Transforming college life: Housing and the student experience, Part I
New Residential District and Renovation to Martindale Hall at Wabash College. Photo by Jeremy Bitterman.
Away from home and surrounded by peers, many students who attend college are experiencing independent adult life for the first time. For some, this can be liberating and exciting while for others it can be a difficult and uncomfortable transition. This is why many colleges and universities focus intently on creating a safe, welcoming, and engaging student experience within their campus communities. This often goes well beyond housing, encompassing a wide range of categories that enrich their students.
Lantana Hall at Arizona State University Poly Campus Housing. Photo by Kyle Zirkus.
Over more than a century of collaboration with academic clients, the student experience has evolved to encompass the facilities, programs, and environments that support the health, wellbeing, and academic success of student populations. We believe the key to crafting an effective student experience is recognizing that it lives at the intersection between housing, dining, academics, and social engagement. Whether we’re designing residence halls, dining facilities, or other academic spaces, we strive to craft an experience that supports each of those pillars.
How Student Housing Contributes to the Student Experience
Whether it’s on or off-campus, the type of housing a college or university offers its student population can play a significant role in their well-being and success.
Traditional on-campus residence halls, prevalent throughout the mid-20th century, featured shared bedrooms & bathrooms and typically included group lounges, laundry facilities, and study spaces. From a square footage perspective, this model is by far the most efficient and can contribute to more social interaction between residents, but often at the expense of personal privacy.
Apartment-style student housing. Image by Shepley Bulfinch.
At the other end of the spectrum, larger apartment style units may provide each resident with a private bedroom and bathroom as well as a kitchen, living room, and laundry shared amongst 3 or more students. This model is less efficient and requires more square footage per resident but provides a higher degree of safety and privacy to students by offering lockable bedrooms and a smaller number of people with access to shared space.
Most campuses offer several models across this spectrum and it’s not uncommon to see traditional dorm rooms allocated to incoming freshman and apartment style units being reserved for upperclassmen. This typically allows for incoming students to engage more directly with their peers, helping them form relationships and support networks, while older students who already have established social connections can enjoy a more independent living arrangement.
Uncommon Flagstaff. Photo by Matt Winquist.
We work closely with our higher-education partners to understand their needs and set goals to determine which housing type or combination of types best supports the success of their unique student populations. There typically aren’t one-size-fits-all housing solutions, so every student housing project requires us to consider not just what to build, but how and where to build it. Whether a campus is rural or urban, large or small, or anything in between, a successful student housing project will balance the schedule requirements and fiscal commitments of the college or university while prioritizing the student experience at the center of the planning and design process.
