Our Design Futures Lab students completed the Women in Construction week-long internship at Deakin’s School of Architecture and Built Environment. Working alongside Matthew Flinders students, Deakin’s talented architecture lecturers and practitioners in the industry, they explored endangered bird species, designed and built bespoke nests, and created site-specific installations for the Deakin campus, once home to eucalypt trees that supported these birds.

The project took them through a full design journey: understanding their ‘clients’ (the birds), researching the site, developing concepts, prototyping, building in the workshop and presenting their final pitches to industry, families and the Deakin community.

The experience, skills and confidence gained will be invaluable as we move into our next major project, designing and building a tiny house on wheels to be donated. We are also thrilled to welcome our Deakin mentors to join this exciting new project.