9 June 2021

Students Rise With The Phoenix

Students Rise With The Phoenix

Students from East Sussex College Lewes have been generating ideas for the redevelopment of the Phoenix industrial estate in the town, as part of a virtual work experience project

The project, which began in January 2021, is managed by Lewes-based arts and education charity, Culture Shift, with support from eco-development company, Human Nature, and engineer Eleanor Earl, from Arup.

Last month, 11 groups of students presented their ideas to a live audience, which included representatives from Human Nature, Councillor Adrian Ross, Chair of Lewes District Council, and Guy Sweeney, Economic Development and Regeneration Officer at Lewes District Council. The students, who study Animation & Illustration and Art & Design, came up with 3D models, designs for ‘parklets’ - small green spaces that include seating and bike parking, and created films to share their ideas with the audience.

Councillor Adrian Ross said, “It was great to attend the presentation and to see the students’ designs. I was really inspired by many of their ideas and really hope that, with Human Nature, we can bring some of the designs to fruition in Lewes District.”

Mark Watts, Assistant Principal at ESC Lewes, praised the project and the students, saying, “We are so proud to be celebrating the success of our creative and digital students in the Your Town Engineers project. This work experience brief has been an amazing experience for the students, who can move on from college with this on their CV.”

Lily Holbrook, Communications Lead at Human Nature, said after the event, “From my perspective, the entire programme was brilliantly facilitated by both Culture Shift and East Sussex College. The work the students produced was outstanding. We were particularly impressed by the way they responded to our feedback throughout, and presented their work at the end of the project. It was a pleasure to watch their progress over the course of the programme, and I was delighted to be involved. I look forward to working with the students over the summer to build some of their parklets and then exhibit their work at our Phoenix Project Design Festival in September.”

The project forms part of Your Town Engineers and is funded through the Royal Academy of Engineering’s Ingenious Fund. It’s designed to encourage students to think about careers in engineering by developing design solutions to improve their local area:
www.cultureshift.org.uk/yourtownengineers