Staff and students joined forces to come up with creative designs for a WITT Beautify Our Campus competition.
Armed with paper, coloured pens, cardboard, magazine pictures and imagination teams came up with what they would like the grounds to look like.
WITT facilities manager Charlotte Dunning says the idea came from chief executive Richard Handley.
“He really wanted to get staff and students working together and giving us some feedback about how we should beautify our campus,” she says.
“The purpose of the competition was not to create a design, but to start thinking about concepts and ideas to give to our architect (Brian Elliott) for him to develop into a plan.”
Some of the recurring themes put forward by the groups included removing a steel store at the end of F block to create an outdoor deck or sunny courtyard with paving.
“There was a lot of interest in outdoor activities, like chess sets and basketball courts,” Charlotte says.
Many wanted water features and the overwhelming theme was a call for more green, including grass, gardens and trees.
There was also interest in improving the herb garden outside Impressions restaurant for the hospitality students to use. “Someone made a comment that the only things we plant should be edible or native.”
Charlottesays the teams were asked to think about planning a sense of arrival for a powhiri for F block and a four-pillar entrance was suggested by representatives from the Maori department.
A lot of people suggested a link from the outside balcony of the cafeteria to the courtyard below with stairs. Some even suggested putting in a fireman’s pole or a slide.
“That was the thing – we said there were no limits because we wanted to encourage creativity. That’s what happened; it was all about the fun.”
The teams presented their ideas to a judging panel made up of Peter Rothwell (chief finance officer), Glen West (hospitality), Kim Valintine (foundation studies), Judy Watt (students association) and Ged Guy (head of arts).
The winning teams, which won $500 each, were: The Green Team (art students), Team West (hospitality students) and Spatial Design Team (mix of students and staff).