During summer 2021, Velindre University NHS Trust (VUNHST) launched its Minecraft competition in partnership with Cardiff University Technocamp with the aim of encouraging primary and secondary schools across south east Wales to get involved and design their version of the new Velindre Cancer Centre building, as well as its surroundings.
The winners were Ruby Wilks from Blackwood Primary School and two joint team winners, from St Brides Major Church in Wales Primary School, based in the Vale of Glamorgan and Penyfai Primary School in Bridgend. The winning worlds were innovative in their design, incorporating the surrounding landscape and offered an opportunity to understand what matters to the future generations.
As winners, their worlds will be submitted as part of the next stage of the new Velindre Cancer Centre to inform the designs being developed by the bidders seeking to secure the contract for the new centre. This will mean that the students could see some of their ideas being incorporated into the enhanced versions that the project team will be reviewing over the next seven months.
More than 120 students through their schools and individually registered to be part of the competition, with 35 worlds being submitted from schools from across Bridgend, Cardiff, Vale of Glamorgan, Caerphilly and Blaenau Gwent.
The runners up were:
- Jessica Moore – Llanishen High School (Individual)
- Erika, Nada, Muskan, Angie, Aqsa – Ninian Park Primary School (Team)
- Sahand, Patrick Anderson, Faizan Marouane – Ninian Park Primary School (Team)
- Abby, Ebony, Olivia – Tredegar Secondary School (Team)
The panel of judges were impressed by the breadth of ideas that were presented in the shortlisted worlds, with the students showcasing what the cancer centre campus could include such as bee sanctuaries, ponds, natural light within the cancer centre, stained glass and how they considered community assets that could be incorporated on the cancer centre campus including allotments.
The four remaining shortlisted worlds came from:
- Glyncoed Primary School in Pentwyn
- Cardiff High School
- Windsor Clive Primary School in Ely
- Ninian Park Primary School
David Powell, Project Director for the new Velindre Cancer Centre said, “It was fantastic to see the architectural considerations that the students have shown when developing their worlds, each of the buildings showed the art of the possible and their technical abilities within the Minecraft context. They showed how the campus can enhance biodiversity, taking a natural approach, which was really welcomed by the judges. It’s so important to include the ideas and voices of children and young people across south east Wales in the project.
“It gives us the opportunity to create a campus that offers our patients, staff and community a place that promotes excellence in future cancer services and meets our expectations for the present and future generations who will use it. These designs will ensure that we create a cancer centre which has the strength to last for the long-term – a green, digitally smart hospital that empowers our workforce to deliver compassionate, patient-centred support and care for which they are renowned.”
The panel was made up of representatives from Velindre Fundraising Young Ambassadors, the new cancer centre project team, Cardiff University Technocamps, alongside a member of the Velindre patient liaison group.
Ellie Clare, Velindre Young Ambassador, added “I thoroughly enjoyed viewing all of the superb entries, each one unique in their impressive use of materials and creativity. I loved that judging the entries was a holistic process: all details were taken into consideration when choosing our favourites, from sustainability to architectural nuances, and everyone’s opinion was taken into consideration.”
The winners and runners up will also be spending the day with a day out at Cefn Mably Farm in Cardiff, with a family of four ticket to be used whenever they like. The winners will also receive their worlds as a piece of artwork to be displayed at their school, which will also be displayed at Velindre Cancer Centre.
Dr Catherine Teehan, the academic lead for Technocamps Cardiff commented, “The competition has been really exciting and we’re incredibly impressed with all of the entries we have seen. The Competition World was the largest we’ve seen and the participants undertook the challenge brilliantly. I particularly loved how many participants thought about the environmental impact of the site, and a huge thank you to everyone who took part.”
