Project description
During a summer term Thorn Grove Primary School students in Cheadle Hulme, Stockport, took part in an architecture project. Based on their own school environment, students were given the opportunity to design improved spaces - whether toilets, classrooms or halls.
Manchester Timber Wharf © Urban Splash
The project was led by SCAPE, a teacher-architect team operating in the North West. The school was particularly notable for its attention to special needs, including a hearing impairment base onsite and specialist teaching staff.
Key stage
Key stage 2 (year 6)
Curriculum and whole school areas
- Geography
- Design and technology
- Citizenship
- Maths
- History
- Science
- Careers
- Every Child Matters
- PLTS
- Gifted and talented
- Aim higher
- Learning Outside the Classroom
Learning objectives
For students to:
- develop a sensitivity to and awareness of architecture and built environment
- participate in a creative process, developing drawing and 3D modelling skills
- develop opinions about the built environment
- learn basic architectural terminology
- understand how architects communicate using drawings, plans and models
- understand ways in which briefs may be formulated and how they may be responded to.
Length of project
One morning a week for six weeks.
What did the learning involve?
Phase one
The initial phase of the project took place in the classroom and the immediate school environment, as SCAPE believes that first-hand experience is crucial to learning. (Learning Outside the Classroom Manifesto 2007)
The project pivoted around a visit to an architectural practice in Manchester city centre, where the children received a guided tour of the office and got the chance to view the multi-faceted nature of the profession.
For many children, this was the highlight of the project. It allowed them to experience the breadth of the design process and appreciate the numerous skills needed to become an accomplished architect.
© Alys Tomlinson
Phase two
In the second phase of the project, the children identified an area of their school which needed improvement. They used questionnaires to gather information from a wide range of users and worked in teams to select an area of the school for improvement, giving them a sense of ownership. Their design proposals were conveyed through drawings, plans and models.
Planned tutorials with the architect provided a valuable opportunity to discuss any problems with their design and to explore solutions and alternatives. The model making was by far the most effective way for the deaf children to convey their thoughts and design concepts. It provided a medium through which they could communicate their ideas confidently, developing technical vocabulary, which would otherwise present a real obstacle for the children and the staff working with them.
Teaching and learning activities
Architects and builders
SCAPE prepared a model built out of liquorice allsorts. The students were given the task to replicate the model and then to build a model again out of liquorice allsorts from a design brief.
Liquorice allsorts! © Pikaluk, flickr.com
Architecture or a building?
Having discussed various definitions of architecture in order to clarify terms and what might constitute a work of architecture, SCAPE prepared four sets of 20 laminated A3 images of various historical and contemporary buildings.
In small groups, the students then discussed the buildings and distinguished the ones that they considered to have architectural qualities compared to those they thought were more straight forward ‘buildings’.
School assessment
SCAPE provided A3 plans of the school so that the students could record with words the qualities of different spaces inside and outside their school building. Students also took rubbings of different material qualities arund their school building. Students used a questionnaire to interview many different of users of the school.
Resources used
Materials and textures one
SCAPE used the book ‘The little boy and his uncle’ by Stephen Bone and Mary Adshead, (published 1936 by JM Dent and Son Ltd). The book tells the story of a boy who travels around the world with his uncle. On their journey they look at different houses in order to decide out of what and how to build their own house in England.
Materials and textures two
SCAPE produced a PowerPoint presentation of images of various contemporary and historical buildings that used materials in a range of structural, constructional and poetic ways.
How well were the aims met?
Outcomes
- The children showed a consistent level of engagement throughout the duration of the project, showing great willingness to contribute and discuss their ideas. Their architectural vocabulary developed in a very natural and dynamic way through the discursive nature of the exercises.
- The students certainly understood the role and job of an architect by the end of the project.
- By identifying design problems and developing proposals to overcome them, the students understood the idea of a brief as well as the difficulties of satisfying the many different kinds of users of a building.
- The students began to understand the usefulness of architectural drawing conventions such as plan and section, as well as the clarity and immediacy of models for communicating three dimensional ideas.
© lydiaevans.com
What worked well
- The teacher-architect partnership, provided by SCAPE, allowed specialist knowledge to be imparted to the children in a relevant and dynamic way.
- There was no shortage of enthusiasm, opinions or imagination and this alone convinced all who were involved of the relevance and worth of such a project.
- Amongst the 30 students who were invited to take part, two were profoundly deaf, and thus required the support of signing staff and differentiated materials. The practical nature of the workshops gave all children the opportunity to participate in a range of creative activities.
What didn’t work well
- The students, class teacher and SCAPE team felt that more time was needed to develop the models.
- The class teacher felt that she would have benefited from knowing about the programme much earlier in the year so that she could have linked in associated studies, and thus really emphasised the cross-curricular nature of the project.
Comments from teachers and students
The headteacher commented that the project was ‘highly relevant, cross-curricular in nature’, as well as being ‘aspirational, awarding pupils a valuable insight into a working profession’.
Students commented: ‘Thanks to you, I understand many things’.
‘I enjoyed seeing all the different buildings in the city centre’.
For further information on the project or other work of Places Matter! education please contact Jo Harrop at jo.harrop@placesmatter.co.uk.
