From pottery to fashion room
Fashion textiles workroom gallery
The new Fabrics and Fashion Technology workroom at Wellington High School reflects teacher Kylie Merrick's commitment to sustainability in her teaching programmes and recycling was a priority during remodelling of the room.
Principal Prue Kelly's long-term goal of establishing a bigger space for the Fabrics and Fashion classes was realised when the Pottery night class moved from the school. Kylie described the room as a 'diamond in the rough' – lots of potential but with a massive clean-up required to get rid of the accumulated decades of clay. The finished room, four times the size of the old one and with increased light from the big windows, has fulfilled Kylie's expectations and opened up possibilities for new activities.
Kylie is revelling in the extra space "I would look up and think people were absent from class because they were so spread out", and especially the increased storage capacity. After identifying her requirements, she had worked with caretaker Stuart Neville who project-managed the redevelopment. The four school caretakers, who between them have cabinet-making, welding, plumbing and electrical skills, did all the construction work.
Future-proofing the room – to allow for different needs or configurations in later years – was a key factor. Kylie added extra power points so that tables can be moved around and machinery used in any spot, and she chose hanging points instead of floor plates so that pins, etc., wouldn't fall into them. A new shelf along one wall presently holds four computers but extra power points there can cater for more in the future. And to control them all – a safety switch was installed so that the teacher can control the power in case of accident. The existing fluorescent tubes were replaced with tubes which provide a more natural light – more expensive but with a longer life.
Keeping on budget was aided by recycling as much as possible from the old Fabrics room – desks, chairs, mirrors, anything that could be unscrewed and shifted. Furniture not in use around the school was also requisitioned and modified where necessary; a coat cupboard, with the addition of shelves, became a bookcase. A little cosmetic surgery added to the fresh, new look of the room – Kylie recovered pin boards in hessian and repainted cubby holes, and the caretakers stripped all the wood and repainted walls. Most of the shelving in the room was built so that it could be removed from the wall and the units reconfigured if necessary. The use of shelves instead of cupboards, despite the necessity of cords across the front in case of earthquake, has made it easier for students to see, access and replace the contents.
The new fitting room was created from metal piping made into a railing so that the curtain can be looped back when not in use, keeping it unobtrusive and in clear line-of-sight of the teacher. The floor was covered in a hard-wearing lino suitable for wet weather, and slip-proof mats added for extra protection near the sink.
Space was allocated for a screen-printing/cleaning zone by the old double sink (now housed in a newly built frame) and hot water plumbed in. New drying and storage racks were built to hold the screens, and the two old pottery tables retained as screen-printing tables –with grooves cut underneath they also provide storage for trolleys. Kylie invested in a new graphic screen-printing machine which takes photographic screen-printing from a three-day process to one lesson.
Now that she has a dedicated screen-printing area Kylie is contemplating what else she might incorporate into her programmes. The increased space gives students the opportunity to print fabric in longer lengths and she might follow this up with different kinds of fabric manipulation.
The storage capacity of the new room has made it easier for students to work on and keep larger projects at school. The removal of kilns from a back room created a large storage area for big roll-out boxes and smaller items in a cubbyhole unit. The height of this area gives the potential for extra storage, possibly accessed via a pulley rack. A smaller area between this section and the classroom is being utilised as storage place for Year 12/13 projects (other students are restricted to the classroom).
The workroom already contained two offices – one, with the addition of a window, is an office for Kylie; the other is used to hold library books, specialist equipment such as the embroidery machine, and to display completed work. Additional pinboards around the workroom can also be used to display student work, and extra whiteboards enable teacher information and notes to be left up longer. Hooks from the ceiling will also be available for displaying work.
The location of the room is also an asset – as well as their aesthetic qualities, the plants outside have proved useful as clotheslines for drying fabric and material for flax weaving. The room shares a gallery space with the Art department, which has led to discussion between Kylie and the Art teacher as to how they might take advantage of their proximity to work on combined projects and share equipment more easily.
Although a mid-year renovation involved some inconvenience, with students working in the old room which had been stripped of some equipment, Kylie says they made do and became innovative with how they did things – and because the students were excited at the prospect of the move they didn't mind the extra effort involved in some activities. All the students appreciate their new work space, especially the seniors who wanted to be in there before they finished school.
RSS Feed
