Summer School: Smithfield site visit
Summer School: Modelmaking workshop
Summer School: Crit day presentations
Summer School: Lendlease's Selina Mason and BCC's Simon Delahunty-Forrest present a prize to the winning student
Summer School 2024
July saw the return of our annual Summer School for a group of young people from across the West Midlands aged 15–18 years old. The event is always the highlight of our year, as we share what a creative and exciting career choice architecture can be.
The design challenge this year was to create a cultural space on Birmingham Smithfield for clients Birmingham City Council and Lendlease. Students were asked to explore what cultural offer is currently missing from the city and how this new venue could attract new audiences into the city centre and make Smithfield an exciting destination in the years ahead.
All tuition was led by our home team and included workshops on sketching & drawing, interior design, model making and a talk about architectural career options. By the end of the week, the students had produced proposals backed up by a series of design development drawings and an architectural model for their portfolio. The week’s finale was a ‘design crit’ with their clients and fellow students, which sharpened their presentation skills and critical thinking.
Feedback from the week has been brilliant, with comments including:
Ernest said: “I found it a great experience and a great opportunity to get an insight into work as an architect and the way I should be thinking. I found the model making the most useful as it allowed me to add something to my personal portfolio and have an experience to talk to real architects and students to get an insight into my future. I also found presenting to be a good way to get out of my comfort zone.”
Tom said: “It was very organized and well thought out, much more than other work experience placements. It was both really fun getting to know people and develop the project but we also learnt how architects think and experience something similar to what you might expect at university. It was a great week.”
Parent’s Sarah and Ian said; “So many employers appear to not be willing to give opportunities for work experience/shadowing. You have not only provided this but in such an organised, well thought out way providing a wide range of experiences that you have obviously put great effort and resources into. Our son really enjoyed the week and it will provide invaluable evidence for his portfolio when applying to universities. Thank you once again for all the effort that was required to provide this experience and investing in future generations careers.”
Written on 17.07.2024, by Lucy Swift
