Aston Martins roar into University

Part of Southfield Road in Middlesbrough has been transformed into an Aston Martin showroom.

Two cars from the company were parked outside the University of Teesside’s £10m Athena Building on Southfield Road where the Annual Design Degree Show is being hosted.

The show was opened by Aston Martin’s Director of Design, Marek Reichman, a Teesside Design graduate, who achieved a First Class BA (Hons) Industrial Design in 1989.

Marek designed the DBS car for the 2006 Bond film Casino Royale. He said: ‘I never thought I would come back here with two Aston Martins. This place always encouraged you to be experimental and creative. I say to the design students, you can achieve whatever you like; the world really is your oyster.’

The two cars, a 1964 DB6 and a special edition N400 were loaned by Aston Martin for the Degree Show’s opening following an arrangement with the University’s School of Arts & Media.

Marek added: ‘The DB6 is an archetypal Aston Martin, a beautifully elegant car; the kind Bond drove in the 60s films. It’s a fabulous sports car. The N400 is a gentleman’s racing car, designed to be driven at the Nurburgring, Germany’s most famous race track.’

Barbara Usherwood, Head of Design at the University, said: ‘It was a real coup to have one of our most successful graduates open the Design Show. Marek is a real inspiration to all of this year’s graduates.’

The Design Degree Show ends at 4.00pm on Friday 16 May. The show is free and open to the public from 10.00am to 16.00pm. It is displayed on floors One-Three of the Athena Building, showcasing the work of final-year students from the following BA (Hons) degree areas: Graphic Arts and Design, Design Marketing and Enterprise, Interior and Spatial Design and Product Design.

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