Architectural Design Students Design Public Safety Building

Published: February 16, 2010 | Read Time: 3 minutes

The SUU experience is designed to provide students with real world exposure to the fields they are studying in the classroom, allowing them to gain a broader understanding of the future that awaits them. For several architectural design students last semester, this life-as-a-classroom approach came in the form of a competition, pitting their creativity and skills against both peers and professionals.

The task: Design a new public safety building for Brian Head City.

The reward: See design become reality, as the winning architectural design was to be selected as the city's future public safety building.

Throughout the fall semester, SUU’s architectural design students slaved over computer drafting software to complete the perfect design – including a usable floor plan and exterior design – for the building.

Once the designs were created, the students went through a thorough regiment of judging from the Brian Head Design Committee and city council. Providing a fitting end to a semester full of work for these soon-to-be professionals, the Brian Head City Council announced their final design selection at the close of the fall semester; and SUU students Michael Peterson, Matthew Walter and Jordan Taylor, all senior construction management majors, all added an impressive new experience to their list of credentials.

According to the first place team of Peterson, Walter and Taylor, the professional experience was by far the greatest perk of this service-learning experience.

Said Taylor, "We spend so much time in classes hearing about theory after theory, and then we get a chance to do something that is real life and that means so much more than sitting in a classroom."

Registered architect and adjunct instructor within the College of Computing, Integrated Engineering and Technology John Sargent also viewed the student contest as a unique academic opportunity. Sargent said all of the students' designs and presentations were exceptionally well done and was proud of the students’ first foray into the professional arena.

Most importantly, noted Sargent, “The project provided students with an invaluable experience in developing a design concept for a governmental entity, and that is something they will never forget.” He added, “It should also prove very useful as they enter the job market or apply for graduate school.”

Of their winning design, the team said, "It was practical, leaving room for expansion on the lot. It was also extremely functional."

In addition to having their design turned into an actual building, the winning team, as well as the second, third, fourth and fifth place design teams, were all awarded scholarships for their efforts. With high incentives, the students all worked incredibly hard to create the best design possible. Awards were given as follows:

Second place team (tie): John Bates, senior, CAD/CAM technology; and the team of James Gillmore, senior, engineering technology and Jillian Strand, junior engineering technology.

Fourth place team: Jed Atkinson, sophomore, integrated engineering and Sean Madill, sophomore, integrated engineering.

Fifth place team: Ragan Pickering, senior, construction management and Franklin Reeves, senior, construction management.

---

Contact Information:

435-586-5400
Contact the Office of Marketing Communication