SEARCH THIS SITE

• Business and trade
• Community life and leisure
• Council and government
• Education and learning
• Housing
• Jobs and careers
• Law and licensing
• Planning and the environment
• Social care and health
• Tourism and visitor attractions
• Transport and streets

Council news  >  Press Releases  >  Pupils lift prizes for “green” home designs

Pupils lift prizes for “green” home designs

05/07/07

Schoolchildren in Aberdeen have picked up prizes after designing homes for sustainable living.

St Machar Academy and Tullos Primary pupils won £500 for their schools, and enjoyed a day trip to see eco-homes at Findhorn in Moray, after coming up with imaginative designs for “green” homes.

Schools in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire were invited to take part in the Schools Sustainable Housing Design Competition, which was launched by the presenter of Channel 4’s Grand Designs programme Kevin McLeod at the Sustainable Construction Conference in Aberdeen in March.

The ideas for hosting the conference and holding the competition emerged from the Aberdeen Environmental Forum, in recognition of the need to move towards more sustainable construction to help tackle climate change and other environmental problems.

The schools which entered the competition were given advice by the Aberdeen Environment Education Centre, Save Cash and Reduce Fuel (SCARF) and art teachers, and were paired with an architect through the Architects in Schools scheme which has been running in the city for almost 20 years.

Tullos Primary children designed a family home powered by renewable energy, and featuring a wind turbine and a bio-diverse garden. The St Machar Academy pupils came up with several different concepts for sustainable living, including a home built into a rockface and a home with a turbine powered by a waterfall.

A week-long exhibition of display boards showing the winning designs will open tomorrow [Fri, July 6] in the walkway connecting John Lewis and the Bon Accord shopping mall. The designs will then be put up at the AEEC base above Skene Square School.

The judges this year were Robert Gordon University architecture lecturer Gokay Deveci, Aberdeen City Council environmental strategist Jan Falconer, city council EcoCity project officer Sinclair Laing, Hazel Carnegie from the AEF and AEEC business training manager Heather Farquhar.

Prize money was provided by the city council, Robertson Construction and SCARF and will be put towards environmental projects of the schools’ choosing.

Sinclair Laing said: “The entries were very impressive and showed just how concerned the younger generation is about sustainability. The competition was also a great learning experience for the pupils because it involved so many different subjects on the curriculum, including maths, science, art and design, environmental studies and citizenship.”

The competition will be run again next year with extra sponsorship and support from John Lewis.

John Lewis operations manager Robert Garnish said: “Good business and sustainablity go hand in hand so John Lewis is very pleased to be supporting this initiative.”