Students aged 13-15 years old transformed 600kg of scrap fabric to create 3 recycled rooms. This education programme was designed in collaboration with the Grimshaw Foundation and invited young people from 3 state schools to immerse themselves in creative learning activities to demonstrate the power of creative action in response to climate change.

Each school designed and built their installation throughout 3 workshops, starting with an introduction to the waste crisis before experimenting with techniques to deconstruct and reconstruct scrap textiles. In collaboration with architect and creative volunteers students developed a site specific concept design, focused on a key theme and in response to the spatial characteristics of their location. 

Parliament Hill school redesigned the atrium of their art and DT staircase to highlight the amount of ocean pollution caused by the textile industry. Laundry alone contributes half a million tonnes of ocean plastic microfibers per year.

Regent High School created a floating canopy next to their busy school reception, dedicated to their S.E.N. peers as a sensory space to provide refuge from busy school spaces.

Stratford School Academy took part in a group exhibition at The Lab E20 and utilised surplus army fabric sourced by fashion designer Christopher Raeburn. Students’ inspiration was rooted in mental health and drew on the playful act of den-making to create a safe space to destress.  

In a recent survey of young adults ages 16–25, almost 60 percent said that they felt “very worried” or “extremely worried” about climate change. (Child Mind Institue) The recycled rooms seeked to address this context in a positive and creative way.