An innovation that has fundamentally changed the landscape of engineering education.

At Constructionarium, undergraduate civil engineers get the chance to build large-scale mock-ups of famous engineering projects using real materials, processes and plant.

Constructionarium gives many students their first experience of work on site, and allows participants to feel for themselves that sense of excitement and fulfilment that comes from saying ‘I built that’.

Foundations

Think Up founders Ed McCann and Chris Wise together with Peter Goring of John Doyle Construction invented the Constructionarium concept in response to the twin challenges of making students better designers and stemming the flow of civil engineers away from the sector. The pilot, a three-way partnership between Expedition Engineering, Imperial College and John Doyle Construction, took place on a corner of a construction site in West London.

Developing the concept

Following the pilot we have been instrumental in developing the concept and supporting Stef Stefanou and his team develop the business model that has enabled Constructionarium to be established as a successful independent organisation, currently operated out of two dedicated sites, one at the National Construction College in Norfolk, and the other in Scotland.

Following the pilot we have been instrumental in developing the concept and supporting Stef Stefanou and his team develop the business model that has enabled Constructionarium to be established as a successful independent organisation, currently operated out of two dedicated sites, one at the National Construction College in Norfolk, and the other in Scotland. Our sister company Expedition has designed ten separate projects that students build on site. And we have worked with Alison Ahearn and Sunday Popola at Imperial College to develop the pedagogy that underpins the prep, on-site activity and follow-up.

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Canopy roof, Naples Airport Underground Station project

Constructionarium today

Constructionarium is one of the most successful examples in the world of experience-led learning in engineering. Around half the undergraduate civil engineers in England now take part, and it now attracts an international audience.

Think Up’s involvement with Constructionarium carries on to this day. We regularly develop new projects and experiment with modifications to the teaching method. We work with Constructionarium to design improvements to their site. And we regularly provide suggestions for ways to extend the reach of Constructionarium to new audiences.