Situated in the heart of Canary Wharf, City Bunker is a state-of-the-art golf simulator centre that allows golfing enthusiasts to play over forty of the world’s most famous golf courses using real golf clubs and balls within a virtual environment.

After taking over the Centre in November 2005 and running it for eighteen months, Managing Director, Paul Smith decided that the Centre was in need of a complete refurbishment if it was to successfully attract corporate clients from the burgeoning financial sector.

“The product we were offering was not good enough to attract corporate clients. The interior of the Centre was very dull and uninspiring, not the type of environment that would attract professionals to come along and spend their evening with friends and clients alike” says Paul.

After securing a significant amount of investment, and more importantly a 15-year lease on the listed building that the Centre is located within, Paul set about refurbishing the entire building, both inside and out, including an extension to house additional golf simulators and office space, as well as the re-design of the buildings interior decorations.

It was when Paul was exploring the options for recruiting an interior designer that he recalled a conversation he had about supervised student projects with Tex Dunstan, one of the Business Sector Leaders at KnowledgeEast, who subsequently referred him on to Knowledge Dock.

“I was very keen to involve a student in the project. From my point of view it is a win-win situation. As a client, I get an undergraduate who is fresh from university with plenty of enthusiasm and creativity, whilst the student gains the valuable work experience of working in a professional setting” says Paul.

After interviewing a number of potential candidates, Paul eventually opted for UEL undergraduate Danielle Williams, a 3rd Year BA Hons Printed Textiles and Surface Decoration student who recently obtained a 1st class classification in her degree. Danielle’s brief was to develop a theme for the interior design of the Centre. Though Danielle had considerable creative freedom in the creative process, using tools such as CAD visualisation, she was able to keep Paul involved in every stage of the project, ensuring that Paul was able to consider and sign-off the recommendations in a timely fashion.

“The idea of working in industry and applying what I have learnt into a professional environment was quite daunting in the beginning, especially given the fact that my degree bore little relation to interior design. Throughout my degree, I have mainly focussed on developing prints that are used in fashion wear, so I never even contemplated that my skills were transferable into what is a totally different area of design. In fact, I didn’t think I would even get the job”, says Danielle.

The grand opening of City Bunker in early June marked the end of the refurbishment project that lasted for several months and Paul is delighted with the end results, especially with the Centre’s new interior design.

“I am extremely delighted with the results produced by Danielle. Throughout the project she was extremely professional and she integrated well with the management team as well as the external contractors. Apart from the obvious cost savings of working with the University on the project, I would argue that what has been delivered and the service we have received is as good, if not better than what I could have expected if I had gone to a professional interior design company which would have cost me a small fortune”, says Paul.

So impressed is Paul with Danielle’s work that he has already commissioned her to refurbish two more Centres that he is planning to launch within the next two years as part of City Bunker’s ambitious expansion plan.

On his experience of working with undergraduates on supervised student projects, Paul said: “I am a big supporter of supervised student projects. They provide an excellent platform for students to obtain valuable work experience whilst getting paid at the same time. However the major benefit is that the companies participating in the project can access the wealth of knowledge and expertise that is housed within the University at a very low cost”.

Danielle is equally as enthusiastic as Paul on the topic of supervised student projects. “When you are studying at university you can set your own agenda, but in the real world you have to work with briefs that are set by your client, which can be very challenging. Supervised student projects provide an excellent platform for students to apply what they have learnt in the classroom into a professional environment, and more importantly the skills, knowledge and learning curve you will experience on the projects will enhance your CV and employability prospects when you graduate and start looking for a job.

“What is more pleasing is that this project has opened up a world of new opportunities for me. In the past my career was very much focussed towards printed textile for fashion wear. As a result of this project I can now branch out into interior design; I even have a commercial building as part of my portfolio”.

For further information about City Bunker visit www.citybunker.co.uk.

For more information about supervised student projects, contact Richard Keenan on 020 8223 6556 or email r.keenan@uel.ac.uk.