‘Transparency’ by Alicia Storie

A design for an innovative community supermarket dedicated to encouraging health living won our 2014 Art & Design prize.
 
The winning entry came from Alicia Storie, newly graduated in Interior Environmental Design from Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design at the University of Dundee. The judges were presented with many novel concepts in a variety of media, but were very impressed with Alicia’s vision of a community led supermarket where the emphasis was on health and customer satisfaction, whilst also being profitable.
 

Alicia accepting her award

 
Alicia had an interest in healthy eating from an early age, and an understanding of the links between diet and certain cancers. Her concept for a new type of supermarket grew out of a realisation that current shopping habits are contributing to 62% of the UK population being overweight or obese, leading to increased cancer risk. This arises from the fact that many shoppers base their purchases on what is on promotion, rather than what is best for their health.
 
She compared the design of the major chain supermarkets with alternative supermarkets in Edinburgh, researched books and documentaries, and carried out market research with members of the public. This identified a high demand for an alternative to the major chain supermarkets. Alicia identified that current supermarket design is based on increasing sales rather than helping consumers make healthier eating choices.
 

 
Accessibility of healthy eating choices and affordability are key to the new model. This includes the sale of perfectly good but misshapen fruits and vegetables, which would be cheaper to source, or selling foodstuffs by weight, to lessen the outlay and waste of items not for immediate consumption. Alicia felt this is important in helping address inequalities in cancer burden. The concept also contains a community hub, where the public can participate in classes (physical activity, cookery), have informal access to personalised advice from a dietitian, and a rooftop garden, where home-grown produce can be cultivated for the benefit of the local community.
 
Alicia was shortlisted for the Young Innovation Award, and has had considerable support from Business Gateway to move her concept in to reality – we wish her well!
 
This is a short video created to demonstrate Alicia’s concept: