For the past five years, students involved in the Sacred Heart College Design Futures Lab have participated in Geelong Design Week. The Design Futures Lab brings together emerging student talent with experts in regenerative initiatives across material science, technology, activism, and design. It creates a collaborative space for experimentation, hands-on learning, and meaningful societal impact.
For Geelong Design Week 2026 (2–11 October 2026), Sacred Heart College presents "Regenerative Matter(s)"—a showcase of two major student-led projects exploring different scales of making with a shared purpose: imagining what materials, spaces, and communities can become.
Created by more than 400 Sacred Heart College students, PURE POTENTIAL transforms thousands of discarded face masks into an expansive textile installation using sewing, silkscreen printing, and natural dyeing. The project explores themes of material regeneration, community, mindfulness, movement, and human potential.
Developed in partnership with Zero Point Yoga, the installation links material regeneration directly with architectural space and community wellbeing. As part of Geelong Design Week, a prototype was installed inside Zero Point Yoga's vast warehouse space. Working with translucent deadstock interlining fabric, students designed and tested a custom cable system—replicated from the studio's existing setup—to explore light, movement, scale, and material performance on site.
Following Design Week, the installation will be suspended from the warehouse ceiling at Zero Point Yoga, serving as an evolving platform for new student-designed iterations throughout the year. As each installation cycle concludes, the materials will be repurposed into textile products for the school’s Mercy Works program. Remaining textiles will be transformed into reusable tote bags, completing a fully circular lifespan ("From waste to wonder; from discarded to reimagined").
The Tiny House initiative is a whole-school design-and-build project created in collaboration with expert industry mentors from Surf Coast Tiny Homes. The goal is to design and construct a fully functional 7-meter tiny house that will ultimately be donated to support people experiencing hardship in the local community.
Led and managed by the Design Futures Lab as primary project managers and decision-makers, the initiative integrates learning across multiple academic disciplines, including visual communication, mathematics, environmental science, and business studies.
James, Gavin, and Fi from Surf Coast Tiny Homes serve as ongoing mentors. The collaboration began in March 2026 when students attended the Mornington Tiny House Expo to interview the team and examine their designs. Since then, the Surf Coast Tiny Homes team has visited the school every three weeks for practical workshops to help students troubleshoot, test prototypes, and navigate upcoming construction phases. Students also visit the Surf Coast Tiny Homes factory to experience engineering and fabrication processes firsthand as designs move into building stages.
Construction is now underway, beginning with the installation of subflooring and insulation.
The College is currently in discussions with two community organisations to decide the final placement of the completed tiny house. Students are directly involved in reviewing these opportunities to ensure the home reaches a community where it will provide the greatest support.
Together, PURE POTENTIAL and the Tiny House project demonstrate how discarded materials can be reimagined, how academic learning becomes tangible through hands-on making, and how student design can build meaningful connections across materials, industry, and the local community.
