Page 17 - College Planning & Management, April 2018

As we do each year, College Planning & Management re- cently surveyed college and uni- versity housing administrators to learn about the state of their facilities, what challenges they are facing, what the trends are in new facilities, and what im- provementstheywouldliketo see in their residential life pro- grams and accommodations. Here are some results and ob- servations from that survey.
The design and furnishing of the “ideal” residence hall is a moving target. Evolving from 19th-century monastic-style dormitories with a dress code, a strict curfew, and designated meal times (and no women al- lowed), dorms developed into shared rooms with a couple of bunk beds and a small desk for each roommate, perhaps
a chair, and a shared bath- room for everyone on the floor (men’s floor or women’s floor) at the end of the corridor.
Dormitories, initially de- signed to be not much more than a basic place to sleep and study, have taken on additional responsibilitiesontoday’scam- pus. Modern residence halls provide not only beds, but also learning spaces, social and lounge spaces, recreation facili- ties, dining and cooking spaces, entertainment venues, medical/ counselling offices, and more. A residence hall that presents itself as providing what students want is a valuable marketing tool for recruiting and retaining stu- dents for a college or university.
What is it, then, that today’s students want—or more likely, expect—in a residence hall?
According to a majority of CP&M survey respondents, the quest is for 21st-century amenities at an affordable cost... and privacy. At a time when the trend has been to- wards designing facilities for collaborative, shared learning and spontaneous socializa- tion, more students are crav- ing privacy. “More individ- ual space,” “private rooms,” “single rooms,” and “private bathrooms,” are mentioned a number of times by our 2018 survey respondents.
Jordan Gatewood, AIA, LEED-BD+C, senior associ- ate for Mackey Mitchell Archi- tects in St. Louis, confirms this trend in requests for more pri- vate space, as well as a concern for all-around health and well- ness, for residential students.
“Most institutions we work with are experiencing an in- creased demand for single- bedroom accommodations due to more students with special medical needs. One project we have under construction cur- rently incorporates in the unit mixasmallnumberofsingle bedrooms designed for stu- dents with autism spectrum disorder,” he says.
“Bedroom and bathroom arrangements that provide both community and privacy are ideal for lower division students. Designing for flex- ibility in room assignments is increasingly important in context of creating more in- clusive residential communi- ties. More privacy in shared bathrooms and provision of single-user bathroom facilities
Housing
Survey
Campus Housing: Evolving
to Meet Student Needs
BY SHANNON O’CONNOR
PHOTOS © ANTON GRASSL