Housing Agency architects Adele Lacey and Noelle Sweeney and the IAF’s Curator of Learning, Blaithin Quinn, facilitated these  workshops. Participating students learned to read the built environment carefully and critically. They then worked in groups to propose housing solutions in response to the exhibition and including new ideas of their own. They certainly rose to the challenge!

Here’s what the three groups from St Paul’s Secondary School, Greenhills proposed, in their own words…

Students’ slide presentations:

Housing Unlocked TY – Greenhills Neighbourhood Centre

Housing Unlocked TY – Greenhills Redesign Site

These Transition Year workshops were part of the IAF’s wider learning and engagement programme at Housing Unlocked, which ran from October 2022 to February 2023. The TY workshops provided a unique opportunity for participating students to engage with the housing solutions on display in the Housing Unlocked exhibition and to gain insights into the process and profession of architecture from housing experts.

In parallel, the IAF has been running the 11th annual Architects in Schools programme throughout the 2022-23 school year. Qualified architects gave hands-on design workshops to TY students within the school setting, this year focusing on the theme of Spaces for Learning. The call for schools to participate in Architects in Schools 2023-24 is now open. Interested teachers can read more and apply through the Open Call for Schools page.

Photo: Architect Noelle Sweeney and St Paul’s Secondary students during their workshop at Housing Unlocked, courtesy of the students.