School kids help redesign Wates housing site

School children in Essex have been using their gaming skills to help improve the design of a major Wates Residential regeneration project.

Pupils from Rainham Village Primary School spent a morning using the computer game Minecraft to explore and redesign the Napier House and New Plymouth House sites.

The children used avatars to walk and ‘fly’ around the site’s proposed designs, which have been developed by architects and masterplanners JTP.

They were then to demolish and rebuild parts of the site through the Minecraft model.

Pupils came up with new ideas including a garden bridge, trampoline park, rooftop swimming pool, shopping mall and a water park.

The best ideas will now be considered for inclusion in the final scheme by joint venture partners Wates Residential and Havering Council.

One of the pupils, Hetty Brown, said: “It’s a really fun way of designing buildings that you might use when they’re built and you can see what it might be like to design things for a career when you’re older.”

The joint venture will see an overhaul of Havering’s existing council accommodation, with the current stock of 856 homes replaced with around 3,000 homes of mixed tenure over the next 12 to 15 years.

Kate Ives, Development Director for Wates Residential, said: “Computer games like Minecraft provide a great opportunity for young people to experience some of the most exciting elements of construction and planning.

“Using innovative and engaging ways to encourage interest in career opportunities in the sector is vital for the success of the industry and a great way of inspiring young people to think about their own futures.

“We are really excited to review the best ideas with Havering Council and look at how we can use them on the scheme, which will deliver thousands of new homes for local people as well as a borough-wide lasting legacy.”

from Construction Enquirer http://www.constructionenquirer.com/2018/11/23/school-kids-help-redesign-wates-housing-site/

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