Interior Design students launch website to showcase designs

Year 2 Interior Design students have designed and launched a website to exhibit collaborative projects with the Pirate Castle in Camden Town and celebrate their creative activities of the past academic year.

Students worked with the Pirate Castle, a community centre for boating and outdoor activities on the Regent’s Canal, from October to December 2019 in a design module, ReHab ReUse. The module prompted them to analyse the site and develop design schemes, including a community centre for elderly and youth to interact, an urban farm with honeybees, and performing art studios.

They were planning to exhibit the projects at the Pirate Castle in April 2020 with exhibition display structures they designed and constructed in a design module, Events and Exhibitions. Although the exhibition was cancelled due to the pandemic, students developed the website all together by organising series of online discussions and workshops from their home countries including Spain, Saudi Arabia, Norway, India, Lebanon, and London, UK. Some of them joined the online meetings from a hotel room from lockdown.

Siddhi Ghodgaonkar said: 'It is an opportunity to be creative and innovative as budding designers, especially in this digital age!'

Nadim El Majzoub said: 'Communicating virtually was a challenge we had to face. We went from being all united in one workshop to each being in a different country.'

Emma Alizee Perquy Diez said: 'Thanks to technology, everything is possible. Creating an online exhibition seems to be a unique and innovative experience.'

Henriette Louise Rustad said: 'We have learned to communicate and work well together as a team. Despite being apart, we transitioned to online learning and discussions.

'Students who have never made a website helped each other using online tools and achieved to propose their projects and activities to their audience and clients virtually. They have gained confidence and autonomy and it has enabled them to embark on their final year of study.

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