At an event on Feb. 16, students from the Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and Urban Planning diploma program at Fanshawe College shared their passion and excitement for design. Nearly 100 students participated in the Charrette, presenting 10 original environmental, placemaking, and community-building ideas for the Elgin County Railway Museum, City of St. Thomas and community stakeholders.

“The Charrette is an opportunity for our students to come out of the classroom,” said Professor of the Honours Bachelor of Environmental Design and Planning (BEDP) and GIS and Urban Planning programs at Fanshawe College William Pol. “They are put into groups of nine or 10 students and have one week to create a design for a specific site or project.”

After eight days of intense Charrette work, each group presented their designs in front of a panel of experienced designers who were acquainted with the project and the location.

According to Pol, the Charrette mimics the rigorous group work in professional practice to generate creative design concepts. Innovation Village’s Canada Life Village Square made the perfect presentation space for guests, staff, and students.

“It is very time-compressed and stressful for the students, but it is a real-life experience to create inspiring designs,” Pol said.  “It is also gratifying because they work with other students to create an inspiring design for a particular project.”

Pol said that the purpose of this design Charrette was to create ideas for the City of St. Thomas and Doug Terry Holmes, a land developer in the area.

“We wanted students to think of how the vacant St. Thomas railway lands become a vital, vibrant place,” Pol said.

Pol said the students’ projects had three stages to achieve this. First, they had to think of the environment and how to improve contaminated railway lands. The second one was the community and how to bring people to the site for housing, commercial, or recreation activities. Finally, they had to think about the placemaking to make St. Thomas railway lands a specific place where people want to come, spend some time or even live.

“This project is going to provide additional housing,” Pol said. According to Pol, housing across Ontario, London, and St. Thomas is unaffordable, with insufficient housing. “This project is to inspire new housing development on the railway lands. It is going to add tourism to the site. It is to inspire ideas for redevelopment of the site and to make it a vibrant place.”

The winning project, Urban Ecostation, inspires a new public realm and placemaking focusing on the Elgin County Railway Museum. Terra Nexus group members included Erika Saldana Ibanez, Hanna Von Daudt Mohn, Eric Jordan, Kyle Stansfield, Ryan Michtics, Derek McGinnes, Leonor Dasco, Irina Caza Teran, and Raimundo Neto.

“The winning project, Urban Ecostation, is a combination of buildings, open space and movement,” Pol said. “With Urban Ecostation, students created a beautiful European-style outdoor meeting area in front of the museum.

Pol said that in many European cities, there are beautiful railway stations. That is where the students got the inspiration from.

“They also emphasized the rehabilitation of the contaminated soils,” Pol said. “The outdoor venue space displayed the railway cars, and the judges loved that.”

According to Pol, the project will also boost the economy by preserving and recognizing the history of the City of St. Thomas.