A DIGITAL CREATIVE 

HUB FOR 

ST MALACHY'S  COLLEGE

"CreativeHUT helped me with every step of the project: advising, planning, graphics, furniture, layout, technology and training; and they were the loveliest, most patient and knowledgeable people to work with"

Clare McGrath

Creative Digital Leader | St Malachy's College

A DIGITAL CREATIVE HUB FOR ST MALACHY'S  COLLEGE

"CreativeHUT helped me with every step of the project: advising, planning, graphics, furniture, layout, technology and training; and they were the loveliest, most patient and knowledgeable people to work with"

Clare McGrath

Creative Digital Leader | St Malachy's College

Current Impact So Far...

  • Over 1,200 students inspired
  • 65+ schools have taken part
  • 40+ staff trained in STEAM 
  • Esports, VR & Robotics

Impacting North Belfast Schools

St Malachy’s College is a Catholic grammar school in Belfast, Ireland passionate about giving all individuals the chance to reach their full potential and has echoed this through implementing a CreativeHUT Digital Creative Hub and Hybrid Esports Arena at their college.


With global technological advancement, the need for young people to develop and improve their digital skills has never been greater.

Take our 3D Digital Creative Hub Walkthrough

Why a Learning Space?

The launch follows research undertaken by STEM Learning, which shows 89% of STEM businesses have found it difficult to recruit staff with the required skills, leading to a shortfall of over 173,000 workers – this equates to an average of 10 unfilled roles per business.


Giving skills-development a home

The labs will be used by college students as part of the outreach programme for the North Belfast Area Learning Community which is made up of 11 post-primary schools and Belfast Metro College.

The Hub houses a gaming arena, robotics room and breakout areas. The physical look is designed to excite and stimulate both pupils and staff. The hardware and software are state-of-the-art, and include high-spec gaming computers, LEGO robots and VR machines. STEAM industries and the economy are in great need of a workforce which is adept at using digital technology.

They will also have the opportunity to design 3D worlds and check them out with our VR headset technology. This technology is also used to enhance teaching and learning across other subjects within the College.

Bringing a state-of-the-art learning space to life

Meet - We met Clare & the St Malachy's Team to understand their goals for engaging the schools they work with in STEAM education to help bridge the skills gap in the UK.

Consultation - The St Malachy's team were very keen to create a physical home for learning via some form of 'wow-factor' creative hub, which enables them to bring together 11 post-primary schools around North Belfast.

Concepts - Once the vision was clear, we developed a number of different options which they could consider, including the provision of visual concepts for a Digital Creative Hub & Hybrid Esports Arena that could be created in several different locations and on different scales. These encompassed suitable resources, training, furniture and graphic designs to create a full solution to meet their aims.


Proposal - Following feedback on the concepts, the most suitable solution was agreed upon and was then progressed into a fully detailed proposal to map out all the finer details of the solution.


Design - CreativeHUT liaised with the architect and building contractor teams to help advise on the functionality and the look & feel of the space, which involved construction work and bespoke project/storage furniture for 2 x main classroom spaces. CreativeHUT also led the design, production and installation of graphical artwork for all wall spaces to help bring the space to life and ensure the perfect environment for students and communities to learn & develop within.


Revise - This was a very iterative process. St Malachy's were provided with initial design concepts which they could feedback on, to be amended and developed further, depending on their preferences for the design.


Install - Once all parties were in agreement, the CreativeHUT Team were onsite to oversee the installation of all wall graphics, and support the architect and building contractor teams. All this was in line with the deadlines scheduled for everything to be ready for the launch.


Launch - CreativeHUT were delighted to be involved in the full official launch of the ‘Digital Creative Hub’ & 'Hybrid Esports Arena' which involved students using the resources and spaces for the very first time. It also enabled the backers of the project to see the impact of the solution first-hand.


Training - St Malachy's are involved in regular training to enable them to utilise all of the resources effectively and confidently with the end users, and will be continued to be supported into the future through in-person training from the CreativeHUT ‘STEAM Team’ and our eLearning platform.


Continued Support - We ensure that all our partners are forever supported in delivering what they need. We love building long-lasting relationships which continue to have a positive impact on student learning long into the future.


Take our 3D Hybrid Esports Arena Walkthrough

CreativeHUT, Clare McGrath & The St Malachy's Team started working on the hub in May last year and by October everything was set in place, with a unique curriculum for Year 8 alongside.

St Malachy’s College is using the next two academic years to showcase the benefits of a Digital Creative Hub and believes that the impact will help them attract further and major investment to build a bigger hub that can be accessed by all North Belfast learners.

Presently, three other schools are partnering with St Malachy's through shared education, attending classes on a weekly basis. Year 8 students access the hub regularly as part of their education. With more & more schools gaining access to such a state-of-the-art environment the impact of the Creative Hub will only continue to grow. We are so proud to be a part of such an amazing project.

“As a new Creative Digital Leader in my school, I was tasked with building a Digital Hub to house Creative Technology for a new KS3 Digital Curriculum. The only people I found that could help me with this were CreativeHUT. They helped me with every step of the project: advising, planning, graphics, furniture, layout, technology and training; and they were the loveliest, most patient and knowledgeable people to work with, especially during very stressful times. They were always at the other end of the phone, and nothing was too great a job. I can't wait to see what else I can work with them on in the future."

Clare McGrath

Creative Digital Leader

“It has been an absolute privilege to be part of this project together with St Malachy's College, whose passion and effort to make this superb learning space a reality has been incredible. We’ve enjoyed the process from start to finish so much, and it’s just brilliant to now see it fully in action with lots of excited and enthusiastic pupils & teachers from across the North Belfast Area Learning Community. The positive and long-lasting impact that this space will have on learning for all visitors is fantastic"

Neil Taylor

Director of Creative Consultants

Speak to an expert today

If you are interested in creating a Learning Space speak to a member of our STEAM team today. Our Learning Space experts are on hand to answer any questions you may have and will work with you to design inspiring classrooms of the future. 


Leave your details and we will be in touch within 24 hours from Monday to Friday.