University of Sussex and University of Brighton:
InQbate: the Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning in Creativity
| Contact Details: | Tom Hamilton, Sussex University, t.hamilton@sussex.ac.uk Richard Morris, Brighton University http://www.inqbate.co.uk/ |
| Type of Project: | Refurbishment project: a total of £3.75 million, structured as initial capital funding, then recurrent funding over 5 years, to develop innovative teaching and learning in creativity within both student populations, and to then disseminate those findings out to the wider HE community. The reason it was a refurbishment is because it was stipulated in the funding programme. There are two sites: one at the University of Sussex and another equivalent site at the University of Brighton. This is a joint initiative with Sussex as the lead. Although the overall design aims are aligned, each has taken a slightly different approach in their interpretation. |
| Start/End Date: | The project money was awarded in March 2005 University of Sussex: April 2006 - March 2007 The first year was primarily focussed on design. Actual building commenced in April 2006 and will be concluded in March 2007. University of Brighton: July 2005 - March 2007 Work was able to start almost immediately in July 2005 as the HEFCE funding was combined with existing internal funding to enlarge the project scope. Work is also due to be completed in March 2007. |
What Are Your Top Tips..
...For a successful new build? For embedding IT? For installing technology?
My number one tip would be the importance of getting buy-in to the vision from all stakeholder groups concerned in the project.
Creating a truly innovative learning space, like any innovative design, doesn't just involve educating tutors in how they might teach differently, it also impacts on a range of different administrative and support departments i.e. HR, Estates, ITS, cleaning etc. It's not something you can do just in isolation - you have to get their buy-in, you need to have senior support, and you need to have effective funding in place because you'll probably need them to be innovative in their approach too.
Because designing innovative spaces is such a complex process, it challenges most educational institutions and it requires a little bit more investment in terms of willingness to do things differently - you have to remain flexible in order to address some of the unexpected issues that only surface during the build phase. This needs to be factored into the design process.
The other thing I would stress is the importance of an iterative design process, planning design and development in stages with clear points for reflection and review - is the current design really possible? does the design still support the underlying needs? etc.
It's not always easy to be definite about the eventual design when you are trying to do anything innovative, especially when you are using new technologies. I think you need to make sure that you factor into the project planning, points where you can stop and review progress, potential and how this maps back to need...
A final tip would be to try to get clear visual representations of the design at each stage. One of the biggest obstacles we have faced in building an innovative space is getting people to buy in to something they didn't fully understand. Getting yourself good visual representations, whether that's a physical model, virtual model, layouts or artist's impressions, can make all the difference - people can only really give you the right input if they really understand what you are trying to achieve.
