HAVE YOU EVER thought of turning your school into an environmental oasis? Organised by the British Council, My INTEGER School design competition - which allows students and teachers to work together to map out their ideal study environment - has entered the final stage of the judging process. Seven out of 65 teams were short listed for the final interview last week. Though the competition coincided with the Sars outbreak, producer Maranda Chan said she was impressed after receiving 65 quality models and proposals. 'Their proposals are creative and the models are detailed,' Ms Chan added. 'Students learned how to communicate and work with others from this project.' 'Integer', which means intelligent and green, is a concept developed in the United Kingdom to challenge traditional housing designs and construction. It aims at providing practical solutions for future energy-efficient, sustainable homes. Each team - consisting of five students and a teacher - were asked to redesign their school under the 'integer' concept. Their designs included 'three spaces' - for inspiration, learning and space to be yourself - with each team submitting a model and many drawings along with their proposal. 'From the design point of view, [their works] are very creative,' said Roy Chan, a graphic designer and one of the judges of the competition. 'But some of their works are fantasies and have no bearing on real life.' He suggested that students could do better by broadening their research rather than simply looking for information on the internet and surveying their classmates. The results of the competition will be announced during the open day of the British Council on July 1. The two winning teams, together with their instructors, will travel to the UK for a nine-day educational visit.
