Awards and Prizes
Prizes won by our students and alumni in design competitions
Besides the compulsory participation in certain competitions that are part of the syllabus at L'École de design Nantes Atlantique, students regularly take part in national and international competitions, all disciplines combined. Participation in design competitions has a twofold benefit for them: first of all, educational, but also in terms of visibility of the projects submitted.
Why participate in design competitions?
Design competitions are indeed an excellent opportunity to test oneself in real life situations because they allow students to develop a project over a fixed period of time, in conditions similar to those found in a company. Based on the same specifications, the students generally work in multidisciplinary teams and try to stand out from the other teams in order to convince a jury of experts and professionals.
Participating in competitions allows them to become familiar with the competitive phases of the professional world, during which several agencies or design studios may submit a project to win a tender, for example. Design competitions are also an opportunity for students to get noticed by the press and jury members, for example from the world of industry. This exposure can help them find partners and launch the first stage of development of their full-scale project.
As a global pool of creative talent, design competitions are a way for organizers to source trends and designers from around the world. The international dimension of certain competitions is therefore also very important. L'École de design Nantes Atlantique is committed to developing this international outlook. A designer must acquire this capacity for openness in order to respond appropriately to current problems and issues.
Openness, creativity, innovation... The work carried out for a competition allows students to enrich their experience and sharpen their eye as designers. The recognition and exposure offered by design competitions can be real assets and springboards for their professional careers.
Awards received in design competitions in 2024
The “Midori Hotel” project imagined by students in the Interior Architecture specialization (Master's level degree diploma) won first place on the podium in the prestigious Accor Design Awards international competition.
Axelle Feret, Jeanne Duval, Ilann Picard and Julie Louveau imagined a Sofitel establishment in Kyoto, Japan, where luxury, refinement and elegance are the watchwords. The spaces combine Japanese and French cultures, with a décor that changes with the seasons.
Thomas Deneufbourg and Adrien Gallois, two young graduates of the 'International design Strategy / Le Studio Montréal' master's level degree program, won the SILMO Paris Optical Design competition with their “Distroal” project, which focuses on people with autism spectrum disorders and anxiety disorders, to go beyond simple eyewear design.
Thanks to the multiple technologies integrated into these glasses and its application, “Distroal” responds to various challenges linked to hypersensitivity to light and sound during sudden and unpredictable changes in environment.
Thibault Guitard and Marianne Garreau, students in the master's level degree program, were the winners of the Verallia Design Awards 2024 competition in the Spirits category. With their “Anisette” project, they participate in the competition theme: 'Glass for living the moment'.
This project aims to reinvigorate the world of aniseed-flavored spirits, and more specifically Pastis, with a new bottle shape. For this project, they were inspired by the world of Provence, with arches adorning the bottle in homage to local architecture. A motif representing the eight branches of the anise flower was also placed under the bottle.
Jacques Fos, a student in the master's level degree program in City Design, received an honorable mention at the Design Intelligence Award ceremony for his project on innovative induction hobs.
This project, carried out during his undergraduate studies at the school, developed a portable induction hob for students living in small apartments. This innovation is part of an eco-innovation and low-tech approach.
The “T-rest” project, developed by 5 students in the school's master's level degree program, won a prize in the 'Mountaineering, climbing, hiking' category at the FIT Sport Design Awards competition.
Ines Oligo, Auriane Olivier, Paul Blanc-Nourrisseau, Thibault Maupeu and Martin Paillisson developed this product, which combines the functionality of a tarpaulin with the comfort of a hammock, to minimize the environmental impact on bivouac sites and leave no footprint on the ground.
Simon Heurtebise, Alumni 2022, won 2nd prize in the Talents 2024 competition organised by the City of Paris to help meet the challenges of the Olympic Games, with his project Jane. This local, low-carbon electricity supply solution to energy and climate challenges, initially developed as part of his final year project at the school, is committed to a more sustainable energy future through innovation and collaboration.
The City of Paris, Paris 2024 and the Seine-Saint-Denis Departmental Council have launched the fifth Talents 2024 call for projects to support young people with projects that reflect the values of Olympism and Paralympism.
François Friscourt, Alumni of the school who has become an entrepreneurial designer in the circular economy, won 3rd prize in the Coup de Pouce competition with his company Terre Vorace, a B2B solution of eco-designed connected composters reduces bio-waste into compost using earthworms.
The Coup de Pouce business plan competition is aimed at young entrepreneurs in the start-up phase. It is organised by the Fondation Le Roch-Les Mousquetaires in partnership with ITM Atlantique and the Centrale-Audencia-Ensa Incubator.
Awards received in design competitions in 2023
Adrien Gallois and Emilie Chague, students in the school's Studio Montréal, have been nominated for their "Side Peak" project in the optical frames competition organised by SILMO and the design agency 14Septembre. The theme of this year's competition was sport in the run-up to the 2024 Olympic Games, and the 2 students paid tribute to climbing by proposing a pair of glasses with 90-degree vision so that you can see the climb without having to look up.
Budog Jouan-Conreux, Jules Savary, Quentin Hochart, Simon Allain and Jules Bradol won 2nd place on the podium in the Continental competition for "The Future in Motion - Imagine the bike of 2030" with their "All Bike" project, an intelligent box connected to the infrastructure of a Smart City.
Nadège Goarant, Juliette Bailly and Julie Plouzin, students in the master's programme of the Diplôme de design Bac +5, won 3rd prize in the "Mon Beau Déchet" competition, with their "SYMBIOSE" project, at France Design Week in Tours. For this 3rd edition, VALESENS proposed creating new objects from Drop® paper scraps and leather fibres.
Nathan Remita, a student in the school's Studio Montréal, won 1st prize in the C-IDEA design competition, with his "FluentSea" typography project inspired by the state of "Soft Fascination" and created with the aim of improving the reading experience. As a motion designer, he chose to compete in the visual and communication category of this 2023 edition, the theme of which was 'Water Element'.
The "Polmone Romano" project by Thibaut Petris, Enora Le Hénanff, Élise Frèche and Marius Louis, students in Interior Architecture, won the People's Choice Award in the Accor Design Awards international competition!
This place of exchange and sharing between Italian residents and tourists curious to discover the local culture, is changing the vision of local commerce.
For the 5th consecutive time, students from the school took part in the international competition organized by the Accor group to imagine the hotel industry of tomorrow.
Claire Denelle, Alumni 2023, was a national finalist in the prestigious James Dyson Award competition with her origami-inspired "ILO" low-tech cooker project. Using no electricity, this low-tech cooker, which revisits the Nordic pot, cooks while retaining heat, thereby saving energy.
With his project, Thomas Deneufbourg, student at Le Studio Montréal, finished in the top 10 of the Stairs Design Awards competition, which rewards innovative staircase design every year.
'Déferlante' is a concrete staircase that takes its name from the clash between two waves that meet to create an ascent. Designed for the home, this staircase features a unique balance of innovative interlocking elements. The Déferlante staircase features lighting effects to make it stand out at any time of day.
Pauline Bruneteau, student in UI/UX Design and a student from Nantes University won the "Coups de Cœur #FemmesduNumérique" prize organized by La Poste Groupe with Passiflora, their application to inform and support people suffering from school phobia on the road to recovery.
The 'I-CONIQUE' wooden structure project, created by Juliette Gauthier, Alexandre Salle and Célia Chardavoine, students in scenography, in collaboration with the Robin Sicle company, won this French Wood & Design Competition in the 'Student Winners' category in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes 2023.
Lauriane Dupré, student in design and innovation strategy and a student from EFAP, were awarded a prize at the Verallia Design Awards 2023 for their "Ocean" project.
Since 2009, Verallia, a global player in glass packaging, has organized a design competition that each year brings together several hundred students and recent graduates from design, packaging and fine arts schools.
Manon Piette, student at the City Design Lab of the school and a student from Polytech, were awarded a prize at the Verallia Design Awards 2023 for their project "The Vine", a bottle based on biomimicry.
Since 2009, Verallia, a global player in glass packaging, has organized a design competition that each year brings together several hundred students and recent graduates from design, packaging and fine arts schools.
A team of design students from the school's Food Design Lab and engineering students from Oniris Nantes won the bronze prize and the "Nos étudiants.e.s ont du cran" prize, supported by Carnot AgriFood Transition at the 24th Ecotrophelia France 2023, with the 'Arsène' project, an alternative to coffee based on lupin roasted in home compostable capsules.
Ecotrophelia France is the leading French and European competition for food innovation.
4 students in International Design Strategy / Le Studio France received an award
at the FIT Sport Design Awards 2023 international competition, which recognizes the most innovative the most innovative sports equipment and clothing from around the world.
"Open Shutter", designed by Marilou Maurel, is an inclusive range of badminton shuttlecocks to facilitate the practice of this sport for all, by storing the shuttlecocks on the court or on a wheelchair on the court or on a sports wheelchair.
"CareFit", designed by Lauryne Houdji, Isabel Drumwright and Marine Dufaux, is a connected fitness bracelet and a mobile application and a mobile application to track your fitness performance and control the use of your and control the use of its health data.
Marie Marchal won the 3rd prize in a contest launched by a Lyon-based brand, which menstrual panties. She was distinguished among more than 450 textile designers pro, amateurs and students via the Textile Addict competition. Her panties will be from the new collection, printed on an ecological viscose and made in Lyon.
Pauline Motel, a student in Food Design, won the Green Concept Award 2023 in the Kids category. Her project "Poulette" proposes to recycle eggshell waste by
reducing them to powder as an oral hygiene product. Since 2013, the international Green Product Award has been awarded to products and services that stand out in terms of in terms of design, innovation and sustainability.
Yusha Xie, Kenxin Guo and Yi Ren, Food Design students, won the Green Concept Award 2023 in the category 'Beauty & Personal Care' and the Green Concept Audience Awards 2023 with their project "Orine", a cosmetics brand whose product life cycle generates no waste. The main ingredients of the packaging and the powder are shells collected from restaurants.
Awards received in design competitions in 2022
The 'La Tribûche' project received the 'Student's Favorite' award in the Ecotrophelia 2022 competition. In a team with engineering students from Oniris Nantes, the Food Design Lab students worked on the creation of a food brand.
Benjamin Bonneau received the 3rd prize of the graphic design contest organized by Multigraphic, HP France and Plateforme eMode. With "Here and there, now and then", he proposed an abstract representation of the theme of this first edition « Comme une impression de vacances » playing on the word 'feeling' and directly echoing global warming
Alexia Audrain, a woodworker and designer who graduated from the BTMS Ébénisterie program delivered by the school in partnership with the URMA Loire-Atlantique, awarded the Design Trophy (presented by Christian Guellerin, the school's director general) for her OTO hugging chair, dedicated to people with autism spectrum disorders.
Conceived by students of the Food Design Lab, the project "Coc, Seashell Cosmetic" won the 2nd prize in the international competition "THE FORK CHALLENGE FINAL: FORK x DESIGN SCHOOLS", organized by The Fork Organization. Led by Kevin Guo, Yi Ren and Yusha Xie, this project proposes a new service for reusing and recycling oyster shells to make organic cosmetics.
Food Design students Cathelle Dénoue and Shengke Li won THE FORK CHALLENGE FINAL: FORK x DESIGN SCHOOLS, an international competition organized by The Fork Organization, with their project "Then, From Sea to the Sea". These sustainable funerary urns are designed with oyster shells, which will feed the coral in deep waters and disappear over time.
For the 2022 edition of the Accor Design Awards, whose theme was "The city at 15 min", 2 projects led by students of the school were rewarded:
- The project "Là-haut" by Jingran Wei, Léo Cosson, Clémentine Lalloué and Flora Petit won the public prize! This project in the form of a bubble on the roof would offer customers a 360° view of the city of Nantes, with the possibility of projecting constellations directly on the roof at night.
- The project "L'atelier" led by Awen Guéguen, Agathe Derville, Louis Rochais and Eugénie Lamblin won the 3rd prize! This hotel located in Nantes would allow everyone to express themselves through a particular skill, art or knowledge.
During the Laval Virtual Awards ceremony, the start-up Smile in the Light of Ophélie Jaret won the Regional Start-up award.
The "Flow of Thoughts" project by Joseph Chataigner (Le Studio Montreal) and Emilie-Marie Gioanni (China Studio) was awarded the Grand Prize in the international KOKUYO DESIGN AWARD competition. This year, the theme of this great international design competition was "Unlearning". How to unlearn to think too much? This is the question they wanted to answer by imagining a journal that calms the mind. "Flow of Thoughts" invites to unload the useless words in scribbles and write the important words in the line of thoughts to decrease the mental load, while leaving a meaningful memory.
Three alumni of the school: Ines Le Bihan, Lead Industrial designer at Meta, Guillaume Delvigne, designer at Studio Guillaume Delvigne and Thomas DARIEL, founder of Dariel Studio, are among the 100 winners selected by FRENCH DESIGN, which rewards the international influence of designers. This prize selects the 100 best design projects for objects and spaces that promote French design in the world.
Antoine Besseyre Des Horts, a graduate of the school and Global Design Leader at LIXIL Asia, won the prestigious A&D 40 under 40 Awards 2021, the benchmark for excellence in architecture and interior design in Asia.
The students of the bachelor UI/UX of L'École de design Nantes Atlantique won the public prize at the national finals of the #lesentrep competition with their project Passiflora
During their studies in graphism, Lilly Fouqueray and Amélie Richard won a creativity award at the Pro Carton Young Designers Award 2022 competition for their Saluu packaging. Saluu is an aperitif butter composed of different flavored flavored butters. With its circular shape, the packaging aims to bring people together around a convivial tasting and a moment of sharing.
Awards received in design competitions in 2021
During her studies in the City Design master cycle, Camille Dubreuil won the 1st prize in the IAA Mobility competition, in the "Mobility UX/ UI of the future" category with her project "Pills on wheels", an autonomous pharmacy service that uses a drone for the delivery of medicines and emergency medical supplies.
Alexia Audrain, young woodworker and designer and alumni of L'École de design Nantes Atlantique, is the national winner of the James Dyson Award 2021 with her chair "OTO". Bruno Miloux, a recent graduate of the City Design Lab, was also a national finalist with his project "Recap".
The 'ET HOP!' project, a snack for menopausal women, created by students from Oniris Nantes and L'École de Design Nantes Atlantique, was honored at the 22nd edition of ECOTROPHELIA, in Nancy, with the prize for Innovation in Senior Food.
Manon Figuier, Victoire Datchary, Mathéo Maurel and Harold Loquillard, all students in the BDes Interior Architecture program, won first prize in the Accor Design Awards 2021. Their "NOMADish" project proposes an innovative solution that achieves three key objectives: the overall customer experience, the element of surprise and pleasure, and the consideration of social, economic and environmental responsibility. They also won the Public Choice Award, given by the general public.
Fanny Jalet, Nolwenn Arhuis, Julie David and Lucie Vallée, BDes Interior Design students, have won the 3rd prize at the Accor Design Awards 2021 with their project "Waterwalk" which offers the world’s first "floating and flying cruise".
Yasmine Bennani, Solène Percie Du Serf, Nicolas Alibert and Alexandre Albert-Picquet, students in the BDes Interior Architecture program, won the special jury prize at the Accor Design Awards 2021. The "Cocoon" hotel suite concept, made from biopolymer and local wood, would become a unique travel experience in Africa.