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Wayfinding model of the school

Design Project 5 weeks Large build

Build a scale model of the campus that helps a new student find their way. Each group makes one building from plans; the class assembles the site. Labels, colour and a legend make it a map, not just a model.

A tabletop architectural model of a school campus with laser-cut plywood buildings, 3D-printed roof details and small printed labels, on a green base.

Overview

New students get lost. A map on a wall helps; a model on a table helps more, because you can see which building is which from any side and where the door is. The class is going to build one, at a scale that fits on a table, and test it on actual new students.

Each group takes one building or one part of the campus. You get the plans, work out the footprint and the height at the class scale, and build it: laser-cut floor plates and walls for the mass, printed parts for the roof shapes, entrances, stairs and anything that curves. Then the class puts everything on a shared base with paths, the field, the parking lot, and a legend, so the whole thing works as a map.

The model is for wayfinding, so the things that matter to someone who is lost matter most: where the entrances are, what the building is called, what is inside it, and how it looks from the path. Detail that does not help you find something is optional.

Skills needed

  • Reading floor plans and site plansresource comingScale, north arrow, grid, and getting a building footprint from a PDF plan or a satellite image.
  • Working to scale in FusionModel at full size, then scale the export, or set a scale parameter and drive everything from it.
  • Laser-cut massingStacked floor plates and wall panels; slicing a form into layers of 3 mm ply.
  • Printed detailsresource comingRoof forms, stairs, canopies, entrances, anything with a curve or an overhang.
  • Labels and legendCut vinyl or engraved labels that read at arm's length, a consistent colour code, and a key.

Assessment

Criterion Developing Proficient Exemplary
Accuracy Footprint roughly right Footprint and height match the plan at scale within 2 mm Entrances, levels and roof form match; someone could recognise it
Process choice One process used for everything Laser for mass, print for form, each justified Parts are cleanly separable and reprintable if damaged
Wayfinding Labelled Labelled, colour-coded, entrances marked A lost person finds the door faster than with the wall map, and you measured it
Craft Gaps, glue, char Clean edges, square, consistent finish Reads as a professional architectural model
Teamwork Building done Building done and fits the base and code Helped assemble the base or legend beyond your own piece

Deliverables

  • A measured footprint drawing of your building at the class scale, checked against the plan
  • The building model, laser-cut and printed, labelled, in the class colour code
  • The assembled campus model on its base, with legend, north arrow and scale bar
  • A wayfinding test with a new student, and the changes it caused

Materials

  • Campus site plan and building floor plans from facilities, or a satellite image with a known dimension
  • 3 mm plywood or MDF, plus 6 mm for the base
  • PLA in the colour-code colours
  • Vinyl for labels, acrylic for the cover if wanted
  • Wood glue, CA glue, sandpaper, a scale ruler

Steps

Week 1: Plans and rules

  1. Get the site plan and floor plans. Find a known dimension on site and measure it to confirm the scale of the drawing.
  2. As a class, set the scale, the colour code, the label style, the base grid and who builds what.
  3. Each group traces its building footprint at the class scale and measures the height per floor. Check it against a photo.

Week 2: Model

  1. Model the building in Fusion at full size, with floor plates and walls as separate bodies. Set a scale parameter and derive the export from it.
  2. Decide what gets cut and what gets printed. Flat floor plates and walls: laser. Pitched roofs, curved canopies, stair towers, entrances: print.
  3. Nest the laser parts. Account for kerf where plates stack on tabs.

Weeks 3 and 4: Build

  1. Cut and stack the floor plates. Glue with a square against the base grid.
  2. Print the roof and details. Test-fit before gluing.
  3. Add the label and any entrance markers in the class style.
  4. Meanwhile, one group builds the base: paths engraved or painted, field, parking, water, the grid marked underneath.

Week 5: Assemble and test

  1. Place every building on the base. Add the legend, north arrow and scale bar.
  2. Test: give a new student three destinations and time them finding each with the wall map, then with the model. Record it.
  3. Fix what confused them. Add a label, mark a door, change a colour.
  4. Photograph the finished model and put it where new students will see it.

Stretch options

  • Lift-off roofs showing the main corridor and room numbers inside.
  • A printed QR code at each building linking to its floor plan.
  • A tactile version: raised paths and Braille labels for visually impaired users.