ‘Emerging Cities: Sustainable Master-Planning in the Global South’.

Chloe’s travels will start in Curitiba, Brazil, where she will study how the city has developed as a successful urban model, despite large influxes of rural migrants.

She will then travel to Mumbai and Jakarta, two cities she will use as case studies, to compare and contrast with Curitiba and identify ways in which other cities of similar economics and demographics could evolve.

Chloe is planning on embarking on her adventure at the end of July and will spend two to three weeks in each country.

“When I received the email saying I’d been successful I was really surprised as I didn’t expect to win,” she explained. “I decided to enter the competition as I’d just written an essay on a similar theme.

“I love travelling and went to Thailand last year so I’m really looking forward experiencing the different cultures. All three countries are quite diverse; Curitiba is a sustainable city while Mumbai and Jakarta have both under gone similar rapid urbanisation, but not tackled it in the same way.

“I’m now in the process of planning my trip with the help of the university and I’m getting really excited about going.”

Martin Fahy, Managing Director of Heritage Upholstery, which specialises in furniture components and upholstery supplies, said he’s extremely proud of what Chloe has achieved.

“When Chloe told me she had won this prestigious scholarship I was absolutely over the moon,” explained Martin.

“While she is an extremely valuable member of the team and we will miss her while she’s gone, she works so hard combining her studies with the work she does here and deserves every success.

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and I can’t wait to hear all about her travels when she returns. You never know, her trip could inspire some new product designs as we already get a lot of our inspiration from India!”

RIBA President Jane Duncan said: “Many congratulations to Chloe Loader for her fascinating proposal. I’m delighted that the RIBA Norman Foster Travelling Scholarship continues to encourage innovative student research into sustainable cities and communities. I wish Chloe well on her travels and look forward to reading her research on Curitiba, Mumbai and Jakarta.”

Ends

Notes to Editors:
• Heritage Upholstery specialises in the design and manufacture of furniture legs and furniture castors and supply these, alongside quality upholstery supplies, exclusively through its ecommerce website to both retail and trade customers.
• The company also stocks thousands of preconfigured furniture components ready for immediate dispatch worldwide.
• To find out more about Heritage Upholstery please visit www.heritageupholsterysupplies.co.uk

For more information, contact:
Kate Strawson
kate@weareshootingstar.co.uk
Shooting Star
weareshootingstar.co.uk
01522 528540
07733 230293