Best Design Winners announced for Mission Mammoth STEAMfest 2024 #Smeaton300

Eleven winning entries were recognised at the Mission Mammoth STEAMfest Awards evening hosted by Arts University Plymouth to celebrate the best designs for creating a Mammoth House.

The Awards follow on from a fun-packed Mission Mammoth STEAMFest week held at The Box in July organised by Building Plymouth which attracted almost 400 primary aged children, representing 11 primary schools and home educated children. Designed to inspire and engage children with the world of construction and the built environment, they worked together with over 80 construction professionals including architects, engineers, project managers, landscape designers, sustainability champions and surveyors, to help shape their creative ideas to design an imaginary ‘Mammoth House.’

Working together with the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) and the University of Plymouth, this year’s activities included a new twist to emphasise the importance of civil engineering which followed on from the 300th anniversary of the birth of British civil engineer John Smeaton who famously designed Plymouth’s Smeaton’s Tower. Throughout June in the build-up to Mission Mammoth week, nearly 300 local primary school children visited the famous lighthouse, where they met real-life, modern civil engineers and learnt about John Smeaton to bring their new learning into play ahead of designing their Mammoth House.

Judged by an industry panel, the evening celebrated the award finalists and the following overall winners who proudly collected their mammoth figures and certificates:
• Thinking Like a Quantity Surveyor Award – won by Jasmine Nguyen – Woodfield Primary School and presented by Ward Williams
• Thinking Like a Landscape Architect Award – won by Jakira Matos Sequena Fernandes – St Andrews CofE Primary School and presented by Kier/BAM
• Consideration of Mammoth’s Needs Award – won by Chizobam Chidi, Melissa Andreescu, Nicole He – Stoke Damerel Primary Academy and presented by Devon Contractors
• Thinking Sustainably Award – won by Abigail James & Holly Roper – St Andrews CofE Primary School and presented by Willmott Dixon
• The Spatial Coordination Award – won by Molly Dunn – St Peters RC Primary School and presented by Drew & Co.
• The Most Creative Design Award – won by Olaolu Ibeteye – Mount Street Primary School and presented by Nevada Construction
• The Realisation of Design Award – won by Ava Mackie, Lily Hunter & Elvis Sullivan – Stoke Damerel Primary Academy and presented by Matthew Edwards
• The Quality of Model or Drawing Award – won by Ralphie Tucker – St Peters RC Primary School and presented by Arcadis
• The Thinking Like a Civil Engineer Award – won by Aiden Humphreys – St Andrews CofE Primary School and presented by ICE (The Institution of Civil Engineers)
• The Judges Special Award – won by St Andrews CofE Primary School and presented by BAM Construction
• The Overall Winner of Mission Mammoth 2024 #Smeaton300 Award – won by Ava Mackie, Lily Hunter & Elvis Sullivan – Stoke Damerel Primary Academy and presented by Gilpin Demolition

Presenting at the awards, Cllr Sally Cresswell, Cabinet member for Skills, Education and Apprenticeships at Plymouth City Council said: “Congratulations to all our winners and finalists for this year’s Mission Mammoth design challenge, the children have worked really hard and I am so impressed to see their creative designs. Thank you to Arts University Plymouth for hosting our awards celebration and to all our construction industry friends who have sponsored these awards and helped the children develop their brilliant design ideas. Mildred and George our Mammoths will be very impressed by their new home. Well done everyone!”

The judging panel who had the mammoth challenge of shortlisting the winning entries were thanked:
• Professor Stephen Felmingham – Arts University Plymouth
• Adam Murray– The Box
• Lidia Pearce –Institution of Civil Engineers
• Colin Aldworth – Nevada Construction Ltd
• Adam Arscott – Jubb
• Sam Morcumb – Obedair Construction Ltd
• Nigel Horwell – Arcadis
• Alisha Rodwell– Kier/BAM
• Andy Veasey – Drew & Co
• Holly Watson – Matthew Edward

Morven Maclean, Construction Coordinator for Building Plymouth said: “We are working hard together to inspire and raise awareness about the breadth of career opportunities in construction and the built environment. By delivering STEAMFest, Over the last 3 years we have positively influenced over 1300 children about the wide range of jobs and skills needed across design, engineering, surveying, sustainability, and management. The quality of the award entries this year was incredible, and we look forward to welcoming these budding architects, engineers, landscapers, site managers and quantity surveyors into the industry in years to come.”

To find out more, watch a video of the Mission Mammoth STEAMfest week by clicking here

A mammoth thank you to our event partners who fully funded the Mission Mammoth STEAMfest #Smeaton300 week held in July 2024 and the awards ceremony held on 15 October 2024, and to everyone else who helped: