Spider Web Drain Cover

The storm drain which runs through the site ends at an unsightly grate over the tunnel, which captures rubbish, well some of it.

The students who have taken on this problem have been looking at spider webs as way to design a grill to stop the rubbish entering the pipe. As well as being a great idea, they are looking to extend the design as to act as a focal point for the area, by making the web cover the ugly bit of fencing above the drain. They will be looking at various webs from native spiders over the next week as they refine their design and also thinking about the possibilities of including a filtering system to improve the quality of the water before it enters the Northern Wairoa river.

Super Furry Fence

Through our work looking at ways in which animals, plants and insects protect themselves, these students have been developing ways to protect the fences from graffiti. This is example is using nylon bristles and they are going to try out a range of materials to see what works best. It is not just protecting the fences but also to make them look aesthetically pleasing as well. next week we hope to try out various materials on a full scale mock up. The top image as been photoshoped as we are also looking at including light into the design as well.

Mini Golf Course

What every town needs is a mini golf course and hopefully these are the boys who will be providing Dargaville with its very own course. Work is ongoing but they have been working on designs for the 9 holes and the first is based on the clock tower on the old post office building. Other ideas are to use aspects of the landscape and buildings in the region to include in the course.

Green House

This group have been looking at seating and shelter in Gordon St. In the past a house stood on the site, but due to flooding, hence the storm drain, the house was moved. So the idea will be to recreate a room of the house as the seating area. The image shows the idea, but also to offer shelter it is hoped to build a structure based on the outline of the old house. The roof will then provide a space for a living roof, which is another one of their ideas. I will post the house image when it is completed.

Playground

The playground design has been updated and now includes the worlds only DNA slide/ladder, well we think it is the worlds only one. There are more things to add including incorporating the periodic table into the design, chromosomes, molecules and many other things. One thing I found when looking at playgrounds was a very interesting project in Ghana, where a push roundabout has been built, which not only provides children with fun, but it also generates electricity to charge up LED lamps for use in the school and home, brilliant. We shall keep you posted. Also in researching playgrounds I have found some interesting sites and will list them for your information.

Students Design Update

We have had a number of sessions last week and we have continued to develop our ideas. The designs are still work in progress and over the next couple of sessions we hope to get them to a more completed stage and then get some professional input. After that we will look at funding options.

Vertical Gardens

We had our first vertical salad at the weekend and very nice it was. A few plants have not flourished, so I will be doing some replanting, but most are doing well. Just have to stop the dog and cats drinking all the nutrient water.

Vertical Garden Update

Student Design Ideas

Students Ideas for Gordon St.

I have been working again with Year 10 science students and Mr Barnes their teacher. We have started by looking at a number of ideas and designs which have been inspired by nature, for example camouflage. We looked at a short film on biomimicry,

There are lots of interesting videos on YouTube and sites such as AskNature, which provide more information on biomimicry. 


I have added some of the students early work, so we can see how it develops overtime, we hope to have the design stage finished before the end of the year, so we can move on to the fun stage of writing funding applications.