University of North Texas

By Terri Pierce, Project Manager, and Amanda Wimberley, Senior Project Designer

Facilities Design and Construction

A team from Facilities Design and Construction went all in for Furniture 4 Kids charity. Our efforts capture our bold goal of community involvement.

This initiative will benefit a local charity for children in need and has provided an opportunity for design staff and students to exercise their talents for a noteworthy cause.

Team members are: Terri Pierce, Tessa Ryles, Lacey Almager, Mala Sambasivan, Amanda Wimberley, Cheryl Smith, Jessica Russell-Dye and Adrian Cardenas. Thank you to our friends and contributors: Facilities structural shop, College of Music, Forbo flooring manufacturer and Dave Wilson.

The team created a UNT-inspired music box that the charity will auction, with all proceeds going to children in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Only 30 entries are accepted to the annual Furniture 4 Kids event.

• We have leveraged our knowledge, talents and prominence to enlighten, inspire and help those in need within the North Texas region.
• We have joined with G.L. Seaman & Company and OFS Brands to build and deepen meaningful relationships that make our region stronger.
• We have expanded our efforts and reached out to help these children by providing a design worthy of auction that will help to extend outreach and aid for them.

Furniture 4 Kids

Furniture 4 Kids  was created by OFS Brands, a manufacturer of commercial furniture, with presenting sponsor G.L. Seaman & Company, along with the Dallas Mavs Foundation.  Since 2006, F4K has successfully raised over $80,000 that has directly supported and provided for the needy children of Dallas- Fort Worth.

We’re proud to boast that Furniture 4 Kids provides the second largest donation of funds raised through an event.

Participants include designers, architects, creative organizations and manufacturers who provide products to the architecture and design community, and related industry organizations from the commercial real estate and construction companies.

Design submissions are auctioned with bidders having the option of keeping the item or donating it to a Ronald McDonald House in Dallas or Fort Worth. This is a fabulous way to raise funds for the Mavs Foundation and to support a Ronald McDonald House, which provides services for families of critically ill children.

Travelin’ Lane

Our design name was derived as a pun to accentuate the path that individuals choose as a life map. Additionally, it recognizes our university president, Lane Rawlins who, as our leader promotes and captures the spirit of our choices through our four bold goals.

The design showcases the Denton music culture. As designers for UNT we are filled with pride for the ability of our university and city to foster such wonderful musicians. With a rich history of talented musicians coming from the area we also can boast a university that offers a world renowned jazz program.

Travelin’ Lane is our tribute to the musical heritage of North Texas. It calls for the musician to pick up his gear and take music to the streets. The box offers a place to perch and belt out tunes for an impromptu audience.

Contest guidelines defined the size, materials and purpose of the project.

As part of a UNT motto, We Mean Green, we would also like to mention that this box was created sustainably with found and refurbished materials from unlikely places and kind hearted souls. Our team’s total purchases equaled less than $20.