Architecture students at the University of Huddersfield were celebrating last week after beating off stiff competition to become winners of the regional leg of the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) Student Challenge.
The team of four students, who are all on the BSc Architectural Technology course, battled against the wits of their long-running rivals – Leeds College of Building and Leeds Metropolitan University – in a University Challenge-style quiz, presided over by David Pearce of the CIOB.
First-year students Charlie Egan and Dom Shields will now join fellow third-years Chris Platt and Shane Dolan to travel down to the CIOB’s headquarters in Ascot, where they will be accommodated in luxury before representing Yorkshire in the national final, held in the idyllic setting of Englemere House in Berkshire. Having previously succeeded in becoming national champions in 2005, the Huddersfield team are hoping to build on their success and take home the title – along with a trophy and £200 – at the event.
Team member Shane Dolan, who travelled down to compete in the final in 2006, says: “We were delighted to win the regional leg of the CIOB Student Challenge, and we’re all really looking forward to competing in Ascot for the national title. Competing in the final in 2006 was the most challenging thing I’ve ever done, as it’s a full-day of really intense assessment, and we don’t get told beforehand what we’ll have to do our project on.
“Winning the national title would be amazing, not just for the University but on a personal level too, because we’ll be competing against people who have worked in the industry for ten or twelve years and have maybe returned to education for a top-up degree, for example, so winning would mean we’d be at the same level as these professionals, which is a tremendous feeling. We’re all quite nervous but very optimistic and just looking forward to the experience!”