This Scan Design Foundation-funded program is a collaborative travel-design-build project between Western Washington University’s Engineering & Design Department and COurban Design Collective. The program behins with pre-trip workshops that introduce students to the project site, the Portal Container Village at the Bellingham waterfront, the site’s design challenges, the industry mentors from the City of Bellingham, Port of Bellingham, and RAM Construction, and prepare students for the Denmark travel experience. These sessions establish project parameters, form collaborative teams, and build student understanding of the waterfront site, sustainable design principles, and the Denmark study tour program.
Then, in late August, the cohort embarks on a two-week trip to Denmark, exploring sustainable design across three different scales. In Copenhagen, students experience large-scale urban sustainability through bike tours of transformed waterfronts, climate-adaptive districts, and innovative public spaces. In Aarhus—a city similar in size to Bellingham—students see how a mid-sized city has sustainably transformed its waterfront, urban river, and industrial sites. In Roskilde, the smallest town 30 minutes outside of Copenhagen, students visit a container village and connect with Danish industry. Through COurban-guided tours, presentations, and hands-on activities, students witness how Danish design integrates sustainability across different scales. Throughout the trip, students participate in project workshops where they gather observations and brainstorm ideas for design challenge.
Students apply what they learn in Denmark to local challenges through a two-quarter project sequence. In fall quarter, students refine design concepts, conduct additional research, and present ideas to industry partners for feedback. By the end of fall quarter, teams have a final design concept with detailed drawings, technical specifications, and a complete bill of materials. In winter quarter, teams fabricate the designs in WWU’s makerspace and project lab, with ongoing mentorship from industry partners and build-test-refine cycles. Projects will be installed at Portal Village and celebrated at a public showcase event in the spring.
More information about the program can be found here: https://engineeringdesign.wwu....
Mikayla King
