ARU Civil Engineering students and construction company Willmott Dixon worked together on a Live Brief to generate new design proposals for a footbridge crossing over the river Chelmer near to ARU’s Chelmsford campus.
Students carried out in-depth analysis of factors influencing design options, including cost, aesthetics, material choice, construction type, local soil and geology, environmental impact, and resistance to flood risk. They presented their design proposal options to Richard Davidson, Director of New Business at Willmott Dixon, who provided detailed professional feedback to the students.
Richard described how the Live Brief has benefited Willmott Dixon. He told us:
“The Live Brief working with ARU has been really exciting for me as an employer, getting to meet some of the students and really understanding their dynamism and how they approach the brief."
"What's fascinating for me is seeing the solutions that they've proposed are actually as good as, if not better than some of my colleagues."
"That means we can put back into the industry, we can see those students develop, and it's really great to see a pipeline of talent being nurtured."
"So for me, that’s why I want to be here - I want to give back, but I also want to help improve the sector and improve my business.”
Hear from Richard and some of our students about their Live Brief experience:
Richard Davidson, Director at Willmott Dixon, talks about his live brief experience
Bruce Glasgow, a BEng (Hons) Civil Engineering student at ARU, shares his experiences.