Local Community Design– Yeronga State High School’s Project Based Learning

On the site adjacent to Yeronga State High School stood the empty and unused Metropolitan South Institute of TAFE. In 2018, it was announced that the site would be reborn as a new community hub and housing development area.

From 2019, we watched the old TAFE buildings slowly disappear, the land becoming a blank canvas. This sparked an idea. If we could design our local neighbourhood, what would it look like? What visions would the student have? What would their preferred futures look like? Taking that further, what would each student imagine the houses would look like?

Co-creating the preferred future of the site next door became the focus of one semester of our Year 9 STEM Technologies subject.

The project: in design teams, students collaboratively plan the 2-hectare site, being responsive to local area demographic forecasting. Students explore the problems and opportunities that a new development area provides for the local community, they articulate this and propose a solution by the provision and relationship of community and residential buildings. Once site plans are finalised, the best one is democratically selected.

Now, the individual work begins. Using previous site analyses, and principles of passive sustainable design, the students use zoning diagrams to map out the function and flow of their houses. Shapes are defined through concept plans.

Students follow design processes and practices throughout the project. Architectural conventions and standards are applied, materials selected and forms developed. SketchUp is used to model the house at 1:1 scale, geolocating it on the site, and refining passive sustainable principles implemented. 1:100 models are made, using our laser cutter to make parts. Presentations are finalised and the relief is palpable, as the students’ pride swells at the sight of their finished products.

At the end of the project, the students’ 1:100 house models all come together on a 1:100 site model. Neighbours rub shoulders, and the students can see how the village comes together, and it is larger than the sum of it’s parts. In 2023, our development included a community centre, local small businesses, a retirement village and a mixture of low cost housing and residential. Greenspace was generously provided throughout, shared gardens and facilities and a community garden for all. Various demographic groups were catered for and houses designed for their wellbeing.

Currently, our 2024 Yr. 9 students are working hard on their designs. We look forward to seeing what they come up with and present for the STEM Showcase this year.

Safe to say, many students end the project with a new-found interest in design careers such as interior designer, architecture and urban planning. Here’s to our designers of the future!

Article & Photography by: Alice Kulbat, Director of Creative Industries, Yeronga State High School