Constructionarium is a field trip suitable for any student studying a Built Environment related qualification. It offers students the chance to apply their theoretical knowledge to industrial problems with a range of projects which mirror the complexities of real life on site with a scale the classroom cannot provide.
Students are part of an interdisciplinary team and learn that real projects can be messy or complicated and are not divided neatly into subject areas. In their various roles of steel fixer or drawings manager the students are mentored by professionals and encouraged to make their own decisions (and mistakes!) throughout the week.
Often this will be the first time students have been on a construction site before and it can be a life changing experience. As co-founder Alison Ahearn of Imperial College London describes it: “Students genuinely construct, take decisions and handle the risks so they genuinely own the results. Hence the shift, in many, from engineering student to student engineer.”
Students from University of Southampton, October 2020
For academic institutions
Constructionarium can be offered as an integrated module of a degree syllabus or as an optional field trip by universities. F.E. Colleges and University Technical Colleges have also attended. The JBM (Joint Board of Moderators), the ICE (Institution of Civil Engineers) and the IStructE (Institution of Structural Engineers) fully support and endorse Constructionarium and we receive high levels of student satisfaction.
Students are split into teams and can undertake the project which best meets their learning requirements, they will be assessed throughout the week in respect of health and safety, budgetary control and project management capability. Constructionarium offers an ‘authentic’ learning experience where learning is amplified as it takes place in a real world context.
Constructionarium teaches transferable skills such as communication, teamwork, leadership and time management in a practical way and the exposure to industry partners gives students a level of commercial awareness and a realistic taste of what life on site is like.
University of Southampton building the Gherkin, October 2020
For industry partners
Our industry partners have the opportunity to partner with an academic institute and use Constructionarium to inspire the next generation of Contractors, Consultants, Engineers, Designers, Quantity Surveyors, Architects and Construction Managers. Many of our partners use Constructionarium to raise their recruitment profile or even as an extended interview process where students can be observed as they work in teams, under pressure and subject to time constraints. Staff who attend Constructionarium to manage and mentor students also benefit from the opportunity to step up to a supervisory role.
Constructionarium can also be used as part of a graduate or apprentice induction programme to share Health & Safety behaviours and company values. They use the opportunity to develop the core personal skills (communication, team-working, project management) that each individual will need as they embark on their development programme.
Costain on site with students from University of Southampton, October 2020
