University officials and design firms are struggling to understand how rapidly changing student habits are altering how they use living spaces. To get a better feel for that phenomenon, Little Diversified Architectural Consulting earlier this year conducted a daylong student housing symposium at its Durham and Charlotte locations to pick the brains of 62 students from a dozen North Carolina institutions. The firm recapped the findings in a recent report, called "What Students Want."
“We were surprised at how much time students are spending in housing facilities,” says Thomas Carlson-Reddig, AIA, LEED AP, Global Practice Leader for Little's Community team. The discussion revealed that half the students surveyed studied in their rooms, while half “escaped” to other spaces to study, eat, and relax.
Here are highlights of the comments from 62 college students that participated in Little’s workshops:
What students want in their rooms:
• Ability to reconfigure the room
• Built-in furniture that defines the space (but is still reconfigurable)
• Mobile beds with a cushion seat that could rest below the desk
• “Work surface” desk space with a comfortable chair
• Ability to create a private zone in rooms with multiple students
• More storage, such as built-in closets (not wardrobes)
• A sink—accessible outside the bathroom—in the room
• No old-school “dorm furniture”
• Option to paint one wall in the room
• Rooms with some color and texture—not all gray, tan, or white walls
• Translucent divider wall along the bed
• “Murphy beds” or loft beds as options, but no bunk beds
During the symposium, Little asked the students a variety of questions pertaining to their dorm room experiences. There was a broad consensus that traditional dorm furniture frequently impedes their optimal use of the space. Their responses generated ideas ranging from a multi-purpose wall where a bed, desk and storage can be easily reconfigured to moveable partitions that could help define living and sleeping spaces and provide privacy between roommates. What Little learned is that the efficiency of the room can be greatly improved without increasing floor area.
What students want in their study spaces:
• Small, individual study nooks scattered throughout the residence hall (and other buildings as well)
• Comfortable seating that is playful, whimsical, and relaxed
• Spaces that are full of light, with views of outdoors
• Quality of light is important, but avoid glare and heat gain
• Small study areas adjacent to stairs/elevators (to allow students to monitor activity, meet friends)
• Group study and collaboration areas
• Flexible furniture options, from small group tables to lounge seating
• Outdoor study space, where feasible
Over the course of a day, students find opportunities to study in various locations throughout campus. Little wanted to understand the characteristics of what makes a good study spot. The firm learned it should be bright and comfortable. It should be fairly quiet, yet visually connected to the more active spaces. Larger group study areas should be complemented by cozier individual study nooks. A student that chooses to study outside of his or her room doesn’t want to feel isolated.
What students want in their social lives:
• Learning spaces that can dovetail into “chill” spaces
• Laundry facilities that create an opportunity for social interaction
• Community lounges located in vertical circulation zones so that students can see others coming and going
• Kitchens that serve a smaller “community” are preferred over those that serve an entire building
• Chill spaces that provide as much variety as possible
• Active outdoor zones adjacent to housing for group-based casual fitness (e.g., Frisbee, volleyball)
• Rooftop gardens, green roofs, “working green spaces,” outdoor benches, and outdoor eating areas with picnic tables and barbecue grilles
A sense of community is what students seek when they arrive on campus and it is what will keep them there for the course of their studies. Little defined the community as a relatively small group (16-32 students) that can take ownership of common areas, such as kitchens or lounges. In order to be activated, gathering areas should be located along the horizontal and vertical circulation paths, have access to light and views, and connect various communities to each other.
Download the complete "What Students Want" report from Little.
Related Stories
| Oct 13, 2010
Editorial
The AEC industry shares a widespread obsession with the new. New is fresh. New is youthful. New is cool. But “old” or “slightly used” can be financially profitable and professionally rewarding, too.
| Oct 13, 2010
Test run on the HP Z200 SFF Good Value in a Small Package
Contributing Editor Jeff Yoders tests a new small-form factor, workstation-class desktop in Hewlett-Packard’s line that combines performance of its minitower machine with a smaller chassis and a lower price.
| Oct 13, 2010
Prefab Trailblazer
The $137 million, 12-story, 500,000-sf Miami Valley Hospital cardiac center, Dayton, Ohio, is the first major hospital project in the U.S. to have made extensive use of prefabricated components in its design and construction.
| Oct 13, 2010
Thought Leader
Sundra L. Ryce, President and CEO of SLR Contracting & Service Company, Buffalo, N.Y., talks about her firm’s success in new construction, renovation, CM, and design-build projects for the Navy, Air Force, and Buffalo Public Schools.
| Oct 13, 2010
Hospital tower gets modern makeover
The Wellmont Holston Valley Medical Center in Kingsport, Tenn., expanded its D unit, a project that includes a 243,443-sf addition with a 12-room operating suite, a 36-bed intensive care unit, and an enlarged emergency department.
| Oct 13, 2010
Modern office design accentuates skyline views
Intercontinental|Exchange, a Chicago-based financial firm, hired design/engineering firm Epstein to create a modern, new 31st-floor headquarters.
| Oct 13, 2010
Hospital and clinic join for better patient care
Designed by HGA Architects and Engineers, the two-story Owatonna (Minn.) Hospital, owned by Allina Hospitals and Clinics, connects to a newly expanded clinic owned by Mayo Health System to create a single facility for inpatient and outpatient care.
| Oct 13, 2010
Biloxi’s convention center bigger, better after Katrina
The Mississippi Coast Coliseum and Convention Center in Biloxi is once again open for business following a renovation and expansion necessitated by Hurricane Katrina.
| Oct 13, 2010
Tower commemorates Lewis & Clark’s historic expedition
The $4.8 million Lewis and Clark Confluence Tower in Hartford, Ill., commemorates explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark at the point where their trek to the Pacific Ocean began—the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers.
| Oct 13, 2010
Maryland replacement hospital expands care, changes name
The new $120 million Meritus Regional Medical Center in Hagerstown, Md., has 267 beds, 17 operating rooms with high-resolution video screens, a special care level II nursery, and an emergency room with 53 treatment rooms, two trauma rooms, and two cardiac rooms.
