Product Design students team up with Northants stone company for live industry project

Students from the University of Northampton have been challenged to design products for a leading Northamptonshire stone manufacturer.

Seventeen second year undergraduates on the Product Design course have been tasked by Haddonstone to develop new ideas to form part of a new street furniture rage. The designs will be produced using Haddonstone’s unique cast stone materials and could be added to the company’s range of architectural, landscaping and garden products.

The project will be assessed as part of the students’ degree programme and Haddonstone will award prizes to the best three design concepts.

The partnership was launched on Friday 18 October at Haddonstone’s manufacturing base, in Brixworth, where the students toured the facilities, spoke to staff and learned about the company’s production methods. The students also visited Haddonstone’s beautiful show gardens, in East Haddon, where they were able to see a diverse range of finished designs.

An interim presentation of the designs will take place in November, followed by a final presentation by the students in January 2020.

Students on a tour of Haddonstone’s manufacturing facility.

David Barrow, Haddonstone managing director, said: “Nurturing local talent is very important to our company and we are delighted to offer this group of University of Northampton students with the opportunity to design new product ideas for Haddonstone’s range of street furniture.

“We are very much looking forward to seeing the students’ ideas and to hopefully being able to incorporate the winning design into our product range.”