Drivers Jonas - General Other - Kilburn, London
Date: 03 Apr 2008
London property consultants, Drivers Jonas (DJ), hosted a special two-day event giving inner-city GCSE pupils a feel for life in the property industry and an understanding of the urban environment.
St Augustine's School, Kilburn, was selected from the group of inner London schools that Drivers Jonas supports through its charitable foundation. The 25-strong group of 15 year olds took part in the two-day event with the first day being an opportunity to learn about the industry and built environment through guided visits to sites around central London. This included an onsite presentation on the Docklands development in a Canary Wharf tower followed by a presentation by Thames Gateway at their offices on the regeneration in the east of London including the Lea Valley Olympics site.
After lunch DJ arranged for the pupils to have a guided tour of Tate Modern detailing the building's history and life cycle while a curator for the Tate explained the development process of a once defunct building to the present day. The next stop, via a river-bus with a property quiz en route, was Tate Britain in Pimlico where the final talk of the day was on architecture and how the design of buildings seeks to reduce the terrorism threat and deal with security.
Tony Guthrie, partner at Drivers Jonas, said: "This is the sixth year DJ has delivered the business challenge to an inner-city London school and we worked hard to show the students a varied and inspiring day, highlighting development in action through some recognisable landmarks across their city. It was essential we gave them a backdrop and inspiration for their hands-on challenge for day two."
Guthrie continued: "These children have not naturally been exposed to the professional working environment, hence Drivers Jonas challenges their preconceptions to give these students an equal opportunities in education and help them achieve excellence. As well as an introduction to business this is a team-working challenge and for some, this was their first time visiting London's famous landmarks."
Day two was based in DJ's City office where the pupils were briefed by planning experts and set a challenge to redevelop the nine acre site of St Augustine's School and immediate area in Kilburn. The groups had appointments with planning, residential and office advisors plus a supermarket operator and set to work on their redevelopment, incorporating everything they had learnt.
In addition, a representative from the London Towers Basketball Team popped in offering to pay £8.5 million for a new stadium on a major portion of the site. Keeping the task fun, the group had a large scale plan with removable scale buildings and also had the opportunity to work with DJ's CAD designers to create computer images of their proposed development.
Each team presented their proposed development to their peers and a panel of judges. They received feedback and were awarded prizes for their efforts. The students commented to their tutors that they particularly liked the idea of trashing their school site and seeing the process of redevelopment.
Councillor Alastair Moss, chairman of the Planning and City Development Committee for City of Westminster, attended the group sessions on day two. Cllr Moss said: "Having spent time with each group as they plan, redesign, finance and problem solve their way through the challenge, it's hugely rewarding to witness their creativity and enthusiasm. This is a great opportunity to show students first hand the wide range of career options associated with the built environment and help them understand the linkage between education and employment."
(L-R back row): Councillor Alastair Moss, Tony Guthrie, partner at Drivers Jonas, Doug Fawcett, teacher at St.Augustine's School. (L-R front row): Selection of pupils from St.Augustine's School
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