On Tuesday 16 January, 12 Lower Sixth students visited the head office of interior design organisation Envoplan, in Hemel Hempstead, for the launch of our annual business partnership, which gives students the opportunity to gain real-life experience of working on a business project. Envoplan, which specialises in the education sector, has designed, and will produce, the interiors of Woldingham’s new Sixth Form Centre and Library.

The students received introductions from Sales and Marketing Director Bruce Evershed and Adam England, Strategic Consultant for partner company Noble & Eaton, before a tour of the factory, where they witnessed machines cutting and ‘edging’ materials as well as the assembly of specific parts of furniture. The factory manager explained the various parts of the factory and talked about recent efficiency gains and cultural changes in how the factory is run.

Back in the boardroom, Head of Design Roberto Palmer talked to the students about a range of innovative design features used to achieve effective work and social spaces for students. The students were split into a ‘design’ team and a ‘marketing’ team and were given their briefs. The design team’s project is to: ‘Develop the design intent for a central hub for a school which fosters neuro-inclusion and wellbeing, including 3-5 core principles for wellbeing that can be applied across the school built environment’. The challenge ahead for the marketing team is to: ‘Write a marketing plan to launch a suite of furnishings suitable for school environments that are sustainable and support a zero carbon emissions policy.’

The visit helped the students to understand more about Envoplan’s operation and think deeply about the design, production and marketing aspects of the company. This was a great foundation for the work they will do as teams over the next few months to plan solutions to their brief. They will have the opportunity to ask Envoplan staff questions at a couple of virtual meetings as their projects progress before formally presenting their recommendations to the company.

The students are excited about the project ahead and found this week’s visit very valuable:

Willow W - It was interesting to see the challenges of a business in the real world and understand its objectives and future goals. It was an incredible opportunity for us to see what we’ve been learning in our business lessons come to life and for us to understand the design process of our new Sixth Form Centre and Library.

Mia R - It was really interesting to see how different parts of a business work and to see the different stages of how Envoplan delivers the product to the customer.