Caroline Chisholm students build skills through WSU partnership

A selection of handpicked Caroline Chisholm College Glenmore Park Year 8 and 9 students took on a challenge to design a 'social pavilion' in a bid to extend their architecture and design skill sets late last year.

Caroline Chisholm Partnerships Manager Dianne Mills said the Pavillion Project was developed in partnership with the Western Sydney University (WSU). Students were required to design an outdoor pavilion encouraging social interaction which was site-specific and reflective of the social and environmental challenges which the urban context presented.

The students were selected to work on the project under the guidance of specialist school staff from various faculties including, science, creative arts, design and technology and IT.

“Students were challenged to create a 3D model to present to a panel of experts in the field of architecture and design. The students also further developed lifelong skills including communication, teamwork, problem-solving, decision-making and creativity," Mrs Mills said.

“The mentors used various techniques to challenge the students on all aspects of the project from the design, selection of building materials and justifying the location of the Pavillion, most of them falling into the Penrith local region," Mrs Mills said.

The students had to combine aspects of visual design and iSTEM (integrated science, technology, engineering and maths) into their design and consider leisure needs, urban heat island effect in cities (shade or cooling), inclusive design principles, quality of light around intended design proposal, recycled materials, living gardens and carbon neutral building.

The final group presentations took place in December when the students presented to industry experts showcasing their final 3D models plus a powerpoint presentation explaining the process and challenges they experienced to make the final pavilion, justifying their location, purpose and construction materials.

“Many thanks to everyone who participated in the project, but especially the students who took part and developed their models on top of their usual school commitments," Mrs Mills said.