Interior Design students from De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) are putting the finishing touches to plans which are set to transform a football club and help to revitalise the community.
(Back) Yash Sampat, 21, and Caroline, Peck, 20. (Front) Youna Choi, 24, Rizwanaa Patel, 20, and Binta Samateh, 22.
The second year students are putting their expertise to good use by drawing up state-of-the-art designs to revamp Thurnby Rangers Football Club in the Thurnby Lodge area of the city.
They are working towards a brief to redesign the community area and changing rooms in order to ‘move the club forward’ to benefit everyone living in the area.
Thurnby Rangers will then use the student designs to attract funding for a clubhouse revamp, which will engage more people from the surrounding community.
The student project is part of the #DMUlocal project, which uses the skills, experience and talent of students and academics to help communities across Leicester.
RELATED NEWS
Be Inspired. Come to the next DMU Open Day
Interior Design students work against the clock to win national competition
How #DMUlocal projects have helped prisoners feel part of the community
Senior Interior Design Lecturer, Stuart Wright, said the redesign project was giving students real life experience of working to industry standards and regulations.
He said: “Students are working hard to come up with viable plans that should make a real difference to Thurnby Lodge. They are keen to meet the needs of the community by showing what a football club of the future should inspire to.
“They are gaining invaluable experience about how to work on a brief, develop design principles and manage client expectations.”
The students have been working on their clubhouse designs for a couple of months as part of their degree’s ‘Principles of Design’ module. The six students are expected to present their designs to football club bosses soon.
Mr Wright added: “We expect the football club to be really excited with what we have come up with. The designs are creative and may push the boundaries more than they think.”
Students have visited Thurnby Rangers and talked to members to find out what they would like to see at their clubhouse. They have also visited Leicester City Football Club for some inspiration on what can be achieved at a sports club.
Yash Sampat, 21, second year Interior Design student, said: “It’s a great experience for us as it’s a live project that will get us ready for working in the industry. We are giving back to the community at the same time.”
Thurnby Rangers Football Club Treasurer, Peter Billson, said DMU was helping to make the club’s dream of becoming a community hub one step closer to reality.
He said: “We’re really excited about this project, we jumped at the chance to be involved and we can’t wait to see the plans.
“The students are helping us to futureproof the football club. We want the facilities to be opened up to the community to use. There are some great things happening on the estate and we want to be at the forefront of it.”
Posted on Monday 15 January 2018