Student Centres

These new centres also have appropriate retail and health facilities adjacent and may provide a ‘one-stop shop’ for student advice and access to careers services. These centres may then link to, or incorporate, other specialist facilities such as libraries (discussed in the previous section, within the student centre. It is broadly recognised by universities that this new breed of student centre plays a significant role in the recruitment and retention of students.

Looking at the trends, recent examples show a considerable overlap between activities, with flowing, flexible, creative spaces in a variety of forms from bars to cafés to restaurants, including support for outside events and conference activities. Amenities and programmes often overlap with academic, sports and recreational facilities. The Saw Swee Hock Building at the London School of Economics, completed in 2014 by O’Donnell + Tuomey, is a good example of a new form of student centre, housing an events space, nightclub, pub, learning café/restaurant, gym, multi-faith prayer space, advice centre, careers service, large meeting space and rooftop café and terrace (see case study in Part 4, (see pages 162–167).

The Hub at Coventry University provides a dynamic new heart to the student campus and includes large-scale ‘learning commons’ and social spaces alongside student support spaces.

In the USA, this coming together of wide-ranging activities has led to some very large and complex buildings with major facilities and spaces co-located. In the UK, this form of co-location can present problems due to different funding regimes and the historical division between the university and the Students Union. However, there are examples where this has been achieved. The John Henry Brookes Building by Design Engine Architects at Oxford Brookes University incorporates student services, the Students Union, teaching spaces and a new library all gathered around the forum, a vast social learning area surrounded by cafés and retail outlets.

Figure 2.35 The Hub, Coventry University, HawkinsBrown

Figure 2.36 Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) Business School and Student Hub - Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios

Minimisation of dedicated space and greater innovation in flexible design solutions is facilitating the use of spaces for multiple functions, e.g. while food or drink serveries always have to be dedicated spaces, these can be closed off from the adjacent spaces for those to be transformed into activity spaces. In addition, buildings that in the past would not have provided space for student activities are now being designed to be able to do this in addition to other uses. Recent buildings, such as the MMU Business School and the Mathematical Institute by Rafael Viñoly Architects at the University of Oxford minimise the amount of dedicated space and enable areas to flow and connect into other spaces, with moveable furniture, facilitating a wide range of other activities to take place, such as student clubs and society events.

Figure 2.37 New School Student Centre, New York, SOM architects