Dyson School of Design Innovation

Design Education Cleans Up?

B. Salton

Plans for a groundbreaking new school in Bath have recently been approved by the local council. This pioneering specialist school for design and engineering is the dream of Sir James Dyson. Due to open in 2010, ‘The Dyson School of Design Innovation’ (www.dysonschool.com) is part of the wider government scheme to update the way we teach 14-19 year olds.

The 14-19 Reform (www.dcsf.gov.uk/14-19) is a system based on motivating and challenging young people in a different environment from the traditional classroom. The Reform will introduce a diploma system that will strengthen the established GCSE and A-Level qualifications as well as offering choice, flexibility and the opportunity for early specialisation. Dyson’s philosophy for the school compliments the Reform. He states, “If Britain wants to be more than a mere trading partner, we need to create exciting and useful products and technology. And to make this happen we need to start with education.” The aim of the Reform is to create fully supported national scale apprentice systems, encouraged and maintained by ‘Centres of Excellence’. These will be heavily reliant on the participation of local authorities, colleges, schools, local businesses and employers. Engineers from businesses—such as Rolls-Royce, Airbus, Williams F1, Rotork and of course Dyson—will work with students on real projects and go on to act as mentors, offering a path into employment after education.

This is a serious business. The amount of money to build the School is an estimated £25m, £12m of which has been contributed by Dyson himself. The school will be fully equipped with cutting-edge apparatus such as rapid prototyping machines and 3D scanners—facilities often only seen in specialist research labs. Where other tweaks in the educational system have fallen by the wayside, these new centres are being touted as national areas of distinction, they are being pumped full of money and have a serious long term strategic plan.

The building itself has been designed by London-based architectural practice Wilson Eyre (www.wilkinsoneyre.com). The location of the school is in the historical industrial centre of Bath, an area undergoing regeneration; the school will maintain the lower façades of the original building (Stothert and Pitt). The architecture promotes the ideology of the cross-disciplinary nature of the teaching; the workshops will be open-plan and visible rather than at the end of a long dark corridor in the basement of a Victorian annex. There will be a huge central atrium which will be filled with famous prototypes from industry, both successful and otherwise, acting as a constant reminder to the students that failed prototypes are an important part of problem solving and design. Not only is the spatial design forward thinking, but also the structure itself is sustainable. Low energy technology will be used to build it, the reinforced concrete walls aid the passive ventilation (cleaner than power guzzling air conditioning), and the nearby river is being utilised to maintain the ecological heating and cooling systems.

We will have to wait to see how successful the 14-19 Reform will be in general education, but in terms of design I am sure it can only be a success. Design is not best taught or learnt in the rows of a classroom. It is fundamentally about practice, play, problem solving and tactile interaction. With the School of Design Innovation due to open in the next few years, I say the future is bright. Dyson is helping to clean up design education.

Dyson School, Atrium View
Dyson School, Atrium View



Back

 


search

 

 


Archives

September 2020 (2)
August 2020 (1)
July 2020 (1)
June 2020 (1)
May 2020 (2)
February 2020 (1)
October 2019 (1)
September 2019 (2)
July 2019 (1)
June 2019 (1)
May 2019 (1)
April 2019 (2)
March 2019 (4)
December 2018 (2)
November 2018 (4)
October 2018 (4)
September 2018 (8)
August 2018 (7)
July 2018 (11)
June 2018 (11)
May 2018 (13)
April 2018 (11)
March 2018 (12)
February 2018 (13)
January 2018 (18)
December 2017 (8)
November 2017 (15)
October 2017 (17)
September 2017 (14)
August 2017 (18)
July 2017 (10)
June 2017 (12)
May 2017 (12)
April 2017 (15)
March 2017 (15)
February 2017 (22)
January 2017 (13)
December 2016 (9)
November 2016 (14)
October 2016 (11)
September 2016 (19)
August 2016 (13)
July 2016 (11)
June 2016 (16)
May 2016 (19)
April 2016 (17)
March 2016 (9)
February 2016 (15)
January 2016 (14)
December 2015 (7)
November 2015 (15)
October 2015 (12)
September 2015 (5)
August 2015 (12)
July 2015 (16)
June 2015 (9)
May 2015 (15)
April 2015 (11)
March 2015 (16)
February 2015 (14)
January 2015 (14)
December 2014 (13)
November 2014 (15)
October 2014 (18)
September 2014 (14)
August 2014 (10)
July 2014 (14)
June 2014 (13)
May 2014 (22)
April 2014 (12)
March 2014 (12)
February 2014 (16)
January 2014 (19)
December 2013 (8)
November 2013 (33)
October 2013 (17)
September 2013 (20)
August 2013 (15)
July 2013 (6)
June 2013 (14)
May 2013 (17)
April 2013 (17)
March 2013 (16)
February 2013 (14)
January 2013 (16)
December 2012 (8)
November 2012 (20)
October 2012 (22)
September 2012 (17)
August 2012 (17)
July 2012 (22)
June 2012 (13)
May 2012 (20)
April 2012 (16)
March 2012 (28)
February 2012 (15)
January 2012 (17)
December 2011 (17)
November 2011 (24)
October 2011 (14)
September 2011 (21)
August 2011 (20)
July 2011 (21)
June 2011 (22)
May 2011 (18)
April 2011 (22)
March 2011 (18)
February 2011 (20)
January 2011 (37)
December 2010 (40)
November 2010 (41)
October 2010 (31)
September 2010 (45)
August 2010 (22)
July 2010 (24)
June 2010 (51)
May 2010 (69)
April 2010 (42)
March 2010 (60)
February 2010 (39)
January 2010 (39)
December 2009 (52)
November 2009 (38)
October 2009 (64)
September 2009 (66)
August 2009 (46)
July 2009 (54)
June 2009 (55)
May 2009 (60)
April 2009 (53)
March 2009 (64)
February 2009 (52)
January 2009 (58)
December 2008 (51)
November 2008 (43)
October 2008 (72)
September 2008 (86)
August 2008 (46)
July 2008 (74)
June 2008 (67)
May 2008 (63)
April 2008 (25)
March 2008 (21)