Embedding sustainability: United Nations Sustainable Development Goals in practice

Civil Engineering students in their final year Professional Design Project have to find their own stakeholders, co-create a brief, and deliver something of value for a community. This year a student team far exceeded expectations by enabling a community to purchase a disused cinema building on their Main Street for re-use as a community hub, venue and cinema.

The community group had been working on this project since 2012. The involvement of the Heriot-Watt students enabled the community to make a successful bid to the Scottish Land Fund and on 29th April - the 89th anniversary of the Broadway cinema opening - the building will be owned by the community. This is an incredible example not just of education, but of impact and community engagement.

The charity had been poorly guided by previous professional services providers, with a recommendation that the historic 1930s auditorium be demolished in favour of a new build. The students built a structural model and were able to establish that not only was the auditorium structurally sound, it was over-engineered and fit for re-use. The charity were also interested in sustainable building technology and, again, the students brought to bear cutting edge insights which are now part of the design brief for the building.

The students then ran two community open days at which over 400 people attended, resulting in a rich pool of opinions and preferences being captured. One of the students also did 'structural baking' to provide a taste journey of the various ways structures can corrode and deteriorate! The community fell in love with 'the Heriot Watt students'. They were regularly featured in the local media and forged some long lasting relationships with councillors, business owners, and residents.

The students invited the charity to Riccarton to present their findings and were given life membership of the organisation and personal thanks from the charity's patron, Kelvin MacDonald FAcSS FRTPI CIHCM FRSA, a Heriot Watt alumnus and son of the Broadway's original architect. But it didn't end there. The students work formed the basis of the charity's application to the Scottish Land Fund to acquire the building and bring it back into use: something the community were by now desperate to see happen.

And it worked. In December the funding decision hit the media with over £300k being awarded to fund the sale, essential maintenance, and a paid project development officer for two years. At 17:22 on Friday 19th April 2024 the purchase transaction concluded and the charity - on behalf of the community became the owners of the Broadway cinema.

All of this was made possible by the incredible engagement work undertaken by the students as supervised/mentored by the teaching team.