Student Accommodation
The Brief - Home from Home
Your brief is to design a new concept for student living that reflects the way students want to live.
You will be able to select an aspect of student living and asked to develop a new concept that will enhance the experience of student life. The following would be viable responses: Individual student bedroom, Communal living space, Shared recreation/study/eating facilities, Common parts, entrance, and access areas, A design that responds to a particular set of activities and behaviors.
Your response should be built on strong human-centered research and insights combined with design intuition.
You should consider the impact and role of the following within tour design: Dwelling and inhabitation, Human behavior, Technology, digital, materials/construction and environmental, Ergonomics, Branding.
- March-May 2016
This was a live brief in association with University Partnership Programme (UPP), David Phillips and Willmore Iles Architects. We were tasked to identify and issue with student accommodation an find a solution. My project focused on the Pilgrim accommodation at Plymouth University, because I lived in one of the flats and was able to get first-hand research from flatmates and friends. Along with being able to get their views and opinions throughout the project. The idea was to get different flats socialising with each other by adding a social space between 2 flats. This meant that the students had their flat of 5 but could easily meet up with the neighbouring flat of 5 as well. Each flat will have an individual kitchen, which is designed for a more sociable cooking experience. The kitchen is designed to be more sustainable as the students can grow fruit and veg in the vertical garden in the kitchen. Lots of natural light is brought into the flat through the large floor to ceiling windows, the cork wall allows them to share recipes, cooking tips and posters.
To read the full design journal click here.
Research
Movement and activities in a standard student accommodation kitchen during the day.
Research
Site visit of existing UPP student accommodation.
Initial sketches and models.
Design development
Developing a kitchen space that encourages more socialising and healthy eating within student accommodation.
Design development
Developing the layout to find out the best possible position.
Material Selection.
Plan and elevations of the 'Hut'.
3D sketch models to give a full 3D perspective of the Kitchen.
Mini Project Brief - Space
Space is valuable. Space enables activity and costs money to provide. The efficient use of space can unlock the potential of your student environments.
Working with a volume measuring 1000 x 1000 x 2400mm high we’d like you to consider how you can design a piece of multi-functional furniture to optimise the use and impact of that space within the surrounding student environment.
- May 2016
The design is a multi-functional piece of furniture: 'The Pod' that can be placed into the social space. It splits up into 3 sections, a table tennis table, study space, and a T.V./ game station. When none of the sections are in use they can all be folded away and put together to fit into a space no bigger than 1000 x 1000 x 2400mm high.
To read the full design journal click here.
Model Making
Experimenting with a variety of textures.
Model Making
Experimenting with shape, movement, and aesthetics.
Research
Exploring the space-saving apartments in Japan.
Plans and Elevations.
Final Presentation Board
Final Presentation Board
Final Presentation Board
David Phillips
As a result of this project I was offered the opportunity to develop my mini-project 'The Pod', Whilst on work experience at David Phillips. 'The Pod' developed to be more personal with the students by using a range of retro items from their childhood as well as making space for more modern games. 'The Pod' also got developed for outdoor use. During my work experience at David Phillips, I also assisted on some of their projects, by going on-site visits.
