Renowned architect and TV presenter George Clarke has announced the winners of the Wates young persons’ design challenge for primary schools.
The challenge, created in partnership with Wates Residential — part of leading UK family-owned business, the Wates Group — and Clarke’s education charity MOBIE (Ministry of Building Innovation and Education), asked young people to let their imaginations run free by designing a home of the future.
The home should be a great place to live in and help promote wellbeing and quality of life. The challenge fits well with the Wates Group’s purpose of inspiring better ways of creating the homes, places, communities, and businesses of tomorrow.
Children were invited to design their home of the future in any way they liked, using whatever materials they could lay their hands on. The amazing entries submitted came in all shapes and sizes — from hand drawings, models made from cardboard, Lego creations to computer designs, quite a few of which used the computer game Minecraft.
The presenter of Channel 4 programmes George Clarke’s Amazing Spaces, Old House New Home and Restoration Man said: “Home is the most important piece of architecture in our lives. It crafts the way we live, and how we grow as families and communities. Well-designed homes can enhance the way we live and promote good health and wellbeing.”
George added: “The homes of the future will be lived in by today’s young people. That is why I am so excited to announce the winners of this Wates young persons’ design challenge. We asked young people, aged between 7 and 11 to design a home of the future — a sustainable, adaptable, green home that promotes wellbeing and quality of life.
“From my past experience, I expected to see amazing design talent and imagination come forward and I was not disappointed. It was hard for the judges to choose the age group winners and runners up. They were genuinely wowed by the standard of the work that these young people produced. The winners created some incredible and inspirational, future thinking designs. The future of the built environment and homes is in great hands with young talent like this around — I can’t wait to see what they do next.”
The age group winners are as follows:
Age 7 – 9
Andre (age 8), and Charlie (age 9), Birchgrove School, Cardiff
Amira, Towers Junior School, Hornchurch, Essex
Bea Noad (age 9), Lee-on Solent, Southampton
Age 10 – 11
Sophie, (age 11) and Evelyn (age 10), Birchgrove School, Cardiff
Ava Gillespie (age 10), St Joseph’s School, Cardiff
Abu (age 11), Gascoigne School, Barking, London
Inaayah and Adam, Towers Junior School, Hornchurch, Essex
The judges were drawn from MOBIE and Wates.
Michelle McSorley, Social Value Director at Wates Residential, said: “Over the course of Wates’ 125-year history, what we look for in a home has evolved dramatically, so it was exciting to see what the next generation hopes to live in in the future. At the heart of our business, is a commitment to delivering lasting legacies, whether that’s through the homes we build or our investment in training, education and skills. We hope this challenge has inspired these young people, showing them the important role that a house can play in supporting our wellbeing, and maybe encouraging them to think about a career in the built environment when they grow up.”
The Young persons’ design challenge was open to schools and colleges located near to Wates’ housing sites in London, on the south coast of England and in Cardiff.
The competition was for primary school students aged between 7-11. Students could work individually or together in teams. There were two age categories: 7-9 (Lower Key Stage-2, Year Groups 3 & 4) and 10-11 (Upper Key Stage-2, Year Groups 5 & 6).
More information about the design challenge at www.mobie.org.uk
Header image shows TV presenter and architect George Clarke.
