Key Stage 3, 4 & 5 Workshops

Artist, Architects, Designers, Engineers and anyone who has ever had a brilliant idea know how difficult it is to keep things simple and easy to over complicate. Most teachers know how simple materials can be used to demonstrate complex ideas and yet what your students need is a spark of inspiration to connect those available materials and to have an idea grow to fruition. When we allow ourselves to think creatively, we can inspire students to a greater understanding of both materials and process. Using simple materials Architecture Workshops enable students to create complex structures that reveal the nature of the built environment. Inspiring students to have a better understanding not only the built environment, but in all matters of 3 dimensional design. Workshops begin with students being introduced to mathematical terms and ideas that will assist in their construction. The only materials, generally, used in the workshops are wooden dowel and rubber bands, with the odd exception being The Millennium Bridge and Millennium Dome workshops, where string is also used. It is the structural knowledge of the presenters that is key to the content that will inspire students to transform these simple materials into complex structural forms.

Often teachers shy away from large 3 dimensional projects because they are either cost prohibitive or due to lack of space. In the workshops the structures are all temporary, being dismantled as part of the experience, to be used by the next group of students. Thus is it not the finished structure that is the important part of the workshops, but the processes the students experience during the workshop. These processes can be summed up by the acronym STEM (Science Technology Engineering & Mathematics), which is the buzz acronym of the moment. It found its way across the pond from America, where we first hard the term about 10 years ago when delivering workshops to some rural New Jersey schools. So its not new to us nor our workshops because all are workshops contain STEM elements, be they Architectural reconstructions; Stonehenge, Egyptian Pyramids, The Pantheon, The Globe Theatre, Taj Mahal, Crystal Palace, Viking Longship, or Problem Solving activities like Geodesic Domes, Shelters and 8m tall Skyscrapers.

Workshops need to take place in the school dining hall, gym or sports hall. Please allow a minimum of 2 Square Metres of space per student. Structure are dismantled as part of the workshop experience, so we are able to be out of dining halls in time for the catering staff to put out tables. Photographs are permitted of the workshops, so please ensure batteries in your cameras are fully charged.

We can design a bespoke workshop to fit in with your school topic. These often become workshops we then offer to other schools, so there is no development fee. Please get in touch to discuss your requirements.