The Hub - students design an information and learning centre

Creative Partnerships Northumberland, Newcastle & Gateshead

Year 8 pupils from Seaton Sluice Middle School are designing an innovative building to provide the Seaton Valley community with an information and learning centre, the Hub. This innovative design incorporates sustainability and will create an identity for the new proposed high school at the hub of the community.

This project is one part of a larger vision to design a new high school for Seaton Valley. This phase was a cross-curricular project for and by the whole of Year 8, which consists of 60 pupils. Year 8 pupils were split into four groups (or companies) to work on the design for an innovative information and learning centre for the school and Seaton Valley community. The building will be both a stand alone design and have the ability to link with the new high school.

Project Diary

14th-17th May
Construction Skills in school giving advice on the forming of an effective team. A variety of skills were needed to make the best use of this project as it covered many of the subjects included in the daily life at school ie Maths, English, Science, Design Technology and ICT. Linking the groups with contacts Construction Skills recruited consultants who were available to assist with the more technical aspect of each task. The projects depended on excellent communication skills between team members and the consultants provided throughout the project.

Introduction into film – the project begun with a half day film-making workshop with each group on the use of digital media to give guidance on taking images during the project.

23rd-24th May
Research – 20 year 8 pupils (a number from each newly formed group or company) along with 20 year 7 pupils (who will be part of the next stage of the project in September as new year 8s) had a research visit to London. The school had been invited by Sharon Plant, Director of the Sorrell Foundation, to meet with her and see the work they do which she believed would help them understand the conversations they were having with architects about their future school building. They also saw the Sorrell Foundation Young Design Centre exhibition, an exhibition which showed the work of over 50 design practices. The visit also included a guided tour to look at landmark buildings including Peckham Library, the Ark in Hammersmith and the Swiss Tower and a visit to the Science Museum and the Natural History Museum. This visit helped them to visualise what they would like to have in a building of their own.

w/c 4th June
Introduction to dewjo’c Architects – who worked in school for two intensive days of introductory talks and practical workshops. By the end of the session the charrette came around (charrette means cart and is often used to describe the final, intense work effort by art and architecture students to meet a project deadline). The pupils looked at areas of land use, ecology, energy, pollution and water.

Three introductory presentations by John Holmes on site, materials and renewables, and choosing the site,

w/c 11th June
Design – the pupils produced a sketch plan of the design and an artist’s impression. Two half days film workshops with each group looking at time lapse filming and showing other techniques. They looked at ways to picture their design in real space and ways of recording three dimensional designs using digital imagery.

w/c 15th June
Architects worked half a day with each group in school. There was an exhibition of the process displayed as part of Architecture Week.

w/c 18th June
Visited the model makers workshop and learned how to make three dimensional shapes so that they could make a model of their design.

w/c 22nd and 29th June
The architects worked half a day with each group in school.

w/c 2nd July
The pupils worked on the final model with help from the model maker. They also spent two half days with Andrew Coates who helped students put their film together. They presented their final design and work-in progress for the selection process as one of the designs was to be chosen to be made as a final model for ‘The Hub’.

w/c 9th July
There was a presentation of their ideas and models for judging. The winning design was chosen.

16th July
A final exhibition of work.

Hear from the students involved

Each of the following sentences were written by different students working on the project:

Our project was introduced to us at a school council meeting.

We decided a project on architecture sounded both fun and interesting.

An architect came in and showed us some types of architecture on buildings, such as new schools. Another person came into school and showed us some team-building skills, such as building pyramids with wood strips and elastic bands.

In an assembly, a model-maker presented one of his models as an example to us, telling us we would soon be making our own models. Then we went to London to look at landmark buildings. We filmed our time in the city; we looked at important, modern architecture and had a theatre visit.
The time was memorable and educational.For example, we visited a special McDonalds at Leicester Square; we were amazed to see that they had supercomputers that were food-proof! When we got home an architect and a model maker came into school to give us their professional help and skills.

We focused on one part of school we didn't like and wanted to change. We made cardboard models of that part of the school. This was when we got the mad feel for model-making. We got into groups and started to make a scale model of our hub, the centre of the new school. When the model-maker came back, the groups amalgamated and we took the best ideas from each group.

We started to think more about environmental benefits, light issues and materials for the school. This was when the real thought process started. Members of the group went on to build the model whereas others made a power point presentation and a brochure.

While all this was happening we'd been filming. We got to work on our shots and editing skills. We made very short film extracts which turned out brilliant and this was definitely one aspect of the project that we all enjoyed.

Once our models, brochures, power points and speeches were finished, we presented our work to a panel of judges. Everyone performed well and displayed their work in a professional manner. One of the judges told us our work out shone some he had seen by GCSE students, which meant a lot to everybody after our hard work.

When the project was over and the winning group were told of their achievement we were given a film that had been put together by our ICT teacher, and Andrew the film maker. The model-maker made a professional model of our design which really brought it to life.

Looking back at the project made us realise how much effort we had put in and how much work was done. We think it was all very worthwhile.