Over the past few years, the Solent University Beach Hut project has received praise from outside of the University for its industry awareness and practicality. The Beach Hut project encourages students to design and build a beach hut in a team. Industry experts appreciate the lesson it offers in taking students quickly from the drawing board, to making, to realising their ideas in three dimensions.
Students have the desire and opportunity to make a real difference to our world. This year’s cohort was no different with students recognising the importance of limiting the amount of waste in construction. Student were even found one group drying the masking tape in order that they could be reused again. In a complex and often overbearing world simple lessons offer a valuable insight into how they can make a positive difference to combating climate change.
The sharing of industry knowledge is what is needed to enable the innovative changes necessary to make a tangible difference. The benefit of a Faculty of Creative Industries, Architecture and Engineering is that designers from different disciplines and art forms have the opportunity of working alongside one another. This environment enables chance encounters and cross-collaboration between subjects. This creative potential has recently been realised in the beach huts forming a set for photo shoot by the School of Fashion. Who knows they may yet feature on the front cover of Vogue(?).
Scrace Architects are keen to support this philosophy and the industry connections offered by Solent and recently provided a prize for the best design. Tim Scrace, who lectures on the architecture and interior design courses presented the winners with their prize. Hopefully the students will be making the most of the weather and enjoying their prize of fish and chips together in the sun.
Tim was really impressed with this years work observing;
“What a variety of different designs and inventions! I can certainly see myself comfortably “working from home” from each of these designs. From sliding doors, to rooflights, to the kitchen sink, each beach hut seems to have something to offer. The standard of design this year was so close that the winners were difficult to judge. The winners stood out because they worked so well as a team, creating something unique, a place to work as well as relax and unwind. A colourful design with a winning combination of ideas and reference.”
