The School of the Built Environment recently organised a very successful outreach event for S5 and S6 school pupils.
School Design Smash
The 'School Design Smash' which took place on 8 February, was organised by Lecturer Caroline Brown with support from colleagues in Recruitment and Admissions. The event was attended by around 40 pupils from seven schools across the Lothians and Fife.
The students spent an afternoon working on their own ideas for improvements to the north end of Leith Walk in Edinburgh, mentored by staff from the School.
Two winning teams
Experts from external organisations also participated in the event including Architecture & Design Scotland and NHS Lothian. The pupil's efforts were judged by the expert panel, with two groups eventually sharing the title of €˜School Design Smash Champions 2013' and receiving a prize of Amazon gift vouchers.
James Morgan, Lecturer from the School of the Built Environment, said "I have never seen a group of teenagers work as intently as they did for the three to four hours of the event. This could be an annual event!"
It would be nice to think that some of these pupils might go on to careers in urban design or urban planning in the future .
Caroline Brown, Lecturer, School of the Built Environment
Caroline Brown said: "Our urban environment is constantly changing, and we ran this event to encourage school pupils to think about how places change and how they are designed.
"We used the example of Leith Walk in Edinburgh, which is currently being redesigned by the City Council, but allowed pupils to redesign it for themselves. I enjoyed it enormously. There were some lovely ideas including bridges of light and vertical allotments, and everyone applied themselves to the challenge brilliantly. It would be nice to think that some of these pupils might go on to careers in urban design or urban planning in the future!"