A group of our HNC Engineering students from Clydebank campus had the chance to pitch to a panel of experts recently when they took part in a project to put forward their ideas for Queens Quay, the £250million regeneration project on the site of the former John Brown’s shipyard.
The students were tasked with developing and presenting individual ideas showcasing the premises that they would like to see included in the Queens Quay development. All eleven students successfully passed the unit, researching the ideas, presenting a written report and finally, pitching the ideas to an invited panel.
The suggestions included a supplement shop, a junior football club, a hotel, food outlets including vegan food and smoothies, and the project which was judged to be the winner – a catering outlet seeking to minimise food waste.
Bill Marley, agency and development partner, Ryden, who is part of the Queens Quay project team sat on the panel alongside Alison Rodgers, Youth Enterprise Scotland; Phil Brown, Curriculum Enhancement Lecturer – Engineering, and Margaret Higgins, Communications lecturer, who designed the unit project.Commenting on the assessment, Margaret said;
“It made perfect sense for us to have Queens Quay as the focus for the communications unit; it’s one of the largest and most ambitious regeneration projects in Scotland and it’s happening right on our doorstep.
- Margaret Higgins, Communications Lecturer
She continued, "The students all worked extremely hard on their pitches, and the inclusion of Bill from the Queens Quay project team on the assessment panel was invaluable as it created a realistic environment for the students. It’s an experience that will undoubtedly benefit them in their future careers.”
Reflecting on his inclusion on the panel, Bill Marley commented:
“It was a great experience being part of the panel. The students were extremely enthusiastic and had some excellent ideas about the types of businesses that they would like to see included in Queens Quay."
- Bill Marley, agency and development partner, Ryden & Queens Quay Project Team
He highlighted the importance of involving young people from the local community saying, "Like the John Brown’s shipyard, Queens Quay, will continue to be an important part of the Clydebank community for generations to come – that’s why collaborations like this, and the input of local young people, are so important.”
About Queens Quay
Once a thriving industrial yard famous for being where the QE2 and Queen Mary ships were built, Queens Quay is now a residential-led, mixed-use waterfront development extending to 80 acres. The £250million regeneration project will transform the site into a vibrant community with over 800 diverse housing units, health and leisure facilities, office and retail elements and civic spaces including parkland and a riverside walk/cycleway.
On completion of the Health Quarter, the housing, retail and leisure elements of the plan will follow and will add to the existing facilities at Queens Quay which include West Dunbartonshire Council’s offices at Aurora House and a new £23.5m leisure centre which opened earlier this year.
The layout of Queens Quay will be a traditional urban grid with a main spine road going through the development and smaller roads going through to the residential grids. There will be a variety of greenspaces designed to have more than one function, such as enhancing biodiversity as well as recreational purposes.
For more information about Queens Quay please visit: www.queens-quay.co.uk
Image: West College Clydebank engineering students with panel members
L-R Bottom row – Alison Rodgers, Margaret Higgins, Bill Marley,
Second row – Cory Hughes, Christopher Lamont, Scott Reilly, Patrick Doherty, Matthew McCracken
Back row – Ailsa Cassidy, Andrew Panayides, Ryan Melville, Kristofer Connaghan, Ainsley Milton, Kurtis Roberts