Architecture School

Our 2018 Summer School introduced Architecture, Engineering and other aspects of the Built Environment to 12 young people aged 15 to 21 years affiliated with SE16. We’re proud of the fact that we encouraged a diverse group of young people to attend – 83% of the young people were from BAME backgrounds. The Summer School enabled students to design and build outdoor classroom furniture to facilitate our Food Education and Gardening workshops. The outdoor classroom furniture has also benefitted hundreds of people – pupils, carers, parents, teachers – who use it on a daily basis.

We were based at Rotherhithe Primary, where the students of the Summer School worked on a brief developed by the teachers and pupils involved in the after-school gardening clubs. The designs aimed to aid the workshops that ran weekly throughout term.

The live brief gave the students the opportunity to consider the users of the equipment and let this inform the scale of the design. The student’s designs comprised three main elements: a teaching station, storage unit, display wall & collective table. The students also upcycled packing crates to make two new raised planter beds. Through the project the students learned about designing to a brief, detailed design, construction and project management. Through the construction process students developed skills in construction, problem solving and team work.

In the afternoon sessions students gained an understanding of the range of built environment career options through visits to construction sites and offices. The visits included Morris + Company – an award-winning architectural firm; FLO (Laing O’Rourke and Ferrovial) a pioneering construction firm in charge of the Northern Line Extension, and Arup one of the world’s leading Engineering practices as well as a tour of the Building Centre, the base for the Built Environment in London.

The project was funded by British Land, and the material for the work was donated by Martinspeed Recycling, a local company that values sustainability through recycling.

Read more about the impact of the project here.