Two North West schools finalists in design and enterprise competition

Two North West schools were shortlisted out of over 280 secondary schools across the UK and internationally for an annual design and enterprise competition. ‘Design Ventura’s’ winner was announced today. 

The competition, which is run by the Design Museum in partnership with Deutsche Bank’s global youth engagement programme Born to Be, is an exciting way for secondary school students across the UK to engage with real-world design opportunities and the world of business. Ten schools were shortlisted. 

Today it was announced that the winning team from The Piggott School in Berkshire won the 2022-23 competition.  

Their design ‘STACK IT!’, is a 3D architectural puzzle set which challenges users to complete different tasks. The product will launch in the Design Museum shop in early 2024, with all proceeds going to Cancer Research UK. 

This year, schools across the UK were given the task of engineering a product in response to this year’s brief of ‘Place’ – how you affect your external environment, and how your environment affects you.  

This brief was set by Senior Architect Innovation Sites Manager at BeFirst, Selasi Setufe MBE, who also acted as part of the esteemed judging panel.  

The product created had to be something that would add value everyday life, and address a social, environmental, or educational issue, retailing for approximately £15. 

From today (28 April) to 25 June an exhibition of the winning product and shortlisted entries from Design Ventura 2022-23 will be on display in the Design Museum. 

The two North West schools shortlisted included Upton Hall FCJ, Birkenhead and Upton-by-Chester High School, Cheshire.  

Upton Hall FCJ’s design ‘Globe’ is a beautiful kirigami kit, with a circular product life and plantable packaging. 

Upton-by-Chester’s design ‘Bee Buddy (BBDY) is reusable bee-house for your garden, providing bees with both food and shelter. 

The winning team from The Piggott School, said: “We’re delighted to have won this year’s Design Ventura competition with our product STACK IT!  

“Entering and winning has been a completely unforgettable experience and we would encourage other students to take part. We’re looking forward to producing our product and seeing it on shelves at the Design Museum!” 

Tim Marlow, CEO and Director at the Design Museum said: “Design Ventura is now in its 13th year and I’m always so impressed by the level of creativity and business acumen shown by all the student teams.  

This year’s winning prize, STACK IT! is no exception. The product meets the needs of its target audience of young people and families, providing different levels of engagement with the design challenge cards.  

“The team were diligent throughout their design process, from initial research to user testing and concocted ideas fora social media marketing campaign.  

“Overall, the programme does fantastic work in helping children to develop business knowledge as well as nurturing creativity and placing design back on their curriculum, and we’re grateful for Deutsche Bank’s support through their Born To Be programme.  

“Every day at the Design Museum we see first-hand the important role that creativity and design plays in a child’s education and we’re so glad to be able to encourage school kids across the UK to develop these skills whilst gaining valuable business experience.”