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A group of Unitec architecture students are banding together to not only design, but build a holiday home in an effort to raise money for charity.

The 4 bedroom home in Matarangi will be auctioned in October with proceeds going to Kidscan, a national charity aimed at helping disadvantaged children.

Lecturer Dave Strachan put the project to his 16 students after he was approached by celebrity builder friend, John 'Cocksy' Cocks, about participating in the charity project. Seeing an opportunity for the first year Master in Architecture (Professional) students to gain valuable 'real world' learning, Strachan accepted the challenge.

"It's not often something like this comes along where the students get a global view of what really happens out there in the real world," says Strachan.

"They're learning that it's not just having to deal with the design aspect of architecture, but that they've got to be involved in the whole process.

" Earlier in the year, the students formed groups where they were asked to come up with a suitable design. This was then presented to classmates, Unitec lecturers and representatives from Kidscan, who selected the "winning" design.

The design was then refined to include elements from the other student designs, and incorporate the natural environment of the Matarangi site. They are currently putting together the necessary documents needed to gain resource consent with construction to soon begin under the watchful eye of Cocksy. Cocksy and his builders will construct the main living areas of the home in Matarangi while the students will construct the bedroom pavilion on Unitec's Mt Albert campus.

"He's what I call the 'frustrated architect' but he's done many challenging projects already so it's great having him on board and vetting the design with students for the construction phase," says Strachan.

Once resource consent comes through, the students will then begin work on the pavilion before transporting it to Matarangi. Strachan, recently appointed Unitec adjunct professor, says the students will leave Unitec with impressive looking CVs and experience they would not normally gain until after graduating.

Strachan is also pouring his own personal resources to the project through his company Strachan Group Architects (SGA). "SGA often works with elite clients but here, it's the other end of the scale, so as a practise, it's great for us to be able to give something back to the community."