Time frame | Lesson notes

Related materials to download
Examples of shopping centre design (pdf 752KB)
Ideas for the Westgate Centre (pdf 186KB)
Street Collage file 1 (pdf 1.08MB)
Street Collage file 2 (pdf 356KB)

Time frame

The street collage will take 50 minutes or one teaching session. Allow 10 minutes per group to present their designs.

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Lesson notes

Students apply their knowledge of the urban design qualities through the creation of a cut-and-paste collage (the collage can be based on the site analysed and surveyed in previous lessons).

For the street collage you will need:

• examples of shopping centre design: this handout will give the students some ideas for their designs
• ideas for the Westgate Centre: this handout shows some ideas already put forward for the site
• the street collage files 1 and 2: print out one for each group plus a few spares for repeats on A1 sheets. These files contain a street elevation of the Westgate site and sheets of images of building fronts. These images of buildings fronts, which may or may not be found on an urban street, are all approximately the same scale. They represent a variety of sizes and styles and show a range of uses (shops, offices, housing, cinema, etc).
• glue, scissors, colored felt pens, and rulers for each student
• sheets of acetate for improvised drawings of buildings and other site amenities.

The street collage exercise

This is an opportunity for students to engage in creative activities, to experiment with the visual effects of their decisions and to see the end results of the design principles applied. The aim is to create an elevation or street scene that represents the choice of activities and building functions recommended in the students’ presentations for the development of the site.

Arrange students into their walkabout groups, and give each the set of materials printed out from the street collage files. The Westgate street elevation should be used as the base for their collage. The elevation image is printed in two sections and should be cut and taped together at the matching ends.

Groups select from the image sheets buildings that best match the design recommendations from their site analysis presentations in the previous session, and cut up the large sheets of building fronts into individual buildings. While creating the street face of the development, students can also make suggestions for buildings’ uses behind the collective street front. Buildings are then pasted in to form a streetscape which will deliver their recommendations.

As they select individual buildings for inclusion, ask them to explain which aspect of the recommendations they deliver and how.

Encourage discussion about:

• the mix of uses their buildings will deliver
• the way the street faces (if it is south-facing or south-west facing are there larger windows and solar panels, if it is north or east facing are there conservatories or porches and smaller windows to deliver sustainable buildings? )
• trees on the street: what will they contribute (e.g. increased shading (good when south-facing not good when north facing) increased oxygen, reduced dust and pollution, etc.)
• access for various user groups (pushchairs, elderly, cyclists, etc.)
• how the place would feel at night (are there enough windows and doors close to the street?)
• the walking distance to a street which turns off between their buildings (do they want to leave a gap and make a new street through and if so would this compromise the clear distinction of fronts and backs (perimeter blocks) and thus safety and security through giving access to the backs of gardens and houses?)
• do the buildings look right in their context?

Encourage students to draw new buildings or to modify or repeat the ones they have been given if they wish.

Once they have completed their streets pin the results on the wall and encourage a discussion about similarities and differences.

Ask students to explain their streets, and what the key or best feature is.

Encourage them to discuss which element they think works the least well and why.

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