Year ten textile technology students from Penryn College were set a real life interior design challenge, working with local Cornish brand St Austell Brewery.

Every year the brewery refurbishes 15 to 20 public houses out of their 170 across the country and this year they commissioned the students of Penryn College to re-design The Blue Anchor in Fraddon with a Cornish theme.

St Austell Brewery curator and PR manager, Chris Knight, provided students with floor plans, measurement specifications and deadline timescales, from which the students began to research different methods and styles.

After receiving their brief, the pupils designed interiors for the bar area and produced models showing how their designs would look, all of which were focused around Cornish themes, from myths and legends to natural Cornwall and Cornish artists.

They then sampled a range of fabric decoration techniques including silk painting, felting, appliqué, machine and hand embroidery and laser engraving, before producing their final product.

Last week brewery staff reviewed the pupils’ work based on who they believe answered the brief the most successfully, and announced the winner as Matilda Fuller, with Tiegan Pond as runner up.

All of the students’ work has been on show in a special exhibition throughout June at the St Austell Brewery Experience.

Penryn College textiles teacher and project leader, Lorraine Aonso, said: "The students really learnt how to meet a commercial brief whilst mastering a range of both old and new fabric embellishment techniques. I look forward to the prospect of placing future students in a secure interior design career pathway in the future.”