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BSU students weave sustainability into their product designs

Friday, 15 November, 2024

Bath Spa University is known for its creative approach to learning as well as for a beautiful campus, dotted with grazing sheep. In a bid to create sustainable design prototypes, students on BSU’s Product Design course recently combined the two. 

Every semester Product Design students take part in design sprints – fast one- or two-day design challenges where the whole cohort comes together and collaborates to solve a problem, making prototypes to test out ideas. This year, students utilised wool sourced from the Newton Park campus sheep, learning to process and incorporate this new, natural material into their designs. 

Working in teams, the students created panels aimed at managing acoustics within the Locksbrook Campus building using only one or two materials – without any adhesives – supporting the University’s sustainable approach. The goal was for each panel to be able to absorb the acoustics and be fully reusable, allowing for disassembly and repurposing in future projects.  

Erin Deighton, Course Leader for Product Design said he was able to take advantage of the special working relationship between the BSU Estates team and the farmers who oversee the land around Newton Park. Working with Grounds Manager, Penny Snowden he was able to obtain 40kg of fleeces straight from the shepherd. The wool arrived in its natural state, so before it could be used, the students learned how to wash and then separate and straighten the wool with brushes – a process called carding. It may have been an unusual way to start their day, but the students cottoned on quickly, rolled their sleeves up and embraced the wool as an alternative material to experiment with. 

Two students cleaning and carding wool on a large table

Jacob, one of the Product Design students who took part in the sprint, said: 

“Testing the materials to find the most appropriate sound absorbing material was very interesting as there was no set test and we had to think outside the box and adapt to find a suitable way of testing. The broad range of outputs from the sprint – although all having similar ideas and concepts – were very different and unique with a range of materials and styles.” 

Sam, another Product Design student, added: 

“I think the sprint is a good place to learn new skills in a fast-paced environment. The different material that wouldn't be used normally in any of our projects had properties that were unexpected, and the soundproof brief was a new and interesting brief that made me investigate a field I haven't looked at yet.” 

This isn’t the first time the University has re-used its own materials for design projects. Last year, students used timber from felled trees at Newton Park to construct chairs as part of their coursework. The trees were milled on-site at Newton Park using a portable sawmill and transported to BSU’s Locksbrook Campus. Students were able to use the wood for other projects throughout the year, giving the trees a new life. 

Erin Deighton, Course Leader for Product Design, said: 

“We are always looking at ways to explore the materials available to us in interesting ways and to take advantage of the resources available to us at Newton Park. We already use the wood from felled and rescued trees on the estate, but with 600 sheep on campus, we wanted to explore opportunities for students to use the wool from their fleeces. 

“The projects are not assessed, giving students freedom to experiment and take risks, and we always attempt to use reclaimed or waste materials, such as cardboard, textiles or salvaged materials.” 

You can see more innovative ways students are using these sustainable materials on the Product Design Instagram.